A History of Portable Computing

PCM2 writes "MobilePC magazine is running an exhaustive history of portable computers, going all the way from the IBM Portable 5100 to last year's OQO. Do you remember the three-pound Epson HX-20 from 1982 that boasted a 50-hour battery life? Or that the first color portable came from Commodore? Interesting stuff." They have the compaq luggable I learned BASIC on in middle school in the 80s. 28lbs of power baby!

Definition of portable

[AndroidCat]

I think the military definition of portable is if two people can move it.

three-pound... wow that's heavy!

[alexandreracine]

Do you remember the three-pound Epson HX-20 from 1982 that boasted

That's why in the 80' people had more muscles! I bet that Arnold began his training with a laptop.

Remember?

[Ohreally_factor]

Anyone remember the good old UNIVAC PDA?

Back then, it was considered clever to quip, "Is that a UNIVAC in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"

Nerds?

[AdityaG]

Pioneering nerds may not have had Starbucks tables to occupy with their PowerBooks for hours on end

Nerds? Starbucks and powerbooks don't remind me of nerds. They remind me of metrosexuals.

Re:Programmable Calculators ?

[dsginter]

Don't forget LAPPY! [homestarrunner.com]

Orange?!

[Anonymous Coward]

That there color's called "amber", son. ;-)

Oh man, Osborne CP/M ..

[torpor]

.. I remember those hot, sweaty days, at the back of the typing class, me and the fold-up newly-donated Osborne sitting together, watching the sweaty backs of all the schoolgirls in class adjusting their bra-straps .. hooh boy .. I was 15, the only guy in the class of 30, and I selected the class because of the Osbourne straight up, without even thinking, ignoring the other 'none of my friends are gonna take it' factor completely, honest. My first day of class, when I realized it was just me and pretty much every hot chick in my year, *plus* the Osbourne sitting there for me to hack on, every afternoon ..

I was only allowed to touch 'the wordprocessor' because I'd already mastered the drills and homekeys of every other typewriter in the class (Typing A, Senior High School) .. highest accuracy, highest rate, document writing, etc. The Osbourne was 'special', because it wasn't really typewriter-standard keys, or so the teacher said, bless her .. but it wasn't long until it was just me n' Wordstar, totally horny for each other, watching sweet teenage girls of my year doing their typing drills on crappy old hard-core typewriters, in the desert sun, paper, ink and sweat. In uniform.

Good times, good times ...

I'd love to have an Osborne around, but alas the oldest computer I ever owned that I still have is a lowly Oric-1, whose treasured spot in a box in the attic at home is right next to the "Local Boy Wins in State Typing Championship" newspaper article, cheesy photo and all ..

Re:Definition of portable

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought the military definition of portable was whether or not it had handles on it. If you want something heavy carried, just weld some handles on.

Huh, what sort of article is this?

[adeyadey]

It doesnt even mention Strongbad's Lappy 512..

The Timex Sinclair

[qualico]

I thought my Timex Sinclair was pretty portable.

Carrying around a TV was harsh though.

Timex Sinclair Emulator [vavasour.ca]

Timex Sinclair Picture [bigredtoybox.com]

Parents answering those difficult questions

[Ohreally_factor]

"well, you see, son, daddy has a computer. And mommy has a data center."

And just look where we are now

[Skraut]

10.00 Ghz 2000MB Ram and 30000GB HD [amazon.com] AND, it runs DOS, wohoo!

They forgot the best feature... Re:Commodore SX-64

[WarPresident]

The "degaussing slot." Located above the built-in floppy drive (or was it below?), this space provides an inviting location to store your floppies when you're on the move. What they didn't tell you is that any floppy left in that space when the unit gets turned on has a better than average probability of being wiped by the degaussing circuit of the monitor.

Re:Amiga 600?

[Ohreally_factor]

I remember a mate of mine used to take his Amiga 600 with him everywhere in a rucksack. Pretty cool little machine that...

that what? Do we have to wait for Timothy's dupe to get this cliff hanger resolved? Stay tuned for the next exciting dupe on "As the Slash Dots"?

Re:Oh man, Osborne CP/M ..

[Ohreally_factor]

Heh heh. Anachronistic marketing idea:

The Osbourne: Smells like teen spirit!

Re:Definition of portable

[TheGavster]

You just need a lot of handles ...

Re:Oh man, Osborne CP/M ..

[gwizah]

By your own account, Im guessing you weren't that popular with the ladies.