...Walt Crawford “You say you‘re ready to buy a personal computer for your library or your own personal use.” That‘s how this all began, back in 1984. Fifty articles and 15 years later, it‘s time to wrap it up. This is the final “Trailing Edge” and, for a while, the author‘s last article in Library Hi...

...Walt Crawford Five years is several lifetimes in personal computing–or is it? The first “Trailing Edge” for 1992 (written in 1991) was “Reality Check: A Personal Quiz on Personal Computing,” It featured 66 true‐or‐false statements on all aspects of personal computing and provided comments on why...

...Walt Crawford If you want to make some sense of personal computer ads and articles, you need to understand the terminology ‐ not all of it, to be sure (that way lies madness), but a few of the key abbreviations and terms, and how significant they are in today‘s computing field. Some key...

...Walt Crawford Unless you’re an inveterate upgrader, you’ll replace your personal computer every few years. Computer crazies say “every 18 months,” and a few retrograde managers might say “when it dies” ‐ but for most of us, three to four years is about right. The author replaced his home computer...