Then you should also remember how expensive those machines were. They existed in small numbers in big corporante offices.
My guess, from having been around at that time, that all Fortune 500 companies used "word processors" to some extent. A Local Area Network (Netware) with 8 nodes (3Com) would cost anywhere between $25,000 to $100,000. Similarly, a mini-coumputer with 8 to 16 terminals attached would cost perhaps $100,000 to $200,000.
Besides Fortune 500 companies there were thousands of other businesses that were technologically more savvy (Banks, insurance, transportation, etc) that used up to date equipment.
There were a large variety of print devices that were attached to those terminals/computers.
Students, work at home people, small law firms, mom and pop operations, retired people, politicians were out of the loop with respect to technology until Steve Jobs and Bill Gates came along.
We had technology, computers, printers, and electronic typewriters before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates came along. |
