Friday, May 23, 2008

Which Came First: P.C. or the P.C.?

Such a simple question with such a complicated answer.
IBM introduced their "IBM PC" to the mass market in August of 1981.
Miriam-Webster dictionary dates the term 'politically correct' to 1936.
But it is not as simple as all that.
Just see for yourself. Do a search on 'personal computer history' and read a few articles. Do a search on 'political correctness history' and read a few articles.
I used the term P.C. to talk about changing the words we used to halt the spread of stereotypes when I worked at Bell Labs in the late 80's or early 90's. We got a computer at home that we bought ourselves in the early 90's when I began my landscape design company. But I had my own desktop computer at Bell Labs in 1984. And we worked on educating each other about stereotypes and gender and race issues via our 'Affirmative Action' program then too.
When did you first become aware of 'political correctness'? When did you first have your own 'personal computer'?

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