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History of Laptop Computer

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History of Laptop Computer

History of Laptop Computer

A laptop is a small, portable computer, which is also known as a laptop computer, or notebook computer. It is nearly as powerful more efficient as a desktop computer. It includes a screen and alphanumeric keyboard, as well as a trackpad or trackball, which serves as the mouse. It can be used in different environments and can be carried with you and placed on the lap without stress as it is small in size. In modern times, most laptops come in very lightweight and thin sizes, which help to compete with other devices like tablets. With the name of Ultrabook, a line of ultra-thin laptops is sold by Intel.

However, laptops are in use today; they are not like that when they were invented for the first time. There were various efforts done with many years to make them more convenient. How laptops looked like their proper information can be understood with the help of going through their history. Within the history of laptops, the term portable computers are often used that is different from a laptop. It was a portable computer, but its size was not as small as to be set on the lap. This is why, as compared to laptops, portable computers are slightly different. The below image is an example of the First True Laptop Computer.

History of Laptop Computer

The below table contains all the information on how laptops were introduced on the market and what efforts are done to make them more convenient.

Year Event
1975 The IBM 5100, the first portable computer, was invented in September 1975. As compared to other computers to date, the IBM 5100 was more portable and much lighter and its weighed 55-pounds. While according to today’s standards, it was not truly a laptop. Actually, it provided a way that helped to develop truly portable computers, i.e., laptops.
1976 The Dynabook, the first laptop, was introduced by Alan Kay while working at Xerox PARC in 1976. Due to its very flat shape, it was also known as a slate computer or tablet PC. The primary intention of inventing the Dynabook was to gain access to digital media for children. It was officially named the Xerox Note Taker as it was designed to show what could be done and to implement new technology
1979 In 1979, the GRiD Compass, the most portable computer at the time, was designed by Bill Moggridge, which was also the closest example of a laptop computer. In the early 1980s, the GRiD Compass was used by NASA in its space shuttle program.
1981 This invention paved the way for other computer corporations. The first truly portable computer, the Osborne I, was invented by Osborne Computer Corporation in April 1981. It was designed by Adam Osborne; therefore, its name was Osborne I. It had a 5″ display and weighed 24˝-pounds, which was less than that of the Xerox Note Taker. Hence, it was widely considered as the commercial portable computer. Also, in this year 1981, the Epson HX-20, the first portable computer with a built-in printer, was released by Epson.
1983 In 1983, the portable computer, the TRS-80 Model 100, was invented by Radio Shack in the United States. It was one of the first portable computers that came with an LCD feature. This portable computer was sold in Japan and was originally manufactured by Kyocera.
1984 The Commodore SX-64, the first portable computer that came with a full-color display screen feature, was invented by commodore in 1984. It was sold for $995 and weighed around 20-pounds.
1985 This was a year in which the laptop, Bondwell 2 was introduced that was based upon the first portable computers like the Xerox Note Taker and Osborne 1. It had 3.5 inches floppy disk drive, and used a Z-80 CPU at four megahertz. Also, it contained 64K RAM and used CP/M as an operating system.
1986 In 1986, the PC Convertible was invented, which was the first laptop by IBM. It was the first laptop that had a weight below 15 pounds; its weight was 12-pounds.
1987 In this year, more than 200,000 laptops were purchased due to an RFP (request for proposal) issued by the U.S. Air Force. Zenith Data Systems was got the contract for the manufacturing and purchase of these laptops. This kind of purchasing the laptops by Air Force’s led to pave the way for the popularity of laptop computers.
1987 In 1987, the Vectra Portable CS laptop was invented by Hewlett-Packard, which was considered as the first laptop that came with a 3 ˝” floppy disk drive feature capable of using 1.44 MB diskettes.
1988 In 1988, the Compaq SLT/286, the first laptop computer, was released by Compaq. It was the first laptop that contained an internal hard drive and came with a battery-powered feature.
1989 In September 1989, the Macintosh Portable, the first laptop, was invented by Apple. It was not a more common laptop. It did not sell well, and its cost was $6500 at the time of release. Also, in the same year 1989, the NEC UltraLite was introduced by NEC, which had less than 5-pounds weight. Also, it was considered to be the first notebook-style laptop.
1991 Apple did not get success with their Macintosh Portable laptop; therefore, Apple began to re-work the laptop concept. And in October 1991, the PowerBook line of laptops was released by apple.
1992 In 1992, the APM specification for laptop computers was developed and released by Intel and Microsoft by working together. APM is short for advanced power management. Also, in the same year, the first laptop that featured a touchpad was developed and released by Olivetti.
1994 In 1994, the laptop ThinkPad 775CD contained feature an integrated CD-ROM drive, which was invented by IBM.
2002 In 2002, the thinnest laptop was released by Toshiba, which name was Toshiba Portege 2000. It was only ľ of an inch at the thickest part. It was also the first laptop featured the first 1.8-inch hard drive.
2003 In 2003, the first laptop that contained feature a slim DVD-ROM drive, the Toshiba Portege M100 was released by Toshiba.
2007 In October 2007, the Eee PC 701 was invented by ASUS. It included an Intel Celeron-M processor, 4 GB SDHC storage disk, and a 7″ screen. Also, it was the first netbook to be available.

In modern times, laptops have become more powerful as well as useful as compared to the initial time of the laptops. This is because the technology has advanced over the years that led to many improvements in laptops. Hence, laptops have become more useful in various fields. Also, as technology has developed, operating systems have become much more advanced. As compared to laptops’ older counterparts, they got much smaller in size and less weighty as technology has developed. The improvements on laptops are continuing as technology advances.


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