Back in France we met Jacques Séguéla and his merry band of thinkers and writers. On our behalf they performed qualitative market research for what PC meant in the minds and, more importantly, guts of normal people.

The outcome of such research was couched in seemingly esoteric language. Séguéla’s team told us the PC was endowed with three important attributes:
Solipsistic, Heuristic and Promethean.

Let’s unfold these adjectives to see how they resonate.

Solipsistic refers to a one-on-one, immediate relationship, without mediation, with the computer, as opposed to dealing with an organization. As a gifted but troubled programmer once told me, he liked his computer because it didn’t judge him, it obeyed him (most of the time) and, by allowing him to perform difficult, valuable tasks, it gave him a much-needed sense of self-worth. My machine, without intercessors, teachers, judges, or intruders.

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Original: https://toots.dgplug.org/@jason/110971848078209887