Happy Birthday Laptop! 35 years to the first commercially successful laptop
My laptop weighs 1.3 kg, has 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD, a 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 3200 x 1800 and an Intel Core i7 2.5 GHz processor.
It all started 35 years ago, with the first commercially successful Osborne 1 laptop, which could boast a Z80A 4 MHz processor, 64 kilobytes of RAM, a 5-inch display, two 5.25 disk drives and 11 kilograms.
On April 3, 1981, the Osborne 1 computer , the first laptop that went into mass production, was introduced to the world. The device was produced from 1981 to 1983. The laptop had a suitcase form factor. On one side of the case was a carrying handle, and the keyboard was in the shape of a flip cover that protected a 5-inch display. To the right and left of the display were two floppy drives for 5.25-inch floppy disks.
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In fairness it should be noted that this was not the first portable computer. IBM 5100 Portable PC was released in 1975, but it was positioned as a computer for scientists. It was built on the basis of IBM 1.9 MHz processor had a 5-inch display 64x18 characters, up to 64 kilobytes of RAM and a 200 KB tape drive. This machine cost from 8975 to 19975 dollars, therefore any university or scientific laboratory could afford it, and the average office clerk would have bought such a machine with much less probability.
After another 4 years, Hewlett-Packard Model 85 came out. The manufacturer used its own 613 KHz processor, the RAM ranged from 8 to 64 KB to choose from, and the display again had a diagonal of 5 inches. The price for this computer started at $ 3250.
Osborne 1, by contrast, cost 1,795 dollars. Very affordable price and emphasis on "portability" made this computer popular and affordable. At the same time, its design was inspired by Xerox NoteTaker - a prototype made in the famous Xerox PARC laboratory.
It all started 35 years ago, with the first commercially successful Osborne 1 laptop, which could boast a Z80A 4 MHz processor, 64 kilobytes of RAM, a 5-inch display, two 5.25 disk drives and 11 kilograms.
On April 3, 1981, the Osborne 1 computer , the first laptop that went into mass production, was introduced to the world. The device was produced from 1981 to 1983. The laptop had a suitcase form factor. On one side of the case was a carrying handle, and the keyboard was in the shape of a flip cover that protected a 5-inch display. To the right and left of the display were two floppy drives for 5.25-inch floppy disks.
')
In fairness it should be noted that this was not the first portable computer. IBM 5100 Portable PC was released in 1975, but it was positioned as a computer for scientists. It was built on the basis of IBM 1.9 MHz processor had a 5-inch display 64x18 characters, up to 64 kilobytes of RAM and a 200 KB tape drive. This machine cost from 8975 to 19975 dollars, therefore any university or scientific laboratory could afford it, and the average office clerk would have bought such a machine with much less probability.
After another 4 years, Hewlett-Packard Model 85 came out. The manufacturer used its own 613 KHz processor, the RAM ranged from 8 to 64 KB to choose from, and the display again had a diagonal of 5 inches. The price for this computer started at $ 3250.
Osborne 1, by contrast, cost 1,795 dollars. Very affordable price and emphasis on "portability" made this computer popular and affordable. At the same time, its design was inspired by Xerox NoteTaker - a prototype made in the famous Xerox PARC laboratory.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/392635/
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