Power to the people

: changing attitudes to computer technology in the United States, 1951-1982

Abstract

This dissertation traces the evolution of popular attitudes towards the computer in the United States from its early public appearances in the 1950s to the release of the first home computers in 1977. During this period, discourse about the computer, its purpose, and its users changed dramatically. The computer was awarded the title of ‘Person of the Year’ for 1982 by TIME magazine, demonstrating how far it affected not only military and research institutions, but also society and culture. This transition occurred in the context of a growing number electronic technologies and, consequently, encapsulated the way that broader attitudes towards technology evolved during this period.

The dissertation suggests that the discourse that accompanied the process of computerisation was shaped significantly by conflicting agendas, the needs of manufacturers and retailers, and the attitudes of users. It explores public representations of and popular responses to computer technology in order to understand its significance as a cultural object. The discourse surrounding the computer is demonstrated to have shifted from images of high-powered mechanical brains to an accessible, affordable gadget for the family home. As a result, the success of the computer as a commercial product was attributable largely to the way that it was retailed and marketed, as well as the growing influence of entertainment technologies in popular culture. In contrast, the influence of the computer hobbyists, who have been credited with driving the ‘personal computer revolution’, is reconsidered as having symbolic significance rather than a direct impact on commercial computing.

This dissertation examines this discourse as a contribution to cultural histories of the computer. By casting the computer as a cultural object, responses of ordinary Americans reveal that popular ideas about computing were particularly influential in shaping the way that it developed.

Date of Award	22 Jun 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Gerard Jan De Groot (Supervisor)