Chapter 6Retailing the Revolution
Computer magazines built the real enthusiast’s marketplace.
The meanings of words can change over time, complicating the job of the historian.
To the hobbyists who made up the early core market for personal computers, this personal-computer phenomenon was less an industry than a movement. This showed clearly in the style and atmosphere of the magazines, shows, and stores. Initially, these were primarily about community building. Around the magazines and stores and shows there blossomed a culture in which computers for individuals could be imagined, built, understood, and, almost incidentally, bought and sold.
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