Personal Computers became replaced by another kind of PC in the '90s... At last, the daggy 'Computer Nerd' to become the hip-to-it 'Web Surfer', e-mail lost its William Gibson exclusivity to become a platform for the haves and have-nots in social circles. Instead, PC came instead to represent Political Correctness. This contradiction in terms spelt doom for advertisers and careless joke-tellers alike. It also emerged to characterise the stigmatised air of the '90s more than any other single element.