For a long, long time the PC was king. Whether it ran Windows, as most did, or was a premium-priced Mac, your desktop or laptop computer was your most cherished, most important digital device. For three decades, from roughly 1977 to 2007, people and companies gradually came to rely on PCs, by which I mean both major flavors of computers.

When a new desktop or laptop came out, it was a big deal. When a new style or big feature or operating system came out, it was a huge deal. Plenty of people still around today can remember that many stores opened at midnight to sell Windows 95 when it launched. Plenty recall that the 2002 desklamp-style iMac made the cover of Time, which was (then) a very special thing.

So potent was the PC —…

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