A microcomputer consists of a microprocessor at the most basic level whilst still incorporating the aspects of a normal computer. The only difference with a microcomputer is that it is significantly smaller than your average computer and other minicomputers or mainframe ones. They are compared to personal computers in that they are very similar when connected to a mouse and a keyboard. The components that made it possible for the microcomputer to be manufactured include the following:
• Logic chips which are necessary to build a microcomputer had been decreasing in price, meaning they were more attainable. This allowed for keyboard input when using the microcomputer, setting it aside from models that only had switches that you could toggle for different settings.
• Silicon logic gates in the guise of read only memory allowed more complex software and programs to run on the microcomputers than ever before, with the stored programs being able to load automatically from external storage devices without actually being controlled.
• Audio cassettes began to be used as a form of small memory device, pushing aside the former method of just reprogramming every time the machine was switched on. These cassettes proved to be a much easier method and were surprisingly inexpensive, despite their good use.
• A thing called random access memory was also becoming cheaper to buy and use in products, meaning that graphics were improving slowly. This meant that the old teletypewriter, which was expensive and slow, was replaced by newer, more exciting things.
The name of the "microcomputer" has been disputed ever since the 80s, being seen as numerous different names since then. This was especially prominent in regards to the shortened term "micro" which is no longer actually used for the device to this day. The term "microcomputer" was replaced by the idea of a personal computer, or a PC, which was first coined by IBM. Evidently, the word PC or Personal Computer has indeed stuck with us, although they are often referred to as desktops, due to the invention of laptops which caused a split between personal computers.
• Logic chips which are necessary to build a microcomputer had been decreasing in price, meaning they were more attainable. This allowed for keyboard input when using the microcomputer, setting it aside from models that only had switches that you could toggle for different settings.
• Silicon logic gates in the guise of read only memory allowed more complex software and programs to run on the microcomputers than ever before, with the stored programs being able to load automatically from external storage devices without actually being controlled.
• Audio cassettes began to be used as a form of small memory device, pushing aside the former method of just reprogramming every time the machine was switched on. These cassettes proved to be a much easier method and were surprisingly inexpensive, despite their good use.
• A thing called random access memory was also becoming cheaper to buy and use in products, meaning that graphics were improving slowly. This meant that the old teletypewriter, which was expensive and slow, was replaced by newer, more exciting things.
The name of the "microcomputer" has been disputed ever since the 80s, being seen as numerous different names since then. This was especially prominent in regards to the shortened term "micro" which is no longer actually used for the device to this day. The term "microcomputer" was replaced by the idea of a personal computer, or a PC, which was first coined by IBM. Evidently, the word PC or Personal Computer has indeed stuck with us, although they are often referred to as desktops, due to the invention of laptops which caused a split between personal computers.
