document_title: Chippendales

question_text: where did chip and dale dancers get their name

text: Chippendales

text: History[edit]

text: After operating a Mobil gas station, Somen Banerjee and his newly acquired partner, a law student at Loyola Law School named Bruce Nahin, bought a failed west Los Angeles disco named Destiny II and turned it into a nightclub featuring female mud wrestling and a "Female Exotic Dancing Night." Destiny II was located at 3739 Overland Avenue at McCune Avenue in Palms. The idea of featuring male dancers came from a nightclub promotional idea by Paul Snider, while the club name Chippendales was suggested by Nahin because of the Chippendale style furniture at the club.

text: The concept of the male strip show was brought to Banerjee and Nahin by Snider (later notorious for killing his estranged wife, Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten and then himself) who was desperate to revive his nightclub business because other ideas of backgammon and female mud wrestling were failing. Banerjee was the creative force behind Chippendales, packaging the idea of a male burlesque show with the name of elegant furniture in a night club venue that was clean and refined, and that allowed women to feel comfortable watching men strip down to a G-string. The initial script was written by Richard Barsh, who was the show's first Emcee. The concept immediately gained a huge female following. Together with choreographer and Emmy award winner Nicholas De Noia and his associate Candace Mayeron (Snider had died in 1980),[4] Chippendales was expanded to New York's Club Magique, London, Hamburg,Amsterdam, Thailand, Australia, Philadelphia, and Florida. Choreographer De Noia was originally in charge of the stage show. Authorized shows also toured extensively in the U.S. (by De Noia and Mayeron), Asia, and Europe (through Banerjee).

text: For Chippendales, the early 1980s were filled with major lawsuits pertaining to personal injury, alleged sexual bias against male guests, charges of racial discrimination and later in 1988 bankruptcy due to Banerjee's refusal to pay a $300,000+ (approx) printing invoice to Anderson Lithograph for a layout error created by a Culver City design firm, Haiku Advertising (owned by Al Ako) whereby the 1987 Chippendales calendar had 31 days in each month. Banerjee had signed off on all of the press sheets yet still refused to pay the printing company. Haiku Advertising went bankrupt and Chippendales (Easebe Inc) re-emerged from bankruptcy with a corrected calendar and less debt.

text: Eventually, De Noia and Banerjee fell out (forcing Nahin to deal with each of his partners separately). Banerjee brought in choreographer/director Steve Merritt, who, with his partner Mark Donnelly, had stage shows playing in Las Vegas and London. Merritt and Donnelly had the idea of putting the male strippers into a kind of mini-Broadway show, with dancers, music, and themes. To find strippers, they recruited the most attractive men they could find from Venice Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Santa Monica Beach. Merritt taught the men how to dance and perform.

text: Merritt became the choreographer of the Los Angeles show, and ultimately took charge of New York also. This resulted in two separate shows being performed, the De Noia touring version, and the Banerjee-Merritt Version. Banerjee could not tolerate De Noia's ownership of the touring companies and in 1987 hired a hit man to brutally murder De Noia. Mayeron took over producing duties until Banerjee successfully purchased the touring rights from De Noia's heirs for a paltry $1 million. Once De Noia was killed, Merritt took control of the touring shows as well. A video based on the Steve Merritt show, called "Tall, Dark & Handsome" produced by marketing manager Eric Gilbert and Steve Banerjee was released through Celebrity Home Entertainment and sold in wide retail through Spencer Gifts and Target.

text: The Chippendales, though still popular, continued to suffer from legal troubles, conflicts with "copycat" companies,[5] and in 1993, an allegation of murder — that Banerjee had arranged De Noia's 1987 killing and the proposed killing of Nahin.[6]

text: Banerjee's bail was denied, due to testimony that Banerjee had said he intended to pay a private pilot $25,000 to fly him back to India without a passport, and threatened to commit suicide if he was arrested. Soon after, the charges against him were expanded to include the hired hit of De Noia and the planned hit of Nahin and a group in Europe known as Adonis. In the early morning of October 23, 1994, after sentencing, Banerjee's body was found laying in his linen-free cell dead from what was officially termed a self-inflicted hanging. It was speculated that Banerjee wanted to shield his wife from a wrongful death lawsuit and from a $1.75 million fine from the government (Chippendales was worth considerably more than $1.75 million), he killed himself before his trial was technically completed.[7]

text: The entirety of Banerjee's share in the Chippendales corporation and his estate were passed on, (in the absence of a $1.75 million fine and any successful lawsuit by the De Noia family), to his wife Irene, who thereafter sold the company (without, according to court records, Nahin's knowledge and without first obtaining Nahin's permission)[citation needed] to the current owner, Chippendales USA. Merritt staged shows at various Chippendales clubs until his death in the 1990s. Irene died of breast cancer in the early 2000s. Mark Donnelly is currently a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. Nahin produces films in Los Angeles.

text: The company is currently run by Kevin Denberg, whose grandfather was part of a partnership with Steve and Gary Rogers to open a Chippendales club in New York City in the 1980s. Kevin Denberg bought Chippendales in 2000 with several other investors, and immediately set about distancing the company from its somewhat risqué past.

text: Legal affairs[edit]

text: The company continues to battle similar male revues in the courts. Chippendales successfully registered its "Cuffs and Collar" uniform as a trademark in 2003.[8] However, because this registration was based on "acquired distinctiveness," Chippendales filed a subsequent application for the same mark in an effort to have the mark recognized as being inherently distinctive. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed the decision of the examiner that the mark was not inherently distinctive with one member of the panel dissenting.[9] The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board noted that its decision in no way detracted from the rights flowing from the registration in 2003: "However, the fact that applicant already owns an incontestable registration for the Cuffs & Collar Mark should serve as no small consolation in spite of our decision here."[9]

text: On October 1, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.[10] Nothing in that decision affected the validity of the 2003 registration. One of the reasons for upholding the decision was the testimony of Chippendales' own expert, who admitted the male dancers' outfits were "inspired" by those of the Playboy Bunny, who also feature a bow-tie and shirt cuffs.[11][12] In April 2011, St. Joseph, Missouri, police shut down a show by a Chippendales impostor group, alleging that it violated Missouri's adult entertainment laws.[13][14][15]

text: Notable dancers and hosts[edit]

text: Radio host Todd Michaels performed with the company in 1991 and 1995.

text: Recently, former The Bachelor fiancée Vienna Girardi hosted the Chippendales' "Ultimate Girls Night Out" in November 2010. Karina Smirnoff of Dancing With The Stars hosted the following month.[16] Ronnie Magro of Jersey Shore guest hosted an event in February 2011. It was reported that Jeff Timmons would be performing with the group through the summer.[17][18] In 2012, Joey Lawrence was a dancer for a special engagement in June at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.[19]

text: Chippendale dancers Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis competed in the 21st season of The Amazing Race,[20] ultimately finishing in 2nd place. Vaughan, who sings for the Las Vegas show, has also released a solo single "Vampire",[21] and Davis, serving as the show's guitarist, also plays bass for Vegas band My Name Engraved.[22] Other notable Chippendales dancers are the actor Ian Ziering, the bachelor star Jake Pavelka, the actor Joey Lawrence, the singer Jeff Timmons, Taking Dawn band member Mikey Cross and professional wrestler Kenny King.

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: In 1990 a Saturday Night Live skit featured guest host Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley competing in an audition to become a Chippendales dancer.

text: In the 1997 English comedy The Full Monty, the characters' plan to form a striptease group are inspired by the Chippendales.

text: They were featured in the 2000 film The Chippendales Murder,[23] directed by Eric Bross;[24] and the 2001 film Just Can't Get Enough.[25]

text: Director Tony Scott was reportedly working on a film about Banerjee and the Chippendales story at the time of his death and Producer Alan Ball is reportedly working on a story loosely based on the deaths surrounding Chippendales which will start filming in January 2014.[26]

text: Bollywood actor, producer Salman Khan has announced a biopic on Somen Banerjee's life and journey of Chippendales.[27]

text: Literature[edit]

text: David Henry Sterry: Master of Ceremonies: A True Story of Love, Murder, Roller Skates and Chippendales (Grove Atlantic, 2008, ISBN 978-1841958767)

tag: ul


document_title: Dirty Dancing

question_text: where did the movie dirty dancing take place

root

text: Dirty Dancing

text: Plot[edit]

text: In the summer of 1963, 17-year-old Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) is vacationing with her affluent family at Kellerman's,[5][6] a resort in the Catskill Mountains. Baby is the younger of two daughters, and plans to attend Mount Holyoke College to study economics in underdeveloped countries and then enter the Peace Corps. Her father, Jake (Jerry Orbach), is the doctor and friend of Max Kellerman (Jack Weston), the resort proprietor. Baby is befriended by Max's grandson Neil (Lonny Price). Baby develops a crush on the resort's dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). Johnny is the leader of the resort's working-class entertainment staff. Baby encounters Johnny's cousin Billy on a walk through the resort grounds, and helps him carry watermelons to the staff quarters. The staff hold secret after-hours parties in their quarters, and Baby is surprised by the "dirty dancing" they engage in.[7] Intrigued, Baby receives a brief, impromptu dance lesson from Johnny.

tag: p

text: After Baby discovers that Johnny's dance partner, Penny Johnson (Cynthia Rhodes), is pregnant by Robbie Gould (Max Cantor), a womanizing waiter who is also dating and cheating on Baby's older sister, Lisa (Jane Brucker) and several other female guests, she borrows money from her father to pay for an illegal abortion for Penny. Jake agrees to give the money to Baby even though she says she can't tell him what it's for. Penny eventually accepts the money, but says there is another issue. Johnny and Penny perform a weekly dance at the Sheldrake, another nearby resort. Penny will miss her performance if she goes for the abortion, and they will forfeit their salary for the season. Billy suggests that Baby fill in for her. Johnny scoffs at this, which overcomes Baby's initial resistance. Billy and Penny insist that Johnny can teach anyone to dance. Johnny begins to teach Baby the mambo, and the two spend several awkward practice sessions together. Baby gradually begins to improve, and a romantic attraction grows between them.

text: Billy takes Penny to a traveling abortionist while Baby and Johnny perform at the Sheldrake Hotel. Their performance is mostly successful, although Baby is too nervous to accomplish the dance's climactic lift. Johnny and Baby return to Kellerman's and find Penny in agony. Billy explains that the "doctor" turned out to be a back-alley hack who caused severe damage to Penny. Baby brings her father to help Penny, but when Jake asks point blank, "Who's responsible for this girl?", Johnny replies "I am", claiming responsibility out of fear that Penny will be fired if it gets out that she slept with Robbie. Jake treats Penny, but is angry that Baby used his money to pay for the procedure, and forbids Baby to associate with Johnny or his friends. Baby goes to Johnny to apologize for her father's behavior. They dance, and afterwards have sex. Jake tells his family they'll be leaving early over breakfast. Marjorie says they are paid up til Sunday and Lisa protests, because she wants to sing at the end-of-season talent show. Jake gives in, and Baby continues to see Johnny despite her father's warning. She pulls Johnny off the footpath when her father is nearby, and Johnny is hurt that she won't stand up for him to her father. Robbie sees them during their argument and makes a derisive remark about "going slumming" with the staff. Johnny assaults him.

text: Due to his growing feelings for Baby, Johnny refused payment for sex with another Kellerman's guest, "bungalow bunny" Vivian Pressman. Vivian takes Robbie for sex in his cabin, which is accidentally interrupted by Lisa, who told Baby that she was intending to have sex with Robbie. When Vivian leaves the cabin the next morning, she discovers Baby leaving Johnny's cabin after. Later in the morning over breakfast, Max and Neil Kellerman reveal to the Housemans that Moe Pressman's wallet was stolen while he was playing a card game with other guests. Vivian accuses Johnny of the theft in a fit of her jealousy over Johnny's rejection. Johnny is unable to provide a verifiable alibi, in order to protect his relationship with Baby. To save Johnny from being fired, Baby confesses that Johnny did not commit the theft because she was with him in his cabin that night. Johnny is cleared of the theft after it is revealed that two elderly guests, Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher, stole Moe's wallet along with wallets of other guests. Max fires Johnny anyway for having a fraternizing affair with Baby. Baby and Johnny embrace and bid farewell to each other, saying they'll never regret their affair, despite her father's objections. Baby pointedly apologizes to Jake for lying about her relationship with Johnny, but not for the relationship itself.

text: Baby and her parents watch the end-of-season talent show. Jake bids farewell to Robbie, and gives him a recommendation letter for medical school. Robbie thanks Jake, willingly reveals that he got Penny pregnant and insults her and Baby, which leads Jake to yank the letter back. Staff and guests (including Lisa) of Kellerman's are singing the closing song together when the door opens and Johnny walks in. He's returned to do the last dance of the season. Johnny leads Baby onstage, interrupting the show which is already in progress. He makes a brief speech about how "Frances" has made him a better man. Baby and Johnny dance a more provocative version of their mambo duet, and the other "dirty dancers" join in. Baby runs to Johnny and executes the elusive lift move they'd practiced. The dirty dancers pull guests from their seats to join in the celebration. Jake apologizes to Johnny for thinking he got Penny pregnant, and reconciles with Baby. The film ends with the entire cast dancing joyously to "(I've Had) The Time of My Life".

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Jennifer Grey as Frances "Baby" Houseman
Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle
Cynthia Rhodes as Penny Johnson
Jerry Orbach as Dr. Jake Houseman
Kelly Bishop as Marjorie Houseman
Jane Brucker as Lisa Houseman
Jack Weston as Max Kellerman

Max Cantor as Robbie Gould
Lonny Price as Neil Kellerman
Charles Coles as Tito Suarez
Neal Jones as Billy Kostecki
Miranda Garrison as Vivian Pressman
Garry Goodrow as Moe Pressman
Wayne Knight as Stan

tag: table

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
"Be My Baby" – The Ronettes
"Big Girls Don't Cry" – Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
"Where Are You Tonight?" – Tom Johnston
"Do You Love Me" – The Contours
"Love Man" – Otis Redding
"Stay" – Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
"Hungry Eyes" – Eric Carmen
"Overload" – Zappacosta
"Hey! Baby" – Bruce Channel
"De Todo Un Poco" – Melon
"Some Kind of Wonderful" – The Drifters
"These Arms Of Mine" – Otis Redding
"Cry to Me" – Solomon Burke
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" – The Shirelles
"Love Is Strange" – Mickey & Sylvia
"You Don't Own Me" – The Blow Monkeys
"Yes" – Merry Clayton
"In the Still of the Night" – The Five Satins
"She's Like the Wind" – Patrick Swayze
"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" – Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

tag: ol

text: Note: Actress Jane Brucker wrote the song "Hula Hana," which she performed in her role of Lisa in the show rehearsal scene.[10]

text: Production[edit]

text: Pre-production[edit]

text: Dirty Dancing is based in large part on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's own childhood: she is the younger daughter of a Jewish doctor from New York, spent summers with her family in the Catskills, participated in "Dirty Dancing" competitions, and was herself nicknamed "Baby" as a girl. In 1980, Bergstein wrote a screenplay for the Michael Douglas film, It's My Turn. However, the producers cut an erotic dancing scene from the script, much to her dismay. She then conceived a new story, focused almost exclusively on dancing. In 1984, she pitched the idea to MGM executive Eileen Miselle, who liked it and teamed Bergstein with producer Linda Gottlieb. They set the film in 1963, with the character of Baby based on Bergstein's own life, and the character of Johnny based on the stories of Michael Terrace, a dance instructor whom Bergstein met in the Catskills in 1985 while she was researching the story.[citation needed] She finished the script in November 1985, but management changes at MGM put the script into turnaround, or limbo.

text: Bergstein then shopped the script around to other studios but was repeatedly rejected, until she brought it to Vestron Pictures, the newly formed studio division of Stamford, Connecticut, based Vestron Inc., the leading independent home video distribution company.[citation needed] While honing their pitch to Vestron, Gottlieb and Bergstein chose Emile Ardolino as the film's director, who had won the 1983 Academy Award for the documentary, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'. Ardolino had never directed a feature film, but was extremely passionate about the project; he even sent a message from where he was sequestered on jury duty, insisting that he was the best choice as director. The team of Gottlieb, Bergstein, and Ardolino then presented their vision for the film to Vestron's president, Jon Peisinger, and the company's vice president for production, Mitchell Cannold. By the end of the meeting, Peisinger had greenlighted the project to become Vestron's first feature film production. The approved film was budgeted at the relatively low amount of $5 million, at a time when the average cost for a film was $12 million.[11]

text: For choreographer, Bergstein chose Kenny Ortega, who had been trained by Gene Kelly.[12] For a location, they did not find anything suitable in the Catskills (as many of the resorts had been shut down at that point), so they decided on a combination of two locations: Lake Lure, North Carolina and the Mountain Lake Hotel near Newport, Virginia, and with careful editing made it look like all shooting was done in the same area.[13]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Director Ardolino was adamant that they choose dancers who could also act, as he did not want to use the "stand-in" method that had been used with Flashdance (1983). For the female lead of Frances "Baby" Houseman, Bergstein chose the 26-year-old Jennifer Grey, daughter of the Oscar-winning actor and dancer Joel Grey (e.g., of the film Cabaret (1972), who, like her father, was a trained dancer. They then sought a male lead, initially considering 20-year-old Billy Zane, who had the visual look desired (originally the Johnny character was to be Italian and have a dark exotic look), but initial dancing tests when he was partnered with Grey did not meet expectations. The next choice was 34-year-old Patrick Swayze, who had been noticed for his roles in Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) and Red Dawn (1984). He was a seasoned dancer, with experience from the Joffrey Ballet. The producers were thrilled with him, but his agent was opposed to the idea. However, Swayze read the script, liked the multi-level character of Johnny, and took the part anyway, and Johnny was changed from being Italian to Irish. Grey was initially not happy about the choice, as she and Swayze had difficulty getting along on Red Dawn, but when they did their dancing screen test, the chemistry between them was obvious. Bergstein described it as "breathtaking".[14]

text: Other casting choices were Broadway actor Jerry Orbach as Dr. Jake Houseman, Baby's father; and Jane Brucker as Lisa Houseman, her older sister. Bergstein also attempted to cast her friend, sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, to play Mrs. Schumacher, and Joel Grey as her husband. However, Westheimer backed out when she learned the role involved being a thief. The role went instead to 79-year-old Paula Trueman, and Joel Grey was not cast. Another role went to Bergstein's friend, New York radio personality "Cousin Brucie". She initially wanted him to portray the social director but then later asked him to play the part of the magician. The role of the social director went to the then unknown Wayne Knight (of later Seinfeld and 3rd Rock from the Sun fame).[15] The part of Baby's mother was originally given to Lynne Lipton, who is briefly visible in the beginning, when the Houseman family first pulls into Kellerman's (she is in the front seat for a few seconds; her blonde hair is the only indication), but she became ill during the first week of shooting and was replaced by actress Kelly Bishop, who had already been cast to play Vivian Pressman, the highly sexed resort guest. Bishop moved into the role of Mrs. Houseman, and the film's assistant choreographer Miranda Garrison took on the role of Vivian.[16][17]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography for Dirty Dancing took place in Lake Lure, North Carolina, and Mountain Lake, Virginia. Scenes in Lake Lure were filmed at the old Boys Camp, which is now a private, residential community known as Firefly Cove. These scenes included the interior dancing scenes, Baby carrying the watermelon and practicing on the signature stairs, Johnny's cabin, the staff cabins, the golf scene where Baby asks her father for $250. Scenes filmed at Mountain Lake included the famous "water lift" scene, dining scenes, Kellerman's Hotel, the beach games, Penny crying in the kitchen, and the Houseman family's cabins.[citation needed]

text: The tight schedule allowed only two weeks for rehearsal and 44 days for filming, as it was already the tail end of summer. The cast stayed in the same hotel at Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia and at the 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa in Lake Lure, N.C. Rehearsals quickly turned into disco parties involving nearly every cast member, even non-dancers such as Jack Weston.[citation needed]

text: The dancing and drinking went on almost non-stop and, immersed in the environment, the lead actors, Grey and Swayze, began identifying with their characters. Bergstein built upon this, encouraging the actors to improvise in their scenes. She also built the sexual tension by saying that no matter how intimate or "grinding" the dance steps, that none of the dancers were to have any other kind of physical contact with each other for the next six months.[14]

text: Filming started on September 5, 1986 but was plagued by the weather, which ranged from pouring rain to sweltering heat. The outside temperature rose to 105 °F (41 °C), and with all the additional camera and lighting equipment needed for filming, the temperature inside could be as high as 120 °F (49 °C). According to choreographer Kenny Ortega, on one day 10 people passed out within 25 minutes of shooting. The elderly Paula Trueman collapsed and was taken to the local emergency room to be treated for dehydration. Patrick Swayze also required a hospital visit; insisting on doing his own stunts, he repeatedly fell off the log during the "balancing" scene and injured his knee so badly he had to have fluid drained from the swelling.[14]

text: Delays in the shooting schedule pushed filming into the autumn, which required the set decorators to spray-paint the autumn leaves green. The uncooperative weather then took a different turn, plunging from oppressive heat to down near 40 °F (4 °C), causing frigid conditions for the famous swimming scene in October. The crew wore warm coats, gloves, and boots. Swayze and Grey stripped down to light summer clothing, to repeatedly dive into the cold water.[13] Despite her character's enjoyment, Grey later described the water as "horrifically" cold, and she might not have gone into the lake, except that she was "young and hungry".[16]

text: Relations between the two main stars varied throughout production. They had already had trouble getting along in their previous project, Red Dawn (1984), and worked things out enough to have an extremely positive screen test, but that initial cooperation soon faded, and they were soon "facing off" before every scene.[14] There was concern among the production staff that the animosity between the two stars would endanger the filming of the love scenes. To address this, producer Bergstein and director Ardolino forced the stars to re-watch their initial screen-tests—the ones with the "breathtaking" chemistry. This had the desired effect, and Swayze and Grey were able to return to the film with renewed energy and enthusiasm.[16]

text: Director Ardolino encouraged the actors to improvise and often kept the cameras rolling, even if actors went "off script". One example of this was the scene where Grey was to stand in front of Swayze with her back to him and put her arm up behind his head while he trailed his fingers down her arm (similar to the pose seen in the movie poster). Though it was written as a serious and tender moment, Grey was exhausted, found the move ticklish, and could not stop giggling each time Swayze tried it, no matter how many takes Ardolino asked for. Swayze was impatient to finish the scene and found Grey's behavior annoying. However, the producers decided the scene worked as it was and put it into the film, complete with Grey's giggling and Swayze's annoyed expression. It became one of the most famous scenes in the movie, turning out, as choreographer Kenny Ortega put it, "as one of the most delicate and honest moments in the film."[14]

text: Post-production[edit]

text: The shooting wrapped on October 27, 1986, both on-time and on-budget. No one on the team, however, liked the rough cut that was put together, and Vestron executives were convinced the film was going to be a flop. Thirty-nine percent of people who viewed the film did not realize abortion was the subplot. In May 1987, the film was screened for producer Aaron Russo. According to Vestron executive Mitchell Cannold, Russo's reaction at the end was to say simply, "Burn the negative, and collect the insurance."[14]

text: Further disputes arose over whether a corporate sponsor could be found to promote the film. Marketers of the Clearasil acne product liked the film, seeing it as a vehicle to reach a teen target audience. However, when they learned the film contained an abortion scene, they asked for that part of the plot to be cut. As Bergstein refused, the Clearasil promotion was dropped. Consequently, Vestron promoted the film themselves and set the premiere on August 16, 1987. The Vestron executives had planned to release the film in theaters for a weekend, and then send it to home video, since Vestron had been in the video distribution business before film production.[8] Considering how many people disliked the film at that point, producer Gottlieb's recollection of her feelings at the time was, "I would have only been grateful, if when it was released, people didn't yell at me."[14]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The film received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 72% based on reviews from 57 critics, with a rating average of 6.1 out of 10.[18]

text: For the film's opening, the August 16, 1987 edition of The New York Times published a major review, with a headline reading, "Dirty Dancing Rocks to an Innocent Beat." The Times reviewer called the film "a metaphor for America in the summer of 1963 – orderly, prosperous, bursting with good intentions, a sort of Yiddish-inflected Camelot."[19] Other reviews were more mixed: Gene Siskel gave the film a "marginal Thumbs Up" as he liked Jennifer Grey's acting and development of her character, while Roger Ebert gave it "Thumbs Down" due to its "idiot plot",[20] calling it a "tired and relentlessly predictable story of love between kids from different backgrounds."[21] TIME magazine was lukewarm, saying, "If the ending of Eleanor Bergstein's script is too neat and inspirational, the rough energy of the film's song and dance does carry one along, past the whispered doubts of better judgment."[22] In a retrospective review, Jezebel's Irin Carmon called the film "the greatest movie of all time" as "a great, brave movie for women" with "some subtle, retrospectively sharp-eyed critiques of class and gender."[23]

text: Abortion rights advocates have called the film the “gold standard” for cinematic portrayals of abortion,[24] which author Yannis Tzioumakis described as offering a "compassionate depiction of abortion in which the woman seeking an abortion was not demonized with the primary concerns being her health and preserving her capacity to bear children at a future time rather than the ethical dilemma that might or might not inform her decision, a portrayal that is not necessarily available in current films."[25]

text: The film drew adult audiences instead of the expected teens, with viewers rating the film highly.[16] Many filmgoers, after seeing the film once, went right back into the theater to watch it a second time.[16] Word-of-mouth promotion took the film to the number one position in the United States, and in 10 days it had broken the $10 million mark. By November, it was also achieving international fame. Within seven months of release, it had brought in $63 million domestically and boosted attendance in dance classes across America.[14] It was one of the highest-grossing films of 1987, earning $170 million worldwide.[26][27]

text: The film's popularity continued to grow after its initial release. It was the number one video rental of 1988[28] and became the first film to sell a million copies on video. When the film was re-released in 1997, ten years after its original release, Swayze received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,[29] and videos were still selling at the rate of over 40,000 per month.[29] As of 2005[update], it was selling a million DVDs per year,[30] with over ten million copies sold as of 2007[update].[31]

text: A May 2007 survey by Britain's Sky Movies listed Dirty Dancing as number one on "Women's most-watched films", above the Star Wars trilogy, Grease, The Sound of Music, and Pretty Woman.[32] The film's popularity has also caused it to be called "the Star Wars for girls."[9][33][34] An April 2008 article in Britain's Daily Mail listed Dirty Dancing as number one on a list of "most romantic movie quotes ever", for Baby's line: "I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you."[35]

text: The film's music has also had considerable impact. The closing song, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", has been listed as the "third most popular song played at funerals" in the UK.[9]

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text:
Year
Award
Category
Result
Ref

1988
60th Academy Awards
Academy Award for Best Original Song
Won
[36]

Golden Globe Awards
Best Original Song
Won
[37]

Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical
Nominated
[38]

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical
Nominated
[38]

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical
Nominated
[38]

Grammy Awards
Best Pop Performance by a Duo
Won
[39]

Best Song written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
Nominated
[37]

text: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #93[40]
2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:

"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" – #86[41]
"Do You Love Me" – Nominated[42]

2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:

Johnny Castle: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." – #98[43]

2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated[44]

text: Music[edit]

text: Rehearsals for the dancing, and some filming, used music from Bergstein's personal collection of gramophone records. When it came time to select actual music for the film, Vestron chose Jimmy Ienner as music supervisor. Ienner, who had previously produced albums and songs for John Lennon and Three Dog Night, opted to stick with much of the music that had already been used during filming and obtained licenses for the songs from Bergstein's collection. He also enlisted Swayze to sing the new song "She's Like the Wind". Swayze had written the song a few years earlier with Stacy Widelitz, originally intending for it to be used in the film Grandview, U.S.A. (1984).[14]

text: John Morris composed the film's score. The lyrics for the Kellermans' song that closes the talent show were written specifically for the film[16] and were sung to the tune of "Annie Lisle", a commonly used theme for school alma maters.[45] Kenny Ortega and his assistant Miranda Garrison chose the song for the finale by going through an entire box of tapes, listening to each one. According to Ortega, literally the last tape they listened to had "The Time of My Life", which they saw as the obvious choice.[37] Ienner then insisted that Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes record it. The song won the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group, an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.[37][39]

text: The film's soundtrack started an oldies music revival,[46] and demand for the album caught RCA Records by surprise. According to Franke Previte, before a single had even been released, there were a million albums on back-order.[14] The Dirty Dancing album spent 18 weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 album sales charts and went platinum eleven times, selling more than 32 million copies worldwide.[47][48] It spawned a follow-up multi-platinum album in February 1988, entitled More Dirty Dancing.[49]

text: Songs from the album which appeared on the charts included:[37]

text:
"(I've Had) The Time of My Life", performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, composed by Franke Previte, John deNicola, and Donald Markowitz – this song rose to #1 on the pop charts.[50]
"She's Like the Wind", performed by lead actor Patrick Swayze, composed by Lee and Stacy Widelitz; this song peaked at #3 in 1988.
"Hungry Eyes", performed by Eric Carmen, composed by Franke Previte and John deNicola; this song peaked at #4 in 1988.
"Yes", performed by Merry Clayton, composed by Neal Cavanaugh, Terry Fryer and Tom Graf; this song peaked #45 in 1988.

text: Additionally, the resurgence in popularity of the oldies contained in the movie led to a re-release of The Contours' single "Do You Love Me". "Do You Love Me" was featured in the movie but was omitted from the original soundtrack; it was included on More Dirty Dancing. Upon being re-released, "Do You Love Me" became a surprise hit all over again, this time peaking at #11 (it originally hit #3 back in 1962).[citation needed]

text: Legacy[edit]

text: As for the studio, despite the film's huge monetary success, Vestron followed it up with a series of flops and ran out of money. Vestron's parent company, Vestron Inc., went bankrupt in 1989,[14] and was bought out in January 1991 by LIVE Entertainment for $26 million. The rights to Dirty Dancing now rest with Lionsgate Entertainment,[30] which purchased Artisan Entertainment in 2003.

text: Orbach, already known as a successful Broadway actor, continued in different genres. He was the voice of the candelabrum "Lumiere" in the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991), before taking on his best known role, detective Lennie Briscoe in the TV crime drama Law & Order, which he played from 1992 until his death in 2004.[52]

text: Choreographer Ortega went on to choreograph and direct other major pictures such as Newsies (1992)[12] and starting in 2006, the High School Musical series.[53] He also became a director of film and television, including several episodes of Gilmore Girls, in which Dirty Dancing's Kelly Bishop had a starring role.[54]

text: Lake Lure celebrated its Dirty Dancing legacy in the 1980s with the Dirty Dancing Revue featuring the A-Lure Dancers, soul singer Maurice Williams (whose song "Stay" was featured in the film), and Billy Scott and the Party Prophets. Today, Lake Lure hosts the annual Dirty Dancing Festival.[55]

text: Kellerman's Hotel is the Mountain Lake Hotel, and it now offers "Dirty Dancing Weekends".[56]

text: Various images and lines from the film have worked their way into popular culture. Johnny Castle's line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner", has been used in song lyrics, as the title of the "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner" episode of the TV series Veronica Mars, and as the title of a Fall Out Boy song. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" was also quoted in Supernatural: when Dean says the line concerning his beloved Impala and his brother Sam retorts that the line is from a Swayze movie; Dean responds: "Swayze always gets a pass". The line was parodied in the webcomic Looking for Group where Richard, one of the primary characters, uttered a variation involving his own name, and in Family Guy, where the scene is parodied by Baby's parents questioning Johnny due to her youth. In Sweden, feminist art group Sisters of Jam put the text "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" (in English) in white neon light at Umeå Bus Square (2008) and at Karlstad University (2012).[57]

text: Family Guy also parodies the scene where Baby first sees Johnny dancing with the staff. In the TV series How I Met Your Mother, Barney Stinson attempts to pass off the Dirty Dancing story as the story of his own loss of virginity because he is ashamed of his actual story; the original "Love is Strange" scene is shown with Barney replacing Johnny.

text: The French film Heartbreaker (2010) pays homage to the film, as a plot detail, with some clips from the film shown and a "recreation" by the two main characters of the "lift" scene.

text: In the first episode of the TV series New Girl, the female lead Jess watches the film repeatedly after her break up.

text: Since 2009, there has been a Dirty Dancing Festival in Lake Lure, North Carolina.[58]

text: Alternate versions[edit]

text: Stage version[edit]

text: The film was adapted for the stage in 2004 as a musical, Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage. Produced by Jacobsen Entertainment in Australia for $6.5 million, it was written by Eleanor Bergstein and had the same songs as the film, plus a few extra scenes. Musical direction was by Chong Lim (one of the composers for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney), and the initial production starred Kym Valentine as Baby and Sydney Dance Company's Josef Brown as Johnny. Although reviews were mixed,[34] the production was a commercial success, selling over 200,000 tickets during its six-month run.[27] It has also had sellout runs in Germany and in London's West End, where it opened at the Aldwych Theatre on October 23, 2006 with the highest pre-sell in London history, earning £6 million ($US12 million).[8][9][34] As of March 2011[update], over 1 million people have seen the musical in London, selling out 6 months in advance.[59] The original West End production closed in July 2011 after a five-year run, prior to a two-year national tour.[60] The show returned to the West End at the Piccadilly Theatre and ran from July 13, 2013 to February 22, 2014 before resuming its tour of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.[61]

text: A New York production was in the planning stage in 2006,[34] with the show first starting in other North American cities. It broke box office records in May 2007 for its first such venue, selling $2 million on the first day of ticket sales in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The production opened on November 15, 2007 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, with an all-Canadian cast, except for Monica West (Baby Housman), Britta Lazenga (Penny), and Al Sapienza (Jake Housman). After Toronto, the musical opened in Chicago in previews on September 28, 2008 and officially on October 19, 2008, running through January 17, 2009,[62] followed by Boston (February 7 – March 15, 2009) and Los Angeles.[63][64][65]

text: An official American tour began in September 2014 at The National Theatre in Washington, DC with dates scheduled in 31 cities. Previews started August 26 and the official opening night was on September 2.[66]

text: Tours and TV show[edit]

text: Dirty Dancing has appeared in other forms than the stage version. In 1988, a music tour named Dirty Dancing: Live in Concert, featuring Bill Medley and Eric Carmen,[37] played 90 cities in three months.[14] Also in 1988, the CBS network launched a Dirty Dancing television series, however with none of the original cast or staff. The series was canceled after only a few episodes.

text: Prequel[edit]

text: In 2004, a prequel of the film was released, entitled Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. It tells the story of a sheltered American teenager learning about life through dance, when her family relocates to Havana, Cuba just before the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Swayze was paid $5 million to appear in a cameo role as a dance teacher[67] —considerably more than the $200,000 he earned for the first film.[68]

text: 20th anniversary releases[edit]

text: For the 20th anniversary in 2007, the film was re-released in theatres with additional footage, while the original film version was re-released on DVD with deleted scenes, and included writer commentary.[69] At the same time, Codemasters released Dirty Dancing: The Video Game.[70] In the United Kingdom, the anniversary was marked by a reality TV show based on the film; titled Dirty Dancing: The Time of Your Life, the TV show was filmed at the Mountain Lake resort.

text: In the UK, to mark the 20th anniversary of the film, Channel Five broadcast a special documentary called Seriously Dirty Dancing. It was presented by Dawn Porter, an investigative journalist and a self-confessed Dirty Dancing addict. The documentary was very successful, being Channel Five's highest rated documentary of 2007. Porter visited the set of the film, met other Dirty Dancing fanatics, and learned the last dance, which she performed at the end of the documentary in front of family and friends.

text: Remake[edit]

text: In August 2011, Lionsgate announced their plan to remake the film. It was confirmed that the studio had hired the film's choreographer, Kenny Ortega, to direct. "We believe that the timing couldn't be better to modernize this story on the big screen, and we are proud to have Kenny Ortega at the helm," Joe Drake, president of Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group, explained about the project. A miniseries version of "Dirty Dancing" had been scheduled to be shot in Western North Carolina.[71] As of July 29, 2015, the miniseries has been put on hold.[72]

text: In December 2015, ABC ordered a three-hour musical remake of Dirty Dancing, starring Abigail Breslin, Colt Prattes, Debra Messing, Sarah Hyland, Nicole Scherzinger, Billy Dee Williams & Shane Harper.[73][74][75][76][77] It aired on May 24, 2017.[4] It received negative reviews from a majority of critics.[78]


document_title: Personal computer

question_text: when was the first personal computer made available

question_tokens: when was the first personal computer made available

text: Personal computer

text: Terminology[edit]

text: "PC" is an initialism for "personal computer". The IBM Personal Computer incorporated the designation in its model name, but IBM has not used this brand for many years. It is sometimes useful, especially in a marketing context, to distinguish personal computers of the "IBM Personal Computer" family from personal computers made by other manufacturers. For example, "PC" is used in contrast with "Mac", an Apple Macintosh computer.[2][3][4][5] This sense of the word is used in the Get a Mac advertisement campaign that ran between 2006 and 2009, as well as its rival, I'm a PC campaign, that appeared in 2008. Since none of these Apple products were mainframes or time-sharing systems, they were all "personal computers" and not "PC" (brand) computers

text: History[edit]

text: The “brain” [computer] may one day come down to our level [of the common people] and help with our income-tax and book-keeping calculations. But this is speculation and there is no sign of it so far.

text: In the history of computing there were many examples of computers designed to be used by one person, as opposed to terminals connected to mainframe computers. It took a while for computers to be developed that meet the modern definition of a "personal computers", one that is designed for one person, is easy to use, and is cheap enough for an individual to buy.[7]

text: Using the narrow definition of "operated by one person", the first personal computer was the ENIAC which became operational in 1946.[8] It did not meet further definitions of affordable or easy to use.

text: An example of an early single-user computer was the LGP-30, created in 1956 by Stan Frankel and used for science and engineering as well as basic data processing.[9] It came with a retail price of $46,000—equivalent to about $414,000 today.[10]

text: Introduced at the 1965 New York Worlds Fair, the Programma 101 was a printing programmable calculator[11][12] described in advertisements as a "desktop computer".[13][14][15][16] It was manufactured by the Italian company Olivetti and invented by the Italian engineer Pier Giorgio Perotto, inventor of the magnetic card system for program storage.[citation needed]

text: The Soviet MIR series of computers was developed from 1965 to 1969 in a group headed by Victor Glushkov. It was designed as a relatively small-scale computer for use in engineering and scientific applications and contained a hardware implementation of a high-level programming language. Another innovative feature for that time was the user interface combining a keyboard with a monitor and light pen for correcting texts and drawing on screen.[17] In what was later to be called the Mother of All Demos, SRI researcher Douglas Engelbart in 1968 gave a preview of what would become the staples of daily working life in the 21st century: e-mail, hypertext, word processing, video conferencing and the mouse. The demonstration required technical support staff and a mainframe time-sharing computer that were far too costly for individual business use at the time.

text: By the early 1970s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations, although these systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by a single person. Early personal computers—generally called microcomputers—were often sold in a kit form and in limited volumes, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians. Minimal programming was done with toggle switches to enter instructions, and output was provided by front panel lamps. Practical use required adding peripherals such as keyboards, computer displays, disk drives, and printers. Micral N was the earliest commercial, non-kit microcomputer based on a microprocessor, the Intel 8008. It was built starting in 1972 and few hundred units were sold. This had been preceded by the Datapoint 2200 in 1970, for which the Intel 8008 had been commissioned, though not accepted for use. The CPU design implemented in the Datapoint 2200 became the basis for x86 architecture used in the original IBM PC and its descendants.[18]

text: In 1973 the IBM Los Gatos Scientific Center developed a portable computer prototype called SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) based on the IBM PALM processor with a Philips compact cassette drive, small CRT and full function keyboard. SCAMP emulated an IBM 1130 minicomputer in order to run APL\1130.[19] In 1973 APL was generally available only on mainframe computers, and most desktop sized microcomputers such as the Wang 2200 or HP 9800 offered only BASIC. Because SCAMP was the first to emulate APL\1130 performance on a portable, single user computer, PC Magazine in 1983 designated SCAMP a "revolutionary concept" and "the world's first personal computer".[19][20] This seminal, single user portable computer now resides in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.. Successful demonstrations of the 1973 SCAMP prototype led to the IBM 5100 portable microcomputer launched in 1975 with the ability to be programmed in both APL and BASIC for engineers, analysts, statisticians and other business problem-solvers. In the late 1960s such a machine would have been nearly as large as two desks and would have weighed about half a ton.[19]

text: Another desktop portable APL machine, the MCM/70, was demonstrated in 1973 and shipped in 1974. It used the Intel 8008 processor.

text: A seminal step in personal computing was the 1973 Xerox Alto, developed at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). It had a graphical user interface (GUI) which later served as inspiration for Apple Computer's Macintosh, and Microsoft's Windows operating system. The Alto was a demonstration project, not commercialized, as the parts were too expensive to be affordable.[7]

text: Also in 1973 Hewlett Packard introduced fully BASIC programmable microcomputers that fit entirely on top of a desk, including a keyboard, a small one-line display and printer. The Wang 2200 microcomputer of 1973 had a full-size cathode ray tube (CRT) and cassette tape storage.[21] These were generally expensive specialized computers sold for business or scientific uses. The introduction of the microprocessor, a single chip with all the circuitry that formerly occupied large cabinets, led to the proliferation of personal computers after 1975.

text: 1974 saw the introduction of what is considered by many to be the first true "personal computer", the Altair 8800 created by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS).[22][23] Based on the 8-bit Intel 8080 Microprocessor,[24] the Altair is widely recognized as the spark that ignited the microcomputer revolution[25] as the first commercially successful personal computer.[26] The computer bus designed for the Altair was to become a de facto standard in the form of the S-100 bus, and the first programming language for the machine was Microsoft's founding product, Altair BASIC.[27][28]

text: In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sold the Apple I computer circuit board, which was fully prepared and contained about 30 chips. The Apple I computer differed from the other kit-style hobby computers of era. At the request of Paul Terrell, owner of the Byte Shop, Steve Jobs was given his first purchase order, for 50 Apple I computers, only if the computers were assembled and tested and not a kit computer. Terrell wanted to have computers to sell to a wide range of users, not just experienced electronics hobbyists who had the soldering skills to assemble a computer kit. The Apple I as delivered was still technically a kit computer, as it did not have a power supply, case, or keyboard as it was delivered to the Byte Shop.

text: The first successfully mass marketed personal computer was the Commodore PET introduced in January 1977. However, it was back-ordered and not available until later in the year.[29] Five months later (June), the Apple II (usually referred to as the "Apple") was introduced,[30] and the TRS-80 from Tandy Corporation / Tandy Radio Shack in summer 1977, delivered in September in a small number. Mass-market ready-assembled computers allowed a wider range of people to use computers, focusing more on software applications and less on development of the processor hardware.

text: During the early 1980s, home computers were further developed for household use, with software for personal productivity, programming and games. They typically could be used with a television already in the home as the computer display, with low-detail blocky graphics and a limited color range, and text about 40 characters wide by 25 characters tall. Sinclair Research,[31] a UK company, produced the ZX Series—the ZX80 (1980), ZX81 (1981), and the ZX Spectrum; the latter was introduced in 1982, and totaled 8 million unit sold. Following came the Commodore 64, totaled 17 million units sold.[32][33]

text: In the same year, the NEC PC-98 was introduced, which was a very popular personal computer that sold in more than 18 million units.[34] Another famous personal computer, the revolutionary Amiga 1000, was unveiled by Commodore on July 23, 1985. The Amiga 1000 featured a multitasking, windowing operating system, color graphics with a 4096-color palette, stereo sound, Motorola 68000 CPU, 256 KB RAM, and 880 KB 3.5-inch disk drive, for US$1,295.[35]

text: Somewhat larger and more expensive systems (for example, running CP/M), or sometimes a home computer with additional interfaces and devices, although still low-cost compared with minicomputers and mainframes, were aimed at office and small business use, typically using "high resolution" monitors capable of at least 80 column text display, and often no graphical or color drawing capability. Workstations were characterized by high-performance processors and graphics displays, with large-capacity local disk storage, networking capability, and running under a multitasking operating system. Eventually, due to the influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market, personal computers and home computers lost any technical distinction. Business computers acquired color graphics capability and sound, and home computers and game systems users used the same processors and operating systems as office workers. Mass-market computers had graphics capabilities and memory comparable to dedicated workstations of a few years before. Even local area networking, originally a way to allow business computers to share expensive mass storage and peripherals, became a standard feature of personal computers used at home.

text: In 1982 "The Computer" was named Machine of the Year by Time magazine. In the 2010s, several companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Sony sold off their PC and laptop divisions. As a result, the personal computer was declared dead several times during this period.[36]

text: Types[edit]

text: Stationary[edit]

text: Workstation[edit]

text: A workstation is a high-end personal computer designed for technical, mathematical, or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. Workstations are used for tasks such as computer-aided design, drafting and modeling, computation-intensive scientific and engineering calculations, image processing, architectural modeling, and computer graphics for animation and motion picture visual effects.[37]

text: Desktop computer[edit]

text: Prior to the widespread usage of PCs, a computer that could fit on a desk was remarkably small, leading to the "desktop" nomenclature. More recently, the phrase usually indicates a particular style of computer case. Desktop computers come in a variety of styles ranging from large vertical tower cases to small models which can be tucked behind an LCD monitor. In this sense, the term "desktop" refers specifically to a horizontally oriented case, usually intended to have the display screen placed on top to save desk space. Most desktop computers have an external display screen and an external keyboard, which are typically plugged into the computer case.

text: Gaming computer[edit]

text: A gaming computer is a standard desktop computer that typically has high-performance hardware, such as a more powerful video card, processor and memory, in order to handle the requirements of demanding video games, which are often simply called "PC games".[38] A number of companies, such as Alienware, manufacture prebuilt gaming computers, and companies such as Razer and Logitech market mice, keyboards and headsets geared toward gamers.

text: Single unit[edit]

text: Single-unit PCs (also known as all-in-one PCs) are a subtype of desktop computers that combine the monitor and processor unit of the computer within a single unit. The monitor often utilizes a touchscreen as an optional method of user input, but separate keyboards and mice are normally still included. The inner components of the PC are often located directly behind the monitor and many of such PCs are built similarly to laptops.

text: Nettop[edit]

text: A subtype of desktops, called nettops, was introduced by Intel in February 2008, characterized by low cost and lean functionality. A similar subtype of laptops (or notebooks) is the netbook, described below. The product line features the new Intel Atom processor, which specifically enables nettops to consume less power and fit into small enclosures.

text: Home theater PC[edit]

text: A home theater PC (HTPC) is a convergence device that combines the functions of a personal computer and a digital video recorder. It is connected to a TV set or an appropriately sized computer display, and is often used as a digital photo viewer, music and video player, TV receiver, and digital video recorder. HTPCs are also referred to as media center systems or media servers. The general goal in a HTPC is usually to combine many or all components of a home theater setup into one box. More recently, HTPCs gained the ability to connect to services providing on-demand movies and TV shows. HTPCs can be purchased pre-configured with the required hardware and software needed to add television programming to the PC, or can be cobbled together out of discrete components, what is commonly done with software support from MythTV, Windows Media Center, GB-PVR, SageTV, Famulent or LinuxMCE.

text: Portable[edit]

text: Laptop[edit]

text: A laptop computer, also called a notebook, is a small personal computer designed for portability. Usually, all of the hardware and interfaces needed to operate a laptop, such as the graphics card, audio devices or USB ports (previously parallel and serial ports), are built into a single unit. Laptops usually have "clamshell" design, in which the keyboard and computer components are on one panel and a flat display screen on a second panel, which is hinged to the first panel. The laptop is opened for use and closed for transport. Closing the laptop also protects the screen and keyboard during transportation. Laptops have both a power cable that can be plugged in and high-capacity batteries that can power the device, enhancing its portability. Once the battery charge is depleted, it will have to be recharged through a power outlet. In the interests of saving power, weight and space, laptop graphics cards are in many cases integrated into the CPU or chipset and use system RAM, resulting in reduced graphics performance when compared to an equivalent desktop machine. For this reason, desktop or gaming computers are usually preferred to laptop PCs for gaming purposes.

text: One of the drawbacks of laptops is that, due to the size and configuration of components, usually relatively little can be done to upgrade the overall computer from its original design or add components. Internal upgrades are either not manufacturer-recommended, can damage the laptop if done with poor care or knowledge, or in some cases impossible, making the desktop PC more modular and upgradable. Desktop PCs typically have a case that has extra empty space inside, where users can install new components. Some internal upgrades to laptops, such as memory and hard disk drive upgrades are often easily performed, while a display or keyboard upgrade is usually difficult or impossible. Just like desktops, laptops also have the same input and output ports for connecting to a wide variety of devices, including external displays, mice, cameras, storage devices and keyboards, which may be attached externally through USB ports and other less common ports such as external video. Laptops are also a little more expensive compared to desktops, as the miniaturized components for laptops themselves are expensive.

text: A subtype of notebooks, called subnotebook, has most of the features of a standard laptop computer, but with smaller physical dimensions. Subnotebooks are larger than hand-held computers, and usually run full versions of desktop or laptop operating systems. Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPC) are usually considered subnotebooks, or more specifically, subnotebook tablet PCs, which are described below. Netbooks are sometimes considered to belong to this category, though they are sometimes separated into a category of their own (see below).

text: Desktop replacement[edit]

text: A desktop replacement computer (DTR) is a personal computer that provides the full capabilities of a desktop computer while remaining mobile. Such computers are often actually larger, bulkier laptops. Because of their increased size, this class of computers usually includes more powerful components and a larger display than generally found in smaller portable computers, and can have a relatively limited battery capacity or none at all in some cases. Some use a limited range of desktop components to provide better performance at the expense of battery life. Desktop replacement computers are sometimes called desknotes, as a portmanteau of words "desktop" and "notebook", though the term is also applied to desktop replacement computers in general.[39]

text: Netbook[edit]

text: Netbooks, also called mini notebooks or subnotebooks, are a subgroup of laptops[40] acting as a category of small, lightweight and inexpensive laptop computers suited for general computing tasks and accessing web-based applications. They are often marketed as "companion devices", with an intention to augment other ways in which a user can access computer resources.[40] Walt Mossberg called them a "relatively new category of small, light, minimalist and cheap laptops."[41] By August 2009, CNET called netbooks "nothing more than smaller, cheaper notebooks."[40] Initially, the primary defining characteristic of netbooks was the lack of an optical disc drive, requiring it to be a separate external device. This has become less important as flash memory devices have gradually increased in capacity, replacing the writable optical disc (e.g. CD-RW, DVD-RW) as a transportable storage medium.

text: At their inception in late 2007—as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost[42]—netbooks omitted key features (e.g., the optical drive), featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced specifications and computing power. Over the course of their evolution, netbooks have ranged in their screen sizes from below five inches[43] to over 13 inches,[44] with weights around ~1 kg (2–3 pounds). Often significantly less expensive than other laptops,[45] by mid-2009 netbooks had been offered to users "free of charge", with an extended service contract purchase of a cellular data plan.[46] In the short period since their appearance, netbooks have grown in size and features, converging with new smaller and lighter notebooks. By mid-2009, CNET noted that "the specs are so similar that the average shopper would likely be confused as to why one is better than the other," noting "the only conclusion is that there really is no distinction between the devices."[40]

text: Tablet[edit]

text: A tablet is a type of portable PC that de-emphasizes the use of traditional input devices (such as a mouse or keyboard) by using a touchscreen display, which can be controlled using either a stylus pen or finger. Some tablets may use a "hybrid" or "convertible" design, offering a keyboard that can either be removed as an attachment, or a screen that can be rotated and folded directly over top the keyboard. Some tablets may run a traditional PC operating system such as Windows or Linux; Microsoft attempted to enter the tablet market in 2002 with its Microsoft Tablet PC specifications, for tablets and convertible laptops running Windows XP. However, Microsoft's early attempts were overshadowed by the release of Apple's iPad; following in its footsteps, most tablets use slate designs and run mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS, giving them functionality similar to smartphones. In response, Microsoft built its Windows 8 operating system to better accommodate these new touch-oriented devices.[47] Many tablet computers have USB ports, to which a keyboard or mouse can be connected.

text: Ultra-mobile PC[edit]

text: The ultra-mobile PC (UMP) is a specification for small-configuration tablet PCs. It was developed as a joint development exercise by Microsoft, Intel and Samsung, among others. Current UMPCs typically feature the Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Linux operating system, and low-voltage Intel Atom or VIA C7-M processors.

text: Pocket PC[edit]

text: A pocket PC is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer (personal digital assistant, PDA) that runs the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system. It may have the capability to run an alternative operating system like NetBSD or Linux. Pocket PCs have many of the capabilities of desktop PCs. Numerous applications are available for handhelds adhering to the Microsoft Pocket PC specification, many of which are freeware. Some of these devices also include mobile phone features, actually representing a smartphone. Microsoft-compliant Pocket PCs can also be used with many other add-ons like GPS receivers, barcode readers, RFID readers and cameras. In 2007, with the release of Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft dropped the name Pocket PC in favor of a new naming scheme: devices without an integrated phone are called Windows Mobile Classic instead of Pocket PC, while devices with an integrated phone and a touch screen are called Windows Mobile Professional.[48]

text: Hardware[edit]

text:
Scanner
CPU (Microprocessor)
Memory (RAM)
Expansion cards (graphics cards, etc.)
Power supply
Optical disc drive
Storage (Hard disk or SSD)
Motherboard
Speakers
Monitor
System software
Application software
Keyboard
Mouse
External hard disk
Printer

text: Computer hardware is a comprehensive term for all physical parts of a computer, as distinguished from the data it contains or operates on, and the software that provides instructions for the hardware to accomplish tasks. The boundary between hardware and software has become blurred, with the existence of firmware that is software "built into" the hardware. For example, a 2010-era LCD display screen contains a small computer inside. Mass-market consumer computers use highly standardized components and so are simple for an end user to assemble into a working system. Most 2010s-era computers only require users to plug in the power supply, monitor, and other cables. A typical desktop computer consists of a computer case (or "tower"), a metal chassis that holds the power supply, motherboard, hard disk drive, and often an optical disc drive. Most towers have empty space where users can add additional components. External devices such as a computer monitor or visual display unit, keyboard, and a pointing device (mouse) are usually found in a personal computer.

text: The motherboard connects all processor, memory and peripheral devices together. The RAM, graphics card and processor are in most cases mounted directly onto the motherboard. The central processing unit (microprocessor chip) plugs into a CPU socket, while the memory modules plug into corresponding memory sockets. Some motherboards have the video display adapter, sound and other peripherals integrated onto the motherboard, while others use expansion slots for graphics cards, network cards, or other I/O devices. The graphics card or sound card may employ a break out box to keep the analog parts away from the electromagnetic radiation inside the computer case. Disk drives, which provide mass storage, are connected to the motherboard with one cable, and to the power supply through another cable. Usually, disk drives are mounted in the same case as the motherboard; expansion chassis are also made for additional disk storage.

text: For large amounts of data, a tape drive can be used or extra hard disks can be put together in an external case. The keyboard and the mouse are external devices plugged into the computer through connectors on an I/O panel on the back of the computer case. The monitor is also connected to the input/output (I/O) panel, either through an onboard port on the motherboard, or a port on the graphics card. Capabilities of the personal computers hardware can sometimes be extended by the addition of expansion cards connected via an expansion bus. Standard peripheral buses often used for adding expansion cards in personal computers include PCI, PCI Express (PCIe), and AGP (a high-speed PCI bus dedicated to graphics adapters, found in older computers). Most modern personal computers have multiple physical PCI Express expansion slots, with some of the having PCI slots as well.

text: Computer case[edit]

text: A computer case is an enclosure that contains the main components of a computer. They are usually constructed from steel or aluminum combined with plastic, although other materials such as wood and tempered glass have been used for specialized units. Cases are available in different sizes and shapes; the size and shape of a computer case are usually determined by the configuration of the motherboard that it is designed to accommodate since this is the largest and most central component of most computers. The most popular style for desktop computers is ATX, although microATX and similar layouts became very popular for a variety of uses. Companies like Shuttle Inc. and AOpen have popularized small cases, for which FlexATX is the most common motherboard size. In the 1990s, desktop computer cases were larger and taller than 2010-era computer cases.

text: Power supply unit[edit]

text: The power supply unit (PSU) converts general-purpose mains AC electricity to direct current (DC) for the other components of the computer. The rated output capacity of a PSU should usually be about 40% greater than the calculated system power consumption needs to be obtained by adding up all the system components. This protects against overloading the supply, and guards against performance degradation. Power supply capacities range from 250 to 2000 watts for desktop computers.

text: Processor[edit]

text: The central processing unit (CPU) is a part of a computer that executes instructions of a software program. In newer PCs, the CPU contains over a million transistors in one integrated circuit chip called the microprocessor. In most cases, the processor plugs directly into the motherboard. The processor chip may have a heat sink and a fan attached for cooling. IBM PC compatible computers use an x86-compatible microprocessor, manufactured by Intel, AMD, VIA Technologies or Transmeta. Apple Macintosh computers were initially built with the Motorola 680x0 family of processors, then switched to the PowerPC series; in 2006, they switched to x86-compatible processors made by Intel.

text: Motherboard[edit]

text: The motherboard, also referred to as system board or main board, is the primary circuit board within a personal computer, and other major system components plug directly into it or via a cable. A motherboard contains a microprocessor, the CPU supporting circuitry (mostly integrated circuits) that provide the interface between memory and input/output peripheral circuits, main memory, and facilities for initial setup of the computer immediately after power-on (often called boot firmware or, in IBM PC compatible computers, a BIOS or UEFI). In many portable and embedded personal computers, the motherboard houses nearly all of the PC's core components. Often a motherboard will also contain one or more peripheral buses and physical connectors for expansion purposes. Sometimes a secondary daughter board is connected to the motherboard to provide further expandability or to satisfy space constraints.

text: Main memory[edit]

text: A PC's main memory is a fast primary storage device that is directly accessible by the CPU, and is used to store the currently executing program and immediately needed data. PCs use semiconductor random-access memory (RAM) of various kinds such as DRAM, SDRAM or SRAM as their primary storage. Which exact kind is used depends on cost/performance issues at any particular time. Main memory is much faster than mass storage devices like hard disk drives or optical discs, but is usually volatile, meaning that it does not retain its contents (instructions or data) in the absence of power, and is much more expensive for a given capacity than is most mass storage. As a result, main memory is generally not suitable for long-term or archival data storage.

text: Storage drive[edit]

text: Mass storage devices store programs and data even when the power is off; they do require power to perform read and write functions during usage. Although flash memory has dropped in cost, the prevailing form of mass storage in personal computers is still the hard disk drive. If the mass storage controller provides additional ports for expandability, a PC may also be upgraded by the addition of extra hard disk or optical disc drives. For example, BD-ROMs, DVD-RWs, and various optical disc recorders may all be added by the user to certain PCs. Standard internal storage device connection interfaces are PATA, SATA and SCSI. Solid state drives (SSDs) are a much faster replacement for traditional mechanical hard disk drives but are also more expensive in terms of cost per gigabyte. Solid state drives connect using several connectors, including SATA, M.2, and U.2. Some models use the NVMe protocol, which have vastly improved performance over standard hard disk drives and older SSDs that use the older AHCI protocol.

text: Visual display unit[edit]

text: A visual display unit, computer monitor or just display, is a piece of electrical equipment, usually separate from the computer case, which displays visual images without producing a permanent computer record. A display device was usually either a CRT in the 1980s, but by the 2000s, flat panel displays such as a TFT LCD had largely replaced the bulkier, heavier CRT screens. Multi-monitor setups are quite common in the 2010s, as they enable a user to display multiple programs at the same time (e.g., an email inbox and a word processing program). The display unit houses an electronic circuitry that generates its picture from signals received from the computer. Within the computer, either integral to the motherboard or plugged into it as an expansion card, there is pre-processing circuitry to convert the microprocessor's output data to a format compatible with the display unit's circuitry. The images from computer monitors originally contained only text, but as graphical user interfaces emerged and became common, they began to display more images and multimedia content. The term "monitor" is also used, particularly by technicians in broadcasting television, where a picture of the broadcast data is displayed to a highly standardized reference monitor for confidence checking purposes.

text: Video card[edit]

text: The video card—otherwise called a graphics card, graphics adapter or video adapter—processes the graphics output from the motherboard and transmits it to the display. It is an essential part of modern multimedia-enriched computing. Graphics circuitry may be integrated with the motherboard, or may be on cards istalled in PCI, AGP, or PCI Express slots. When the IBM PC was introduced, most existing business-oriented personal computers used text-only display adapters and had no graphics capability. Home computers at that time had graphics compatible with television signals, but with low resolution owing to the limited memory available to the eight-bit processors available at the time.

text: Keyboard[edit]

text: A keyboard is an arrangement of buttons that each correspond to a function, letter, or number. They are the primary devices used for inputting text. In most cases, they contain an array of keys specifically organized with the corresponding letters, numbers, and functions printed or engraved on the button. They are generally designed around an operators language, and many different versions for different languages exist. In English, the most common layout is the QWERTY layout, which was originally used in typewriters. They have evolved over time, and have been modified for use in computers with the addition of function keys, number keys, arrow keys, and keys specific to an operating system. Often, specific functions can be achieved by pressing multiple keys at once or in succession, such as inputting characters with accents or opening a task manager. Programs use keyboard shortcuts very differently and all use different keyboard shortcuts for different program specific operations, such as refreshing a web page in a web browser or selecting all text in a word processor. In addition to the alphabetic keys found on a typewriter, computer keyboards typically have a numeric keyboard and a row of function keys and special keys, such as CNTRL, ALT, DEL and Esc

text: Many keyboards include LED lights under the keys that increase the visibility of the letters or symbols in dark environments.

text: Mouse[edit]

text: A computer mouse is a small handheld device that users hold and slide across a flat surface, pointing at various elements of a graphical user interface with an on-screen cursor, and selecting and moving objects using the mouse buttons. Mice may be plugged into a dedicated mouse socket, or a USB port, or, may be connected wirelessly. Mice include one or more buttons to allow a user to signal the computer to carry out some operation, such as selecting an item from a menu of choices on the screen. A mouse may have a scroll wheel, to allow users to move the displayed image. The scroll wheel can also be pressed down, and used as a third button. Some mouse wheels may be tilted from side to side to allow sideways scrolling. Different programs make use of these functions differently, and may scroll horizontally by default with the scroll wheel, open different menus with different buttons, etc. These functions may be also user-defined through software utilities. Mechanical mice used a ball, which drove pulse generators to detect movement along "north-south" or "east-west" axies. Optical mice use a special mouse pad with a printed grid to allow detection of motion, or else use an imaging chip that allows detection of motion on almost any opaque surface.

text: Other components[edit]

text: All computers require either fixed or removable storage for their operating system, programs and user-generated material. Early home computers used compact audio cassettes for file storage; these were at the time a very low cost storage solution, but were displaced by floppy disk drives when manufacturing costs dropped, by the mid-1980s. Initially, the 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch floppy drives were the principal forms of removable storage for backup of user files and distribution of software. As memory sizes increased, the capacity of the floppy did not keep pace; the Zip drive and other higher-capacity removable media were introduced but never became as prevalent as the floppy drive. By the late 1990s, the optical drive, in CD and later DVD and Blu-ray Disc forms, became the main method for software distribution, and writeable media provided means for data backup and file interchange. As a result, floppy drives became uncommon in desktop personal computers since about 2000, and were dropped from many laptop systems even earlier.[note 1]

text: A second generation of tape recorders was provided when videocassette recorders were pressed into service as backup media for larger disk drives. All these systems were less reliable and slower than purpose-built magnetic tape drives. Such tape drives were uncommon in consumer-type personal computers but were a necessity in business or industrial use. Interchange of data such as photographs from digital cameras is greatly expedited by installation of a card reader, which is often compatible with several forms of flash memory devices. It is usually faster and more convenient to move large amounts of data by removing the card from the mobile device, instead of communicating with the mobile device through a USB interface.

text: A USB flash drive performs much of the data transfer and backup functions formerly done with floppy drives, Zip disks and other devices. Mainstream operating systems for personal computers provide built-in support for USB flash drives, allowing interchange even between computers with different processors and operating systems. The compact size and lack of moving parts or dirt-sensitive media, combined with low cost and high capacity, have made USB flash drives a popular and useful accessory for any personal computer user.

text: The operating system can be located on any storage, but is typically installed on a hard disk or solid-state drive. A Live CD represents the concept of running an operating system directly from a CD. While this is slow compared to storing the operating system on a hard disk drive, it is typically used for installation of operating systems, demonstrations, system recovery, or other special purposes. Large flash memory is currently more expensive than hard disk drives of similar size (as of mid-2014) but are starting to appear in laptop computers because of their low weight, small size and low power requirements. Computer communications involve internal modem cards, modems, network adapter cards, and routers. Common peripherals and adapter cards include headsets, joysticks, microphones, printers, scanners, sound adapter cards (as a separate card rather than located on the motherboard), speakers and webcams.

text: Software[edit]

text: Computer software is any kind of computer program, procedure, or documentation that performs some task on a computer system.[50] The term includes application software such as word processors that perform productive tasks for users, system software such as operating systems that interface with computer hardware to provide the necessary services for application software, and middleware that controls and co-ordinates distributed systems.

text: Software applications are common for word processing, Internet browsing, Internet faxing, e-mail and other digital messaging, multimedia playback, playing of computer game, and computer programming. The user may have significant knowledge of the operating environment and application programs, but is not necessarily interested in programming nor even able to write programs for the computer. Therefore, most software written primarily for personal computers tends to be designed with simplicity of use, or "user-friendliness" in mind. However, the software industry continuously provide a wide range of new products for use in personal computers, targeted at both the expert and the non-expert user.

text: Operating system[edit]

text: An operating system (OS) manages computer resources and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. An operating system processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources as a service to users and programs of the system. An operating system performs basic tasks such as controlling and allocating memory, prioritizing system requests, controlling input and output devices, facilitating computer networking, and managing files.

text: Common contemporary desktop operating systems are Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Solaris and FreeBSD. Windows, macOS, and Linux all have server and personal variants. With the exception of Microsoft Windows, the designs of each of them were inspired by or directly inherited from the Unix operating system, which was developed at Bell Labs beginning in the late 1960s and spawned the development of numerous free and proprietary operating systems.

text: Microsoft Windows[edit]

text: Microsoft Windows is the collective brand name of several operating systems made by Microsoft which, as of 2015, are installed on PCs built by HP, Dell and Lenovo, the three remaining high volume manufacturers.[51] Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985,[52] as an add-on to MS-DOS and in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs)[53][54] generated by Apple's 1984 introduction of the Macintosh.[55] As of January 2017[update], the most recent client and server version of Windows are Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.

text: macOS[edit]

text: macOS (formerly OS X) is a line of operating systems developed, marketed and sold by Apple Inc. macOS is the successor to the original Mac OS, which had been Apple's primary operating system since 1984. macOS is a Unix-based graphical operating system, and Snow Leopard, Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan and Sierra are its version codenames. The most recent version of macOS is codenamed macOS High Sierra.

text: Linux[edit]

text: Linux is a family of Unix-like computer operating systems. Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free software and open source development: typically all underlying source code can be freely modified, used, and redistributed by anyone.[56] The name "Linux" refers to the Linux kernel, started in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The system's utilities and libraries usually come from the GNU operating system, announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman. The GNU contribution is the basis for the alternative name GNU/Linux.[57]

text: Known for its use in servers, with the LAMP application stack as one of prominent examples, Linux is supported by corporations such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Novell, Oracle Corporation, Red Hat, Canonical Ltd. and Sun Microsystems. It is used as an operating system for a wide variety of computer hardware, including desktop computers, netbooks, supercomputers,[58] video game systems such as the Steam Machine or PlayStation 3 (until this option was removed remotely by Sony in 2010[59]), several arcade games, and embedded devices such as mobile phones, portable media players, routers, and stage lighting systems.

text: Applications[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Generally, a computer user uses application software to carry out a specific task. System software supports applications and provides common services such as memory management, network connectivity and device drivers, all of which may be used by applications but are not directly of interest to the end user. A simplified analogy in the world of hardware would be the relationship of an electric light bulb (an application) to an electric power generation plant (a system): the power plant merely generates electricity, not itself of any real use until harnessed to an application like the electric light that performs a service that benefits the user.

text: Typical examples of software applications are word processors, spreadsheets, and media players. Multiple applications bundled together as a package are sometimes referred to as an application suite. Microsoft Office and LibreOffice, which bundle together a word processor, a spreadsheet, and several other discrete applications, are typical examples. The separate applications in a suite usually have a user interface that has some commonality making it easier for the user to learn and use each application. Often, they may have some capability to interact with each other in ways beneficial to the user; for example, a spreadsheet might be able to be embedded in a word processor document even though it had been created in the separate spreadsheet application.

text: End-user development tailors systems to meet the user's specific needs. User-written software include spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations, graphics and animation scripts; even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is.

text: Gaming[edit]

text: PC gaming is popular among the high-end PC market. According to an April 2014 market analysis, Gaming platforms like Steam (software), Uplay, Origin, and GOG.com (as well as competitive eSports titles like League of Legends) are largely responsible for PC systems overtaking console revenue in 2013.[60]

text: Sales[edit]

text: Market share[edit]

text: In 2001, 125 million personal computers were shipped in comparison to 48,000 in 1977.[61] More than 500 million personal computers were in use in 2002 and one billion personal computers had been sold worldwide from the mid-1970s up to this time. Of the latter figure, 75% were professional or work related, while the rest were sold for personal or home use. About 81.5% of personal computers shipped had been desktop computers, 16.4% laptops and 2.1% servers. The United States had received 38.8% (394 million) of the computers shipped, Europe 25% and 11.7% had gone to the Asia-Pacific region, the fastest-growing market as of 2002. The second billion was expected to be sold by 2008.[62] Almost half of all households in Western Europe had a personal computer and a computer could be found in 40% of homes in United Kingdom, compared with only 13% in 1985.[63]

text: The global personal computer shipments were 350.9 million units in 2010,[64] 308.3 million units in 2009[65] and 302.2 million units in 2008.[66][67] The shipments were 264 million units in the year 2007, according to iSuppli,[68] up 11.2% from 239 million in 2006.[69] In 2004, the global shipments were 183 million units, an 11.6% increase over 2003.[70] In 2003, 152.6 million computers were shipped, at an estimated value of $175 billion.[71] In 2002, 136.7 million PCs were shipped, at an estimated value of $175 billion.[71] In 2000, 140.2 million personal computers were shipped, at an estimated value of $226 billion.[71] Worldwide shipments of personal computers surpassed the 100-million mark in 1999, growing to 113.5 million units from 93.3 million units in 1998.[72] In 1999, Asia had 14.1 million units shipped.[73]

text: As of June 2008, the number of personal computers in use worldwide hit one billion,[74] while another billion is expected to be reached by 2014. Mature markets like the United States, Western Europe and Japan accounted for 58% of the worldwide installed PCs. The emerging markets were expected to double their installed PCs by 2012 and to take 70% of the second billion PCs. About 180 million computers (16% of the existing installed base) were expected to be replaced and 35 million to be dumped into landfill in 2008. The whole installed base grew 12% annually.[75][76]

text: Based on International Data Corporation (IDC) data for Q2 2011, for the first time China surpassed US in PC shipments by 18.5 million and 17.7 million respectively. This trend reflects the rising of emerging markets as well as the relative stagnation of mature regions.[77]

text: In the developed world, there has been a vendor tradition to keep adding functions to maintain high prices of personal computers. However, since the introduction of the One Laptop per Child foundation and its low-cost XO-1 laptop, the computing industry started to pursue the price too. Although introduced only one year earlier, there were 14 million netbooks sold in 2008.[78] Besides the regular computer manufacturers, companies making especially rugged versions of computers have sprung up, offering alternatives for people operating their machines in extreme weather or environments.[79]

text:
2014 worldwide PC vendor unit shipment estimates

Source
Date
Lenovo
HP
Dell
Acer Inc.
Asus
Others

IDC[80]
Q2 2014
19.6%
18.3%
14.0%
8.2%
6.2%
33.6%

Gartner[81]
Q2 2014
19.2%
17.7%
13.3%
7.9%
6.9%
35.0%

text: In 2011, Deloitte consulting firm predicted that, smartphones and tablet computers as computing devices would surpass the PCs sales[82] (as has happened since 2012). As of 2013, worldwide sales of PCs had begun to fall as many consumers moved to tablets and smartphones for gifts and personal use. Sales of 90.3 million units in the 4th quarter of 2012 represented a 4.9% decline from sales in the 4th quarter of 2011.[83] Global PC sales fell sharply in the first quarter of 2013, according to IDC data. The 14% year-over-year decline was the largest on record since the firm began tracking in 1994, and double what analysts had been expecting.[84][85] The decline of Q2 2013 PC shipments marked the fifth straight quarter of falling sales.[86] "This is horrific news for PCs," remarked an analyst. "It's all about mobile computing now. We have definitely reached the tipping point."[84] Data from Gartner Inc. showed a similar decline for the same time period.[84] China's Lenovo Group bucked the general trend as strong sales to first time buyers in the developing world allowed the company's sales to stay flat overall.[84] Windows 8, which was designed to look similar to tablet/smartphone software, was cited as a contributing factor in the decline of new PC sales. "Unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only didn’t provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market," said IDC Vice President Bob O’Donnell.[85]

text: In August 2013, Credit Suisse published research findings that attributed around 75% of the operating profit share of the PC industry to Microsoft (operating system) and Intel (semiconductors).[87] According to IDC, in 2013 PC shipments dropped by 9.8% as the greatest drop-ever in line with consumers trends to use mobile devices.[88]

text: Average selling price[edit]

text: Selling prices of personal computers steadily declined due to lower costs of production and manufacture, while the capabilities of computers increased. In 1975, an Altair kit sold for only around US$400, but required customers to solder components into circuit boards; peripherals required to interact with the system in alphanumeric form instead of blinking lights would add another $2,000, and the resultant system was only of use to hobbyists.[89]

text: At their introduction in 1981, the US$1,795 price of the Osborne 1 and its competitor Kaypro was considered an attractive price point; these systems had text-only displays and only floppy disks for storage. By 1982, Michael Dell observed that a personal computer system selling at retail for about $3,000 US was made of components that cost the dealer about $600; typical gross margin on a computer unit was around $1,000.[90] The total value of personal computer purchases in the US in 1983 was about $4 billion, comparable to total sales of pet food. By late 1998, the average selling price of personal computer systems in the United States had dropped below $1,000.[91]

text: For Microsoft Windows systems, the average selling price (ASP) showed a decline in 2008/2009, possibly due to low-cost netbooks, drawing $569 for desktop computers and $689 for laptops at U.S. retail in August 2008. In 2009, ASP had further fallen to $533 for desktops and to $602 for notebooks by January and to $540 and $560 in February.[92] According to research firm NPD, the average selling price of all Windows portable PCs has fallen from $659 in October 2008 to $519 in October 2009.[93]

text: Use[edit]

text: Toxicity[edit]

text: Personal computing can fulfill individual needs, but that fulfillment may come at a cost to society as well, especially in terms of environmental impact, although this impact differs between desktop computers and laptops.[94]

text: Electronic waste regulation[edit]

text: Personal computers have become a large contributor to the 50 million tons of discarded electronic waste that is being generated annually, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. To address the electronic waste issue affecting developing countries and the environment, extended producer responsibility (EPR) acts have been implemented in various countries and states.[95] Organizations, such as the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Basel Action Network, Toxics Link India, SCOPE, and Greenpeace have contributed to these efforts. In the absence of comprehensive national legislation or regulation on the export and import of electronic waste, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and BAN (Basel Action Network) teamed up with 32 electronic recyclers in the US and Canada to create an e-steward program for the orderly disposal of manufacturers and customers electronic waste. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition founded the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, a coalition that advocates for the production of environmentally friendly products. The TakeBack Coalition works with policy makers, recyclers, and smart businesses to get manufacturers to take full responsibility of their products. There are organizations opposing EPR regulation, such as the Reason Foundation. They see flaws in two principal tenets of EPR: First EPR relies on the idea that if the manufacturers have to pay for environmental harm, they will adapt their practices. Second EPR assumes the current design practices are environmentally inefficient. The Reason Foundation claims that manufacturers naturally move toward reduced material and energy use.