Micro-History Blog

What is microhistory?

Microhistory is a genre of history that focuses on small units of research, such as an event, community, individual or a settlement. In its ambition, however, microhistory can be distinguished from a simple case study insofar as microhistory aspires to '[ask] large questions in small places', according to the definition given by Charles Joyner. It is closely associated with social and cultural history.

-- Wikipedia

What is Micro-History?

Micro-History is an effort to collect as many stories as possible from the beginnings of the personal computer revolution. The site focuses on the period between 1975 and 1995, with a few notable exceptions.

In these two decades, the personal computer went from a niche hobby enjoyed by a few thousand people, to hundreds of millions of computers in use at home and work.

Personal computers were defined as any computer that was sold to and used by an individual rather than an organization. Early on, these desktop-sized machines that sold for a few thousand dollars were called microcomputers.

This distinguished them from minicomputers, which were the size of refrigerators and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and mainframes, which were the size of entire rooms and cost millions.

So the Micro-History project is two things:

1. A collection of stories about the people who dreamed of, designed, created, built, and used personal computers.
2. An attempt to 'ask large questions in small places' and in doing so, connect these stories together

The project is run by me, Jeremy Reimer. I'm the site owner, operator, and primary writer. However, it is also a community-led project. I'm always interested in hearing from people who would like to tell their stories.

Contact us

Please feel free to contact me via email, or use the Forums.