A REVOLUTION is taking place in the personal computer industry. While this revolution

is driven by technology, it s affecting the type and range of applications for which personal

computers are used. At the heart of this revolution is the declining cost of computer power.

Dramatic cost reductions have taken place in processing power, random access memory,

and data storage. For example, in 1980, the cost of 1 megabyte of storage was over $100.

Now, a megabylJe costs around $30. At the same time, personal computers have become

increasingly powerful and sophisticated. The typical 8-bit, 64K, dual-drive IBM PC that

used to be the deskiop standard has been replaced by the 32-bit, 640 1( AT or " 386

machine" with a 40 megabyte hard drive and a 1.44 megabyte floppy drive. Even more

powerful machines are just around the corner.

Until recently, personal computers with hard disk drives were too expensive for home

and small business use. A 10 megabyte hard drive unit alone used to cost over $1,000.

PCs equipped with hard drives were mainly used tbr applications involving large amounts

of data. After all, that s what hard disks are for--storing lots of data, right? But times have

changed.

The latest generation of personal computers, with faster microprocessors and in-

creased memory capacities, are changing the applications programs used with microcom-

puters. Word processing programs, spreadsheets, and database programs are all getting

faster, fancier, and bigger. Another trend in software is the move to integrated programs,

which incorporate the functions of several types of applications into a single package.

Such programs tend to be massive.

While many of these programs can still be run on computers having only floppy

.drives, some recommend the use of a hard disk, and most actually require one. Even if it