The first time my editors sent me to the Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas, I was young, wide-eyed and owned a reasonable head of hair. Well, at least I had more on my head than the accompanying photo might suggest. During those go-go days in the mid-1980s, the annual trade show was something else. For starters, it was a semi-annual event. The new product spigot was full blast. So much was happening that the event's organizers could hold another Comdex each spring in Atlanta.

In those pre-monopoly days, Comdex was full of possibilities and fizz was in the air. Nobody knew how this nascent industry was supposed to end up. And if they said they did, well, they were just fibbing. There was just too much going on. Microsoft was just another software company. Truth be told, it was not even considered first among equals. That title went to Lotus, at the time the preeminent software developer with its runaway spreadsheet success Lotus 1-2-3. When Bill Gates opined, the press did not fawn over him like a rock star. We paid closer attention to the more interesting ruminations of Lotus' then-CEO Mitch Kapor or the always-flamboyant antics of Philippe Kahn of Borland.