Olson was right of course. Not only was there no need for it, but the negative effects of computerizing the hapless consumers are still piling up.
Boy was Ken Olson wrong. My ex wife grew up here in Nashua, NH. At various points in time everyone in her immediate family(5 people) worked for Digital Equipment Corp. 60M people worked for them in MA & NH. There were multiple buildings & complexes all around here in southern NH that they owned. Now, there is one facility left that is now owned by HP. After Hewett Packard bought out Compac who bought DEC.
In some ways, I sort of agree with the quote about personal computers in the home. Not all ways, but the internet could have been used for so much more good, and yet, here we are with panem et circenses.