U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for August 11

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

PERSONAL COMPUTER

Profile America — Monday, August 11th. This date 33 years ago immediately preceded the dawning of a digital age milestone. On August 12, 1981, IBM introduced its model 5150 — which soon became known simply as the "PC." There had been consumer computer models for some years before, such as the early Apple and Commodore, but the IBM machine marked a turning point in acceptance due to the manufacturer's prestige. The company was famous for its pioneering, large mainframe computers, and even by 1984, barely over 8 percent of American households had personal computers. Now, more than three-quarters of American households have computers, with the Asian-American population's figure reaching nearly 83 percent. Over 93 percent of college graduates live in homes with at least one computer. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources:
http://inventors.about.com/od/computersandinternet/a/Ibm-Pc.htm  
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_intro.html  
http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p20-569.pdf p. 5

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau