Prior to 1979, computers were pretty large and quite expensive. Few
people actually had access to them. Most computers in organizations only
carried out high-volume paperwork, such as billing, inventories and the
like. The average person did not need to know how to use a computer for
their job, and it was not really common to have one at home.
Additionally, using a computer required some reasonable technical
knowledge and training. Hence the average person was not familiar with
them.
Shortly, like within 5 years, technology and applicability to a variety of
tasks and jobs begin to make computers more popular. This push in the
market and their usefulness came about with the advent of the
microcomputer, an inexpensive computer that could be used at home or on
the job. Now they are necessary for many daily tasks and for the vast
majority of careers. Currently computers are used by most individuals in
the US and those entering the job market definitely need to be adept in
their utility and functions. Hence there has been an explosion in
computer courses, computer training, and computer technology. Basically,
todays society considers computers an integral part of our lives.
Experts call the trend seen above, that is making computers more and more
necessary so that they have been incorporated into everyones lives in one
way or another, pervasive computing. Hence computers in one
form or another are virtually everywhere.