Personal computer
computer intended for use by an individual person
A personal computer (PC), or simply computer, is a computer designed for personal use. It is typically used for tasks such as word processing, web browsing, email, file management, spreadsheets, and video calling. Personal computers are meant to be operated directly by an end user, instead of a computer expert, administrator, company or technician. Unlike large, costly minicomputers and mainframes, time-sharing by many people at the same time is not used with personal computers. The term "home computer" has also been used, primarily in the late 1970s and 1980s. The advent of personal computers and the concurrent Digital Revolution have significantly affected the lives of people.
Institutional or corporate computer owners in the 1960s had to write their own programs to do any useful work with computers. While personal computer users may develop their own applications, these systems most frequently run commercial or free-of-charge software ("freeware"), which commonly has closed source (proprietary) codebases; or free and open-source software, where the source code is made freely available. Software for end-users is typically provided in binary (ready-to-run) form. Software for personal computers is typically developed and distributed independently from the hardware or operating system manufacturers.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Personal computer” as computer intended for use by an individual person. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as computer intended for use by an individual person. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16338. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Personal computer”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Personal computer primary sources, Personal computer archive and Personal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Personal computer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.