the last page of this thread seems to have gotten wayyyyy off topic 
a lot of people thinking they're normal when in fact they're merely exceptions to the rule.
look, bottom line is that computers weren't mainstream at all, i'd personally argue that computers weren't really a common thing in America until the first-person-shooter genre was really established when Half Life came out in 2000. Before then, there really was no need for a computer in most (note: MOST! just because your weird Uncle Richard had one does not make you "most people") households. For games, people mostly turned to gaming consoles (if it weren't for first-person-shooters coming out, game consoles would still be the exclusive place to find games, just like it was in the 1980s and the 1990s if you don't include CDI). For other stuff, they could use typewriters or good old-fashioned pen and paper.
Seriously, the fact that for most of this thread people have been claiming that computers were popular and "mainstream" just because they personally owned one or knew people who owned one is exactly why people often-jokingly say that this forum is full of trolls. I don't really think they're being serious about that, but threads like this make you wonder...
a lot of people thinking they're normal when in fact they're merely exceptions to the rule. look, bottom line is that computers weren't mainstream at all, i'd personally argue that computers weren't really a common thing in America until the first-person-shooter genre was really established when Half Life came out in 2000. Before then, there really was no need for a computer in most (note: MOST! just because your weird Uncle Richard had one does not make you "most people") households. For games, people mostly turned to gaming consoles (if it weren't for first-person-shooters coming out, game consoles would still be the exclusive place to find games, just like it was in the 1980s and the 1990s if you don't include CDI). For other stuff, they could use typewriters or good old-fashioned pen and paper.
Seriously, the fact that for most of this thread people have been claiming that computers were popular and "mainstream" just because they personally owned one or knew people who owned one is exactly why people often-jokingly say that this forum is full of trolls. I don't really think they're being serious about that, but threads like this make you wonder...