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A Visual Walk Through The History of Laptop Computers

by , 2:10 PM EST, February 25th, 2008

The laptop, then notebook, computer has been transformed from a 20+ pound behemoth in the 1980s to svelte 3 pound sub-compacts today, according to Steve Hamm at BusinessWeek in this recent, interesting walk through the timeline.

We've gone from this:


Osborne 1, 1981, $1795

To this, in just about 25 years.


MacBook Air, 2008, $1799

One has to wonder what the next twenty-five years will be like.

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Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1917 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:43 pm Subject:

Quote
One has to wonder what the next twenty-five years will be like.

I guess if present trends continue in 2033 laptops will be lighter than air and occupy negative space.


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Close Name:Guest
Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:32 pm Subject: The Osborne

I actually used an Osborne in 1984 as a data collector on an offshore oil rig. Weighed a ton, but it was reliable -- we got our data back intact and were able to solve the problem. It might have been a sewing machine sized "portable", but Z80s were reliable and it never crashed.


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Close Name:Guest
Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:26 pm Subject: osborne is pretty heavy for the lap

I don't think anyone ever put an Osborne on their lap; I would call the TRS Model 100 the first laptop. Curiously, unlike the previous guest commenter, most owners of the Osborne kept it in one place. It was the price, not the portability that made it attractive.


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Close Name:WetcoastBob Posts: 82 Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:00 am Subject: Trends

It is obvious! In 25 years from now a leading edge laptop will cost $1803.00.


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Close Name:Guest
Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:37 pm Subject: Osborne Past

"lighter than air and occupy negative space"? That sounds like the inside of one's head. Maybe by then we'll have optional processor insertion surgery and we'll be able to view a heads-up display by merely squeezing our buttocks. Guys would even have a built-in game controller ...


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