The home computers of the early 1980s were more curiosities than utilitarian devices, although spreadsheets and word processors did begin to emerge at that time.

The practical difficulties such as very restricted memory (the ZX-80 had < 1kB of usable RAM), unreliable cassette tape drives, long loading/saving times and non-ergonomic keyboards meant that even the most dedicated business user would struggle to use them for any serious purpose.