<Li> Random access memory became cheap enough to afford dedicating approximately 1 - 2 kilobytes of memory to a video display controller frame buffer, for a 40x25 or 80x25 text display or blocky color graphics on a common household television . This replaced the slow, complex, and expensive teletypewriter that was previously common as an interface to minicomputers and mainframes . </Li> <P> All these improvements in cost and usability resulted in an explosion in their popularity during the late 1970s and early 1980s . A large number of computer makers packaged microcomputers for use in small business applications . By 1979, many companies such as Cromemco, Processor Technology, IMSAI, North Star Computers, Southwest Technical Products Corporation, Ohio Scientific, Altos Computer Systems, Morrow Designs and others produced systems designed either for a resourceful end user or consulting firm to deliver business systems such as accounting, database management, and word processing to small businesses . This allowed businesses unable to afford leasing of a minicomputer or time - sharing service the opportunity to automate business functions, without (usually) hiring a full - time staff to operate the computers . A representative system of this era would have used an S100 bus, an 8 - bit processor such as an Intel 8080 or Zilog Z80, and either CP / M or MP / M operating system . The increasing availability and power of desktop computers for personal use attracted the attention of more software developers . In time, and as the industry matured, the market for personal computers standardized around IBM PC compatibles running DOS, and later Windows . Modern desktop computers, video game consoles, laptops, tablet PCs, and many types of handheld devices, including mobile phones, pocket calculators, and industrial embedded systems, may all be considered examples of microcomputers according to the definition given above . </P> <P> Everyday use of the expression "microcomputer" (and in particular the "micro" abbreviation) has declined significantly from the mid-1980s and has declined in commonplace usage since 2000 . The term is most commonly associated with the first wave of all - in - one 8 - bit home computers and small business microcomputers (such as the Apple II, Commodore 64, BBC Micro, and TRS 80). Although, or perhaps because, an increasingly diverse range of modern microprocessor - based devices fit the definition of "microcomputer", they are no longer referred to as such in everyday speech . </P> <P> In common usage, "microcomputer" has been largely supplanted by the term "personal computer" or "PC", which specifies a computer that has been designed to be used by one individual at a time, a term first coined in 1959 . IBM first promoted the term "personal computer" to differentiate themselves from other microcomputers, often called "home computers", and also IBM's own mainframes and minicomputers . However, following its release, the IBM PC itself was widely imitated, as well as the term . The component parts were commonly available to producers and the BIOS was reverse engineered through cleanroom design techniques . IBM PC compatible "clones" became commonplace, and the terms "personal computer", and especially "PC", stuck with the general public, often specifically for a DOS or (nowadays) Windows - compatible computer . </P>

Six types of computers that are designed for the individual