Osborne 1

The Osborne 1 is the first commercially successful portable computer, released on April 3, 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation. It weighs , cost US$1,795, and runs the CP/M 2.2 operating system. It is powered from a wall socket, as it has no on-board battery, but it is still classed as a portable device since it can be hand-carried when the keyboard is closed. The computer shipped with a large bundle of software that was almost equivalent in value to the machine itself, a practice adopted by other CP/M computer vendors. Competitors quickly appeared, such as the Kaypro II. The Osborne 1 was developed by Adam Osborne and designed by Lee Felsenstein, first announced in early 1981. Osborne, an author of computer books decided that he wanted to break the price of computers. The computer's design was based largely on the Xerox NoteTaker, a prototype developed at Xerox PARC in 1976 by Alan Kay. It was designed to be portable, with a rugged ABS plastic case and a handle. The Osborne 1 is about the size and weight of a sewing machine and was advertised as the only computer that would fit underneath an airline seat. It is now classified as a "luggable" computer when compared to those later "laptop" designs such as the Epson HX-20. The Osborne 1 was described as "a cross between a World War II field radio and a shrunken instrument panel of a DC-3", and Felstenstein admitted that carrying two of them to a trade show "nearly pulled my arms out of their sockets". The computer nonetheless amazed observers; InfoWorld reported that "By far the most frequently asked question at" the West Coast Computer Faire "was, 'What do you think of the new Osborne computer?'" BYTE Magazine wrote: "(1) it will cost$1795, and (2) it's portable!" The word processing, spreadsheet, and other bundled software alone was worth $1,500; as InfoWorld stated in an April 1981 front-page article on the new computer after listing the included software, "In case you think the price printed above was a mistake, we'll repeat it:$1795".