Today’s laptops live up to their name. Lightweight and powerful are invaluable features when working or playing from anywhere. However, this has not always been the case. The birth of this type of computer almost parallels the massification of the first personal computers, which were not primarily portable but were designed for desktop use.

However, at the time when the concept of the personal computer arose, there were already those who thought about it. mobile computing concept. I invite you to travel to the late seventies and early eighties. If you’re passionate about computer history, you can agree that the personal computer industry really started to take off in 1977.

What other personal computers have been released before? Yes, absolutely and many. Offerings such as the Kenbak-1 and Altair 8800 were already on the market, but they were primarily aimed at hobbyists and had little commercial appeal as a result. In the late seventies, the Apple II (a model coveted by collectors today), the Tandy Radio Shack, and the Commodore PET appeared.

Osborne 1, the computer that laid the foundations of portable computing

In 1979 the Atari 400/800 arrived, and in 1980, among other desktop offerings, The Osborne 1 is a computer the size of a medium sewing machine. can be moved from one place to another. The manufacturer’s marketing strategy to sell it was to say over and over that it was the only computer that could fit under the seat of an airplane, and although it could not be used in the air, it was true.

Its generous dimensions and lack of battery (it only worked when plugged in) made the idea of ​​using this computer on an airplane impossible. But the Osborne 1 had other features worth mentioning, which, while trivial now, were interesting back then. Let’s see.

there was only one 5 inch monochrome CRT display (13 centimeters). This may be intriguing when the sizes of our TVs and smartphones don’t stop growing. It also featured two 5¼-inch, single-sided, single-density floppy drives, each storing 90kB. Remember when this was a laptop? Well, it was portable but weighed 11.1kg.

Other specs, according to Computing History, included a Z80A-based CPU running at 4 MHz (Sinclair ZX Spectrum used a Z80 at 3.5 MHz), 64K RAM, and 4K ROM. It ran the CP/M operating system and came with a generous bundle of software included, which cost around $1,500 to purchase separately. this $1,795 machine.

What was included in this package? Some of the most modern programs of the time. WordStar word processor (pre-WordPerfect software), SuperCalc spreadsheets, dBAES II databases, and the CBASIC and MBASIC programming languages. It wasn’t the fastest computer of the time, not even the best display, but it was interestingly a bestseller.

Osborne Screen 1

Founded months ago by Adam Osborne, the company sold 11,000 units in its first eight months and soon reached a peak of 10,000 units per month. It even had its first month of sales of $1 million in November of 1981, but everything changed drastically due to a mistake made by the company that literally went down in history and named after him.

Yes, Osborne came like 1 churrosEven the company struggled to keep up with the growing demand for its first computer, which quickly became the first mass-produced laptop.

They went from two employees to 3,000, and in the midst of this vortex, the firm began to consider its next product, a product that could emulate, or even surpass, the success of the Osborne 1. So, shortly after, in 1983, Osborne announced the Executive with a bigger screen.

After the announcement, dealers and customers probably thought it would be a bad investment to buy a laptop that’s been on the market for almost two years when a new model is coming out with new features, we might have that thought. against the new generation devices offered by brands today.

Conclusion? Sales of the Osborne 1 began to fall sharply. Problem? Osborne Executive wasn’t ready yet and the decrease in the flow of money affected his development, signing the death penalty.

According to Atari Magazine, inventory of the first-generation laptop began to accumulate rapidly, the company’s economic losses became an unsustainable problem, and it declared bankruptcy on December 13, 1983, after experiencing explosive growth in its early days. then layoffs began in all departments of the company: sales, production, marketing, etc.

After the restructuring, Osborne emerged from bankruptcy in 1984 and launched a new laptop, the Osborne Vixen, and began planning other products. However, he never regained the glory of his early days. The fact is, Kaypro Corporation had already introduced the Kaypro II, which by then quickly won users, and Compaq Computer Corporation’s first product, the Compaq Portable.

Compaq-Portable

Osborne’s rise and fall is due to the early release of a next-generation product called “Osborne effectHowever, despite its traumatic consequences, the company led the development and production of the first best-selling portable personal computer and encouraged other companies to accelerate their development to compete with it.

Pictures | Wikimedia Commons

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