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Somenoob
July 13th, 2007, 06:01 PM
It's well-known that it's an abbreviation for personal computer, but were does this misconception come from? was it when Apple used it to distinguish mac hardware and software from non-mac products?

mips
July 13th, 2007, 06:17 PM
Maybe it stems from "IBM Personal Computer" and it stuck due to x86 cpu and the name was given to clones as well.

The reality is that Macs and others are also Personal Computers.

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer seems to confirm this.

macogw
July 14th, 2007, 04:17 AM
And Apple's processors for a long time were PowerPC, but they weren't "PC"s? Silly...plus, Apple used to advertise their computers as great PCs. This whole "macs aren't pcs" thing is pretty recent. I think that wiki page mentions a specific time that they called their new release a PC.

I made up a nice PDF explaining that if it's not a server or mainframe, it's a PC and that Macs are PCs then put it full screen on the 30" (or something big like that) iMacs at CompUSA :)

steven8
July 14th, 2007, 04:38 AM
Servers and Mainframes are impersonal corporate things. What you want in your home is something which is personally yours. It's about comfort.

DeadSuperHero
July 14th, 2007, 04:43 AM
Actually, PC stands for Pina Colada, which I hear is a lovely drink to have when you get the BSOD in Windows.

RAV TUX
July 14th, 2007, 04:49 AM
A personal computer (PC) is a microcomputer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcomputer) whose price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals.
We may never know who coined the phrase with the intent of a small affordable computing device but John W. Mauchly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Mauchly) described such a device in a November 3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_3), 1962 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962) New York Times (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times) article entitled "Pocket Computer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_Computer) may replace Shopping List". Six years later a manufacturer took a risk at referring to their product this way when Hewlett Packard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett_Packard) advertised their "Powerful Computing Genie" as "The New Hewlett Packard 9100A (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett_Packard_9100A) personal computer"[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-0). This advertisement was too extreme for the target audience and replaced with a much drier ad for the HP 9100A (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_9100A) programmable calculator. [2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-1) [3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-2) [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-3) During the next 7 years the phrase had gained usage so when Byte magazine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_%28magazine%29), published its first edition it referred to its readers as being in the "personal computing field"[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-4) while Creative Computing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Computing) defined the personal computer as a "non-(time)shared system containing sufficient processing power and storage capabilities to satisfy the needs of an individual user." [6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-5) Two years later when the 1977 Trinity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Trinity) of preassembled small computers hit the markets, the Apple II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II)[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-6) and the PET 2001 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PET_2001)[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-7) were advertised as 'personal computers' while the TRS-80 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80) was a microcomputer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcomputer) used for household tasks including "personal financial management". By 1979 over half a million home computers were sold and the youth of the day had a new concept of the personal computer. [9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer#_note-8)
Personal computers are also known as microcomputers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcomputer) and home computers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_computer). Often, the term "personal computer" is used exclusively for computers running a Microsoft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft) Windows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows) operating system, but this is erroneous. For example, a Macintosh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh) running Mac OS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS) and an IBM PC compatible (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_compatible) running Linux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux) are both personal computers. This confusion stems from the fact that the term "PC" is often used as a shorthand form for "IBM PC compatible" and historically Mac OS has run on non-IBM compatible hardware like the PowerPC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerPC) architecture. Linux runs on virtually any kind of hardware, but was developed later and has not achieved popularity comparable to Microsoft Windows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer

Macintosh Sauce
July 14th, 2007, 04:58 AM
No, PC actually stands for "Politically Correct." LOL

icecruncher
July 14th, 2007, 06:35 AM
or partially correct

steven8
July 14th, 2007, 06:51 AM
or Painfully cautious. . .

RedNikon
July 14th, 2007, 06:58 AM
Or Parental Consent.... :lolflag:

BOBSONATOR
July 14th, 2007, 07:42 AM
Poker Cow

lisati
July 14th, 2007, 07:45 AM
Having been accused of having a second "wife" I wish to suggest Painful Coitus. And no, I haven't tried......

koenn
July 14th, 2007, 07:59 AM
This whole "macs aren't pcs" thing is pretty recent.
No, it's quite old. The distinction was made all through the eighties and in the early 90s : PC's were IBM PC compatible, and you'd know they'd run 'PC' software, and file formats would be exchangeable with other PC's, whereas others - often Mac but there were many other - required their own specific software, and all types of conversions if you wanted to exchange files between PC's and a 'not IBM compatible' computer.

So while Macs can be called 'personal computers' in the sense of 'computer for home / personal use', they were (are ?) not PC's in the strict sense.

Look at the famous Mac ads : "I'm a Mac" ... "I'm a PC".

~~Tito~~
July 14th, 2007, 09:22 AM
Actually what they say in the commercial it true. They have different chip sets (except the Intel cpu). Mac calls their motherboard a logic board and its configured very different. PC's have a mother board and its mainly consist of all the input ports on one side. Mac's are not very customizable except the tower and the rest are either very hard to do it or you have to pay a apple approved or apple store to do it, and it is expensive believe me. PC built computers aren't very hard and can be done by most people with the know how.

I'm all for macs but you have to do so much just to have it the way you want, unless you order it online and customize while you order or order it and then customize it for more. PC builders are no different except you can do it yourself most of the time unless your Dell or Hp who thinks most of their customers don't know that newegg.com sells parts cheaper then them and they have more quality products.

Conclusion: Macs are great if you have a big pocket and willing to pay more for quality products in the beginning.
PC's are good to get on hands with your computer and buy quality products after the fact.

Both great, but PC's are much better for the computer builder and normal person. Macs are more for normal people looking for something new and going into the business of graphics or game design.

Ubuntu can do this also, but its more for us the person who gets hands on with the os and parts. It can run on macs too, but I would dual boot a mac with ubuntu because macs are just as user friendly as ubuntu but its just the cost.


Thats my $40.86, lol.

Taino
July 14th, 2007, 09:41 AM
"PC" = Pocket Calculator ;)

The original personal computational device. :KS

macogw
July 14th, 2007, 09:47 AM
No, it's quite old. The distinction was made all through the eighties and in the early 90s : PC's were IBM PC compatible, and you'd know they'd run 'PC' software, and file formats would be exchangeable with other PC's, whereas others - often Mac but there were many other - required their own specific software, and all types of conversions if you wanted to exchange files between PC's and a 'not IBM compatible' computer.

So while Macs can be called 'personal computers' in the sense of 'computer for home / personal use', they were (are ?) not PC's in the strict sense.

Look at the famous Mac ads : "I'm a Mac" ... "I'm a PC".

Hmm those are new ads though. Apple used to advertise their computers as "the greatest new PC this year" or whatever

macogw
July 14th, 2007, 09:51 AM
Actually what they say in the commercial it true. They have different chip sets (except the Intel cpu). Mac calls their motherboard a logic board and its configured very different. PC's have a mother board and its mainly consist of all the input ports on one side. Mac's are not very customizable except the tower and the rest are either very hard to do it or you have to pay a apple approved or apple store to do it, and it is expensive believe me. PC built computers aren't very hard and can be done by most people with the know how.

I'm all for macs but you have to do so much just to have it the way you want, unless you order it online and customize while you order or order it and then customize it for more. PC builders are no different except you can do it yourself most of the time unless your Dell or Hp who thinks most of their customers don't know that newegg.com sells parts cheaper then them and they have more quality products.

Conclusion: Macs are great if you have a big pocket and willing to pay more for quality products in the beginning.
PC's are good to get on hands with your computer and buy quality products after the fact.

Both great, but PC's are much better for the computer builder and normal person. Macs are more for normal people looking for something new and going into the business of graphics or game design.

Ubuntu can do this also, but its more for us the person who gets hands on with the os and parts. It can run on macs too, but I would dual boot a mac with ubuntu because macs are just as user friendly as ubuntu but its just the cost.


Thats my $40.86, lol.
Motherboard and logic board are just two words for the same thing. The hardware is interchangeable on the new Intel Macs. Traditionally, Apples have had cut-off-your-fingers-when-you-try-to-open-it cases, but that's just them wanting you to pay them to upgrade it because they get more money if they don't let you do it yourself. It's just a really really annoying case. The insides are the same and just as customizable. Oh, why do you say the input ports are on one side on a mobo? Maybe on a desktop since it's shaped like that, but on a laptop there's stuff all around all 4 sides usually.

~~Tito~~
July 14th, 2007, 10:40 AM
True, but I wouldn't want to pop open my laptop and change the motherboard. I don't want to start any arguments I'm just saying like it is and that is a good point.

koenn
July 14th, 2007, 12:06 PM
Hmm those are new ads though. Apple used to advertise their computers as "the greatest new PC this year" or whatever
The ads are new, the distinction between (IBM compatible) PC and "other computers for personal use" goes back to the early 80's - I mentioned the ads to indicate that Apple themselves (sometimes) still make the distinction.

RomeReactor
July 14th, 2007, 12:12 PM
What is PC?

Or Parental Consent.... :lolflag:
Dammit! >_< beat me to it...
Oh, well:
Pithecanthropus Computerurus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonk_%28video_game%29)

koenn
July 14th, 2007, 12:12 PM
The hardware is interchangeable on the new Intel Macs. The use of a x86 CPU (designed by IBM, later manufactured by Intel a.o. was one of the characteristics of the IBM PC's. the "non-PC-compatible" Macs (Macintosh ...) used to have Motorola chips with a completely different architecture (RISC ?)

RomeReactor
July 14th, 2007, 12:17 PM
Motherboard and logic board are just two words for the same thing.

No no no. Everything on a Mac is different. Are you saying Spaces are the same thing as WorkSpaces? Obviously not!

%hMa@?b<C
July 14th, 2007, 02:01 PM
No no no. Everything on a Mac is different. Are you saying Spaces are the same thing as WorkSpaces? Obviously not!

are you saying that there is no difference between my grey IBM keyboard and their white shiny keyboard. THEY ARE NOT EVEN COMPARABLE~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

macogw
July 14th, 2007, 09:23 PM
The use of a x86 CPU (designed by IBM, later manufactured by Intel a.o. was one of the characteristics of the IBM PC's. the "non-PC-compatible" Macs (Macintosh ...) used to have Motorola chips with a completely different architecture (RISC ?)

Nowadays they are the same though. Macs use x86 Core 2 Duos. And they used to be PowerPC.

macogw
July 14th, 2007, 09:28 PM
are you saying that there is no difference between my grey IBM keyboard and their white shiny keyboard. THEY ARE NOT EVEN COMPARABLE~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If that grey IBM keyboard is a 1980s Model M, they certainly are NOT comparable. The Apple keyboard is a piece of SH*T by comparison.