The idea was that an individual could buy a computer and the software needed for a specific (and increasingly complicated) purpose, and immediately generate a productive result. Indeed, within a few years, individuals would possess in a small machine as much computing power as the mainframe IBM 360’s that had revolutionized centralized computing in the 1960’s.
当时的想法是，个人可以购买电脑以及专门（以及越发复杂）目的所需要的软件，然后立即产生效果。确实，在几年之内，个人将会在一个小机器中拥有像在二十世纪六十年代将集中计算进行革命性改变的IBM360巨型机那样的计算能力。