At the time the computer store I worked for sold countless copies of Print Shop. We also had a service at our store where we would lay out and print banners for people. I think it was one of the first tools that got people to consider their PC could be used for more than word processing... that practical graphics were in reach of the average home user.
I think it was one of the first tools that
got people to consider their PC could be used
for more than word processing
Absolutely. I maintain that it did more than any other app to promote the idea of home computing during those early days.
Word processing was only kinda sorta a killer app. If you used one, you knew how superior it was to a typewriter. But most people hadn't used word processors, and the vast majority of people didn't need a typewriter anyway, so the idea of a $2,000 magic typewriter that was 10x as complicated and took up much more desk space was not that enticing to... well, most people.
But anybody could use Print Shop, and even if you didn't use Print Shop, those signs and banners were ubiquitious around schools and offices, so you'd see what other people made with Print Shop.
And the people using Print Shop weren't techies. Secretaries, moms, teachers, they all used it. That was also like a form of advertising for home computing. If you were on the fence about whether home computing was for you, the hardcore nerd in your office crunching spreadsheets all day didn't exactly inspire confidence that these machines could be used by mere mortals as well. But when your kid's 55 year old kindergarten teacher was blasting out primo banners and signs, it told you: home computing was for regular people, too.
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At the time the computer store I worked for sold countless copies of Print Shop. We also had a service at our store where we would lay out and print banners for people. I think it was one of the first tools that got people to consider their PC could be used for more than word processing... that practical graphics were in reach of the average home user.
Word processing was only kinda sorta a killer app. If you used one, you knew how superior it was to a typewriter. But most people hadn't used word processors, and the vast majority of people didn't need a typewriter anyway, so the idea of a $2,000 magic typewriter that was 10x as complicated and took up much more desk space was not that enticing to... well, most people.
But anybody could use Print Shop, and even if you didn't use Print Shop, those signs and banners were ubiquitious around schools and offices, so you'd see what other people made with Print Shop.
And the people using Print Shop weren't techies. Secretaries, moms, teachers, they all used it. That was also like a form of advertising for home computing. If you were on the fence about whether home computing was for you, the hardcore nerd in your office crunching spreadsheets all day didn't exactly inspire confidence that these machines could be used by mere mortals as well. But when your kid's 55 year old kindergarten teacher was blasting out primo banners and signs, it told you: home computing was for regular people, too.