It was in 1963 when the audio tape was introduced. Oh, the memories, the songs. Today’s kids will never know why you would always want a pencil handy if you were working with an old tape or tape player. Then, of course, there’s the computer data component…
When I bought the original Apple II with a 6K integer basic and 2K assembler/disassembler built-in, the big choice was between 4K of RAM or 16K. I splurged.
But the bigger problem was mass storage. A 140K floppy drive and controller cost $600 back in 1978. That was real money – and almost what the computer cost.