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American History

80 Iconic Moments from the 80s Forever In Our Minds

Cliff Schiappa / AP

62. The First Personal Computer

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Computers, which had previously taken up entire rooms and had to be operated by specially trained programmers, became accessible to the public when, in 1981, IBM launched the first personal computer, the 5150. Its retail value was $1500, over $4000 in 2022 dollars, and the machine weighed 25 pounds, considered lightweight at the time.

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