Colloquial Use of The Term
Everyday use of the expression "microcomputer" (and in particular the "micro" abbreviation) has declined significantly from the mid-1980s onwards, and is no longer commonplace. It is most commonly associated with the first wave of all-in-one 8-bit home computers and small business microcomputers (such as the Apple II, Commodore 64, BBC Micro, and TRS 80). Although, or perhaps because, an increasingly diverse range of modern microprocessor-based devices fit the definition of "microcomputer," they are no longer referred to as such in everyday speech.
In common usage, "microcomputer" has been largely supplanted by the description "personal computer" or "PC," which describes that it has been designed to be used by one person at a time. IBM first promoted the term "personal computer" to differentiate themselves from other microcomputers, often called "home computers", and also IBM's own mainframes and minicomputers. However, following its release, the IBM PC itself was widely imitated, as well as the term. The component parts were commonly available to producers and the BIOS was reverse engineered through cleanroom design techniques. IBM PC compatible "clones" became commonplace, and the terms "personal computer," and especially "PC" stuck with the general public.
Since the advent of microcontrollers (monolithic integrated circuits containing RAM, ROM and CPU all onboard), the term "micro" is more commonly used to refer to that meaning.
Read more about this topic: Microcomputer
Famous quotes containing the words colloquial and/or term:
“Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest attention to colloquial speech.”
—Thornton Wilder (18971975)
“... feminism is a political term and it must be recognized as such: it is political in womens terms. What are these terms? Essentially it means making connections: between personal power and economic power, between domestic oppression and labor exploitation, between plants and chemicals, feelings and theories; it means making connections between our inside worlds and the outside world.”
—Anica Vesel Mander, U.S. author and feminist, and Anne Kent Rush (b. 1945)