This personal account of the development of computer-based learning from the 1960s to the present argues that the 1960s were a period of gestation. Instructional applications of computers at that time included efforts to simulate physics experiments and the debut of the PLATO system, which already had the ability to deliver interactive instruction via a computer located miles away. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) spread to academia in the 1970s, with CAI courses and PLATO workshops being held for both university faculty and students early in the decade. Students were enthusiastic about the system, and faculty at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne teamed with students trained in the Tutor language of PLATO to develop CAI materials. PLATO materials were used in the implementation of the personalized system of instruction in the classroom, which involved mastery learning, self-paced instruction, lack of lecture, written material for each unit, and peer tutors. No longer considered 'toys,' and accepted for use in university environments, computer-based training was introduced into the work setting in the late 1970s to meet corporate training needs. The early 1980s saw computers finding widespread applications in both the school and the home with drill-and-practice lessons and small computer games. Software was developed for the home market, and PLATO materials for a large time-shared mainframe were adapted for use with a home computer that could be tied into a larger network at times. The focus on commercial markets for CAI continued in the late 1980s, technology was refined, and more and more applications in a variety of settings were developed. Predictions for the 1990s include a resolution of the schism between those who view CAI as helping people to learn how to do something, and expert systems, as helping people to do something directly. (23 references) (DB)