"PC" was "personal computer" years before the IBM PC. Just look at old computer magazines.
The whole reason the phrase "IBM PC" existed was to differentiate it from the other PCs that already existed. "IBM" was the adjective. "PC" was the noun.
Because of its success in offices, "IBM PC" became just "PC" the same way other words like "omnibus" became just "bus" because it's simpler to say.
This is the correct answer - and PC originally, or "Personal Computer" is more of a distinction from old school mainframe computers that lived in a lab or wherever and took up entire rooms.
As I recall, the most widely used term early on was "microcomputer", to distinguish the small home computers from the larger "minicomputers" (e.g. the DEC PDP-11 of blessed memory). The term "personal computer" was also in use, but the use of "PC" was not common until after the introduction of the IBM model 5150 (whose actual product name was the "IBM Personal Computer").
Since then, you might refer to any of a variety of machines as "personal computers", but "PCs" only meant "IBM PCs" (or later "IBM PC-compatible machines"). In other words, I would argue that the term "PC" derives specifically from the "IBM Personal Computer", and not generically from "personal computer".
Source: I was there. :-) I haven't done the research, but I bet if you did search through Byte and similar magazines of the time, you'd find plenty of supporting evidence. (I do have a memo cube from the early '80s with the slogan "Apple II -- The Personal Computer", but I suspect that was Apple Marketing trying to fight an ultimately losing battle.)
Sure; I don't disagree (and perhaps my previous post was less clear about this) that "personal computer" was definitely in common use, particular in advertising aimed at "regular consumers" rather than hobbyists, and well before the IBM PC.
I do disagree with the suggestion that the initialism "PC" was understood to mean "personal computer" in general before the release of the IBM PC. If that's overly pedantic, well, I'm a computer nerd; what can I say...
I was there too if you need anecdotal evidence, my Dad worked in marketing for Apple - notable for being the ad manager for the 1984 ad campaign and you're wrong. I mean that ad was an attack on IBM PC's. The answer is on wikipedia too, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer
Wasn’t ‘home computer’ the generally used term before the IBM 5150 ?
"Home computer" was things like the VIC-20 and the TI-99 4/A. "Personal Computer" was machines that you had in your home or office that you didn't have to share, or timeshare with someone else. Think Cromemco, Kaypro, PET, and SuperBrain.
The whole reason the phrase "IBM PC" existed was to differentiate it from the other PCs that already existed. "IBM" was the adjective. "PC" was the noun.
Because of its success in offices, "IBM PC" became just "PC" the same way other words like "omnibus" became just "bus" because it's simpler to say.