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Think PCs
The history of PCs shows what must happen if we are to run large networks with powerful routers. The first PCs used DOS that I learned and loved because to me the secret was to think of the English word for what I wanted the PC to do and then use it as the command. For example, COPY to copy files. Then as DOS evolved, the commands were explained when the command was typed with a /? after it. Then there was the DOS HELP command to use when you were not sure of the correct commands to use. This still works with Windows 2000 and XP. If you do not believe me, open a command prompt window, and try them out.
Of course, my parents and many others found DOS intimidating (in my opinion, however, DOS initially was not that complex and intimidating). Unfortunately, DOS became more complex and difficult to understand as PC memory-management features were added and DOS was blended with Windows 3.x. I made a good living from teaching DOS memory-management classes.
Then came Windows 95, and some of the intimidated users began to look again at PCs because Windows 95 made Windows configuration and operation simpler. Soon, more people began using Windows PCs, and they became necessary appliances in every household for kids doing schoolwork. Still, folks that are my age did not feel comfortable.
Next, the point-and-click technology of Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) evolving from the Internet made PCs much more accessible to all. The underlying technology simplified the PC for those users who did not care to understand (and perhaps could not understand) the underlying details of what made a PC tick. All they wanted was to easily connect to the Internet, to surf the Web and send e-mail to family. This shift from complex PC operation to easy PC operation increased the usage of PCs into what it is today. Without making PCs and Internet use easier, the sales of PCs would have proceeded at a much more modest rate than what transpired in the 80s and 90s. The dot-com investments we have lost money on would have not transpired. (Would that have been a good thing? Not really...It is better to have invested and lost than to never have invested at all.