The impact of the social on the home computer

Why do some technologies successfully assimilate into the home and others fail? The physical layout could be one factor but another more important factor could be the social aspects of the home space. Also, once a technology enters the home does it impact on the social life of that home? Some manufacturers in the past have adapted their devices so that they assimilate more clearly into the home, however, until quite recently this was something that was not done by manufacturers of PCs. The impact that this design decision has had on the acceptance of the home computer is the topic of this paper.