This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Personal Computer. With the PC becoming increasingly invaluable to more people each day and a fundamental part of our work and social lives, it seems hard to imagine how we’d manage without it.

Intel has been playing a central role in leading the development of the personal computer. The first PC introduced by IBM in 1981 featured an Intel 8088 microprocessor as the “brains” inside the computer. Some described it as not much more than a glorified type writer and calculator, but how far the computer has come since then. Last month, the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo was introduced – described by Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini as “the new Pentium…the best processor in the world”, it is the highest performing processor for desktop and mobile PC’s. This new introduction to the microprocessor family will undoubtedly mark a milestone in the history of innovation. Intel delivered generations of PC engines and cores that have revolutionized the way we use computers – making them into the multi-tasking business tools, the entertainment multimedia centres and communication devices they are today.

The first ‘laptop’ was introduced in 1981 by Adam Osborne; the world’s first portable computer weighing in at 24 pounds. Like the PC, the laptop has also come a long way in both its popularity and technology. A recent Intel commissioned survey has revealed some interesting statistics on Europe as a continent of lap top users. 83% of respondents indicated that they are increasingly using their laptops for personal use, and 61% described that they use their laptop for ‘everything’. The most popular uses included storing photographs, with 88% of respondents claiming to this, downloading and storing music (77%) and keeping contacts, addresses and other types of personal information (73%). Despite the stereotype of a laptop user logging on over a coffee at their favourite café, the most popular place to use a laptop while outside the house is in fact on a train, with over 52% of respondents indicating they used their laptop while in transit. In reality, only 30% of respondents actually use their laptops in cafes, restaurants or other retail centres. Respondents felt that using their laptops in public places is becoming increasingly acceptable with only 16% worry that they look like geeks.

“The phenomenal growth and popularity of laptop PCs in recent years has completely revolutionized the way in which we work and play,” said Gilles Pellet, Director of Mobility Platforms for Intel in EMEA. “Intel® Centrino® mobile technology has driven this revolution. The combination of high performance laptop PCs and easy and widespread wireless Internet access has provided people with the freedom, flexibility and choice to express themselves and pursue their own specialist interests more than ever before. This research proves that for a growing number of people across Europe, the laptop PC has become part of daily life, a well-used tool to stay in touch with friends and colleagues, access up-to-the minute information and seek entertainment.”

Anand Chandrasekher, general manager of Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group, agrees that the growth of the PC will continue and says, “In the future, PCs are going to evolve with our innovation thrust behind them to become much more mobile and always connected so that we will want to be inseparable from our PCs—similar to our cell phones. We are moving from Bill Gates’ era of a ‘PC for every desktop’ to the era of a ‘PC for every person.’”

Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.

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