https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2012/04/01/the-sorcerers-apprenctice/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 04:59:14 -0400<![CDATA[Atari, Altair, Commodore, Kaypro, Macintosh Plus, Sinclair and TRS-80. If you know what these names stand for, or God forbid, actually remember wanting to buy one of them then you may remember a time when computing made the transition from science fiction to something you wanted to buy in the store.   Measured on the timescale of species existence the advent of personal computing came in the blink of an eye. The ancestors of the first consumer PCs appeared in 1975, the same year the Rubik&#8217;s Cube was introduced. They weren&#8217;t cheap. An Apple Lisa cost $10,000 &#8212; in 1983. And yet they took the world by storm.]]>Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:19:16 -0400<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2012/04/01/the-sorcerers-apprenctice-n191544