Alongside TV we had cameras, and families across the country filming birthdays and other special occasions.

Alongside newspapers we had 'zine culture and mail-order pamphlets.

There has always been the option to contribute - the Apple iPhone is quite possibly the first exception.

I think this was because of the “IBM PC Compatible” market. IBM was using off-the-shelf components for its PC system and other manufacturers reverse engineered and cloned the system and started selling IBM clones. Interestingly Microsoft who controlled the OS became the monopoly and gatekeeper of that market, not IBM (hardware). MS was making a ton of money by selling OS licenses and online software stores was not a thing since the Internet was nonexistent/limited. “Developers, developers, developers” were the king in that business model so they didn’t need to give a cut to MS or IBM to build on a PC system.

Saying that I think the situation in the smartphones today is less about the business model and more about control and surveillance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_compatible

That's really not true at all. Are you aware of the entire home computer industry of the 70s and 80s? Before PCs, you had a beige box you plugged into your TV and typed in games line by line out of a magazine. They DIY scene was enormous as a percentage of total users.

They also blur the line between "computer" and "console", since the NES is practically the same architecture as many contemporary "computers". Homebrew games existed, and weren't that far out of reach. Homebrew has existed on pretty much every console ever.

PCs weren't an accident in any way. They are a direct descendant of "home computers". That's why they were called "personal computers" in the first place.