From 1962 to 1978 I watched the microcomputer industry unfold. In 1962 the first reliable silicon transistors began to appear in quantity; I got three patents for electromechanical devices that used these extraordinary components. By 1978, a company I ran was able to design and market one of the first crude micro-processor products, for which I devised an operating system and a higher-level programming language. During the intervening 18 years, much of the traditional data-handling technology of the previous half-century—punched cards, relays, tubes, teleprinters, and so on—was swept away.

Going to work for Apple in 1987* seated me at the ringside of the microcomputer revolution. It gave  me an inside view of its effects, both in technology and in human life. People have started using these machines—instruments of incredible sophistication—to do entirely new kinds of work. Computers have become a part of everyday life. But I believe the revolution is just beginning. The uses of computers today stand about where the uses of electricity did in the early nineteenth century, when Faraday wound his first coil. Computer developments equivalent to the radio, telephone, and electric lighting are yet to come.

The following articles about computers appeared in The Ecphorizer between 1985 and 1987. They are meant to be serious. I wrote the last piece, “About This Book,” for this edition to serve as a colophon.

* As of this publication online in May, 2007, George is still a valued member of Apple's technical staff, and at 74 is probably the oldest employee in a company known for its youth.