INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
laptop, rather than a big and bulky desktop
Those rectangular boxes that are tethered to your desk have been declining in popularity, with laptops now far outstripping them when it
comes to sales.Thanks to an almost constant stream of innovations, the humble laptop has become slimmer and lighter than ever before, while
the hardware inside them has become ever-more powerful, while batteries are lasting longer.Creating a powerful and portable computer is no
mean feat, and here we look back at some of the pivotal moments in the history of laptop development, and examine how early machines
1 to be the granddaddy of laptops
Released by Osborne Computer in 1981, the Osborne 1 had a five-inch screen, two floppy drives, a modem, battery pack and a keyboard that was
built into the lid.Although it was big and bulky (it weighed 11kg, which is just over the combined weight of five MacBook Pros), this early
computer still has some recognizable laptop features
laptop that really looked like a laptop was the Grid Compass 1101, which was released in 1983
It featured the clamshell design, with the screen able to be folded up against the keyboard when closed
This remarkable innovation meant that the Grid Compass 1101 could be more easily carried around, while the screen and keyboard were kept
protected.It was such a successful and influential design that it's endured to this day, and while the Grid Compass 1101 itself wasn't a
portable than a regular PC, they were still large and bulky, and not easily carried.However, in 1989 the Compaq LTE and LTE 286 were
released, and they're generally regarded as the first notebook PCs, as they were around the size of a paper notebook
These smaller laptops were easier to carry around, making them more popular with people who travelled a lot.They were also two of the first
laptops to include a built-in hard drive and floppy disk drive, making them even more versatile
The hard drive in the Compaq LTE offered 20MB of storage space, which was doubled for the Compaq LTE 286.1989: Macintosh Portable, the first
MacBooks are still renowned for.Due to its size and weight it wasn't a popular device, but it did spur on competitors to release
modern laptop design.For example, the keyboard was positioned towards the back of the bottom half of the laptop, providing room at the front
for palm rests and a trackball
Up until that point most laptops had the keyboard positioned at the front, with the space at the back for function key reference cards and
instructions.The included trackpad was also noteworthy, as it provided a convenient way of controlling a pointing device
With operating systems moving away from text-only command line interfaces to graphical user interfaces, these pointing devices would become
pivotal.The Apple PowerBook series was immensely popular, and over the years the PowerBook line brought in more innovative features that we
now take for granted in laptops
In 1994, the PowerBook 500 series was the first laptop to include a true touchpad, and the first to include a built-in Ethernet network
these, along with the Apple PowerBook 100 series, can be considered some of the first modern laptops, helping to shape the laptop landscape
iconic feature is still found in modern ThinkPads.The ThinkPad 700 also really showcased what a laptop device could be capable of
It had a full-color 10.4-inch display, which was larger than any laptop screen that had come before, a 120MB hard drive and a powerful IBM
486 SLC processor.The design of the ThinkPad was both stylish and functional, and it won a host of design awards
IBM was keen to highlight how well built the ThinkPad was in a series of promotional events, with, for example, the laptops being used by
The ThinkPad 750c was taken into space by NASA, proving just how capable these modern laptops were.With innovative features and design
choices used to overcome the technological issues of the time, these early laptops paved the way for the modern machines we now use daily,
and it's these early pioneers we have to thank for making laptops the brilliantly versatile devices we have in our homes, schools and
workplaces.TheIndianSubcontinent's Next Up series is brought to you in association with Honorw8ZhzJyCxqvJbwXbUPDSkQ.jpg#
