Comment by apalmer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by apalmer | Hacker News Reader

Doesnt intuitively make sense to me... adult women stopped being drawn into the computerfield at the same time that male children began getting computers as gifts? wouldnt their be a distinct lag effect of maybe 5-7 years between when the boys got their computers and entered the work force?

I think the shift probably had more to do with the perception that computer programming was 'important', a lot of the early view on computer programming was driven by the physical interface... women were viewed as suitable for programming because they were historically suitable for typing and secretary work... i think on some level it was being viewed as a form of dictation that was in a bizarre 'shorthand'...

Your intuition around the 5-7 years lag time would seem to line up pretty damn well with the beginning of the computer revolution in the late 70s. What's the problem, exactly?

I agree. Both the TRS-80 (which was specifically mentioned in the audio version of the article) and the Apple II were released in 1977.

>By 1982, an estimated 621,000 home computers were in American households, at an average sales price of US$530.

In a country of 220 million people. If we assume about 4 people could access a single computer, then 1,1% of population had access.

So it seems commercials of Apple II and TRS-80 was the thing that compelled women to stay out of the field. Or alternatively getting your hands on dads TRS-80 was incredibly compelling experience to almost every boy out there.

Edit: this stuff then https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05M80HHNB6s

  > If we assume about 4 people could access a single
  > computer, then 1,1% of population had access.

High school students aren't representative of the general population. Schools had computers, so all of them had access.

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