Business Information Technology – For some the personal computer (PC) simply means a computer that has less capability than other computers. Personal computers were characterized by their relatively small size and limited capabilities. The cost of production and the final retail price also meant that they were well within reach of the average consumer.

Networking and vast connections were not originally envisaged as part of the narrow definition of a personal computer. The other crucial difference was the absence of an intervening computer as the ones experiences in the main frame and time sharing models. As times has gone on various models of the PC have grown to include the desktop, the laptop, the table, and the hand held PC.

Some offices imported this computer from the home into the work place and the idea of networking started developing. Meanwhile the people at home found that they wanted to use their PC and Laptop for increasingly complicated tasks. Speed and compatibility was of the utmost importance and there was an emphasis on portability. Consequently some of the older PCs became unfashionable and obsolete. Prices went down leading an even greater demand for Personal Computers. The business which used personal computers adapted them to become business IT tools with complex capabilities and inter connectivity.

The idea of working at home also developed as people increasingly sought ways of maximizing employee satisfaction and improving the work-life balance. Some employees even volunteered to use their own equipment as long as they could store the information or communicate directly with the people at work. As the PC has grown, so has the other business IT models but in a different direction. While privacy became of the utmost importance within the home personal computer, the business IT models were seeking ways to ensure that many more people were able to use their systems. Customers could now undertake personal banking on the internet within the privacy of their homes but did not want other computers to have a relationship with their own computers.

Niche computer software companies have also removed the burden of having to write one’s programs in order to accomplish tasks. PCs can now come with ready made packages that can undertake most of the tasks that are reasonably expected to be undertaken. There is a wide variety of packages, and for a relatively small fee customers can also personalize their own packages. The worker can then create a distinct set of usage patterns that differ between the PC at home and the PC at work which has been modeled to become a shared resource.

Whether the future will mean that PCs merge back into the business IT sector is another matter. At the moment the business IT systems have been able to create a distinction between the home PC and the work PC by means of networking and enhancements. The issue of privacy and a private life means that most workers will be unable to or unwilling to merge the two concepts together. Either way it is interesting to note how one piece of equipment can have radically varying uses depending on the enhancements available.