Osborne 1
|
An opened Osborne 1 computer, ready for use. The keyboard sits on the inside of the lid. |
The
Osborne 1 was the first commercially available
portable "all-in-one"
microcomputer, released in April,
1981 by
Osborne Computer Corporation. It weighed 23.5 pounds (12 kg), cost
US$1795, and ran the then-popular
CP/M 2.2 operating system. Its principal deficiencies were a tiny 5 inch (13 cm) display screen and single sided, single density
floppy disk drives whose disks could not contain sufficient data for practical business applications. Its design owed much to that of the
Xerox NoteTaker, a prototype developed at
Xerox PARC in
1976.
Besides being the first available portable computer, the Osborne 1 was also the first computer that "bundled" software; the included
WordStar wordprocessor,
SuperCalc spreadsheet,
dBase II database program, and the
CBASIC and
MBASIC programming languages—all software packages that were the leading applications in their respective niches at the time—had a retail value of more than $2,000.
Hardware features:
*Dual 5ΒΌ-inch
floppy disk drives
*4
MHz Z80 CPU*65
kilobytes main
memory*Fold-down
keyboard doubling as the computer case's lid
*5-inch, 52 character × 24 line
monochrome CRT display
*
Parallel printer port
*
Serial port for use with external
modems or serial printers
At its peak, Osborne Computer Corporation shipped 10,000 Osborne 1 units per month. The computer was widely imitated as several other computer companies started offering low-priced portable computers with bundled software. Compared to smaller and lighter laptop portable computers manufactured later, the luggage size Osborne 1 may be more accurately described as a luggable or transportable computer. The Osborne's popularity was surpassed by the similar
Kaypro II which had a much more practical 9 inch (23 cm) CRT that could display the standard 80 characters on 24 lines as well as double density floppies that could store twice as much data.
Osborne Computer Corporation was unable to effectively respond to the Kaypro challenge until after the market window had closed and the day of the 8-bit, CP/M-based computer had ended. Sales of the Osborne 1 were also hurt by the premature announcement of superior successor machines (See
Osborne effect). Later
Compaq broke through with a portable computer (the
Compaq Portable) with a 9 inch CRT, that was software compatible with the
IBM PC (the Compaq was the first
PC clone).
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Osborne 1 information and photos – At the Obsolete Technology Website
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Osborne 1 detailed images and boot up video – At the Bunker of DOOM
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Collection of old digital and analog computers
