Time Inc.

TIME Magazine, one of the most widely read newsweeklies in the United States, built its reputation on shaping public opinion through its annual “Person of the Year” cover. On January 3, 1983, it broke with tradition and named the personal computer “Machine of the Year” for 1982. It was the first time the magazine gave the title to something other than a person, a decision that framed the PC as a central force shaping culture and daily life. The cover featured a plaster figure by American sculptor George Segal seated before a model computer, presenting the machine not as a technical novelty but as an everyday companion. Inside, readers found a multi-page section that was then the largest gallery of computer graphics ever printed for the public, with full-color stills from Robert Abel & Associates, imagery from TRON produced by MAGI and Triple-I, University of Utah test renderings, Charles Csuri’s sigmoids, and examples of fractals and ray-traced solids.

The issue reached more than six million readers, introducing computer imagery to a mass audience at a moment when most households did not yet own a PC. Alongside the art spread were reports on the fast-moving personal computer industry, from Apple, Commodore, and Radio Shack to the IBM PC, which had just begun to set new standards. The mix of market analysis, cultural commentary, and striking visuals presented the computer as more than a business or research tool, showing it as a symbol of imagination and everyday life. Curators and cultural institutions took notice, and artists including Rebecca Allen, Larry Cuba, and Yoichiro Kawaguchi later pointed to this issue as proof their work had an audience. This issue of Time stands as a landmark in media and art history, marking one of the early moments when the personal computer entered public consciousness as a cultural presence.