The Birth of the Notebook is chock-full of amusing computer history:
Inspired by the IBM 5100 and Xerox’s Notetaker — a 48-pound machine with a keyboard that folded over the display — Osborne’s eponymous computer was cobbled together from the cheapest parts he could find. The Osborne 1 hit the market at $1,795, with dual floppy drives and a 5-inch CRT. Flip the keyboard over the front, latch it on, and your 24.5-pound computer was ready to go wherever you needed it. Osborne had amazing success with the product, but it was fatally crushed by the birth of Compaq in 1983, which copied the Osborne carefully while adding one killer feature: IBM compatibility.
I didn’t realize the Compaq got its start creating compact computers.
The origin of the laptop:
Epson’s HX-20 , introduced in 1982, was the first computer described as a “laptop.” These were tiny machines designed to be propped in your lap instead of used on a desk. The HX-20 tipped the scales at barely 3 pounds, and it included a built-in tape drive and a tiny printer. Best of all, unlike its bigger forebears, this machine could run on batteries: The HX-20 had an impressive 50 hours of life on its rechargeable nickel-cadmium cells.The success of products like the HX-20 and the TRS-80 Model 100, which followed in 1983, was phenomenal. Epson sold a quarter million HX-20s, and the laptop moniker stuck in many circles, even after the industry had long since abandoned this limited form factor.
How can you mention the TRS-80 without referencing its infamous nickname — the Trash-80?
Anyway, there’s lot of history in there. Read the whole article.