6 ms·

The creation of the modern laptop

46 points by bootload 11y ago

contingencies 11y ago
No mention of the Kaypro: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro Random stories: I think I have an old T3100 (later version of the Toshiba in the picture, but which looks about the same). Someone gifted it to me circa 1999 - it came with some obsolete DOS TCP/IP stack which operated over a serial cable PPP link and I submitted to the nmap database just for kicks... virtually any invocation of nmap (even TCP half-open scans) would crash the thing. I'm sure I had an older, huge, really heavy box-type portable as well. It wasn't an Osborne, and as far as I can tell from online pictures and foggy memory it wasn't a Kaypro. I didn't see it featured in this article, either. Not sure if it's still around, but the thing worked on 5 1/4 or 8 inch disks and had a horrible monochrome display. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_T3100 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_T3100
- teh_klev 11y ago
  Well to be fair, and in terms of notability for the purposes of the article, the Osborne 1 was the original "commercially successful portable microcomputer" [0] you could run CP/M on with disks and a proper monitor. The Kaypro etc just copied and improved upon the idea, as did Compaq, IBM etc. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1
kooltechar 11y ago
I just wish glossy screens were something in the past and that all new laptops had matte screens or at least an option for it. You could argue that glossy screen gives better color representation but I can not personally stand the reflection I get on glossy screens. When I sit on a matte screen, do I think about that my colors are slightly worse? No. When I sit on a glossy screen, do I think about that my colors are slightly better? No, but I do think about the reflections all the time because sometimes I can not even see what is on my screen because of all the reflections. I have a Thinkpad with a matte IPS screen, it appears that this will be my last laptop given the trend at the moment.
- IlPeach 11y ago
  Can't agree with you more. I've been given a Dell XPS 13 at work and I need to get one of those anti glare screens... Lenovo did it better for sure.
- joshuapants 11y ago
  I agree wholeheartedly. Glossy screens have their place, and that place is as a desktop display in an area where light is controlled so there is no glare. On a mobile device they are nothing but a pain. Unfortunately, I'm uncomfortable with giving Lenovo any of my money after Superfish and all the computing technology that interests me is only available with glossy screens (Microsoft's Surface tablets are particularly cool, but I still haven't been able to take the plunge).
  - ekianjo 11y ago
    > I'm uncomfortable with giving Lenovo any of my money after Superfish That Superfish thing was never for business models of laptops. Not saying you should forgive Lenovo or anything, but it did not affect every model out there.
    - joshuapants 11y ago
      Oh, I know. They just lost a lot of my trust for doing something so terrible in the first place. They may earn it back at some point, but I'm in no hurry to give them any of my money.
      - agumonkey 11y ago
        It was such a big and public mess, let's hope they'll give twice the effort to make up for it. After all, they backpedaled on the track point buttons.
  - userbinator 11y ago
    I buy laptops for the hardware, not the crap software that always certainly comes with it. Anything preinstalled is of no significance, as long as I can wipe it out and install the software I want. Modifying the hardware is a far more difficult thing to do...
VLM 11y ago
Its interesting that if you want an actual lap mounted laptop (not a transportable) you want one of these from 1983: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 I had one of these about 30 yrs ago, it was pretty awesome.
- akhilcacharya 11y ago
  I would _love_ a modern version of these - a cheap, long lasting, "fast enough", super portable and durable machine to run a lightweight linux distro on. The closest thing like it I can think of is the Samsung Series 3, but I've heard it's a bit fragile.
ghshephard 11y ago
Unfortunately, the industrial equipment to bore tiny holes in MacBooks on a production line in China didn't yet exist. Ive's team of experts eventually found a US company that made machines—at $250,000 a piece—that could be adapted to do the job. Apple got the equipment provider to sign an exclusivity deal, then proceeded to buy "hundreds of them." Within a few years, millions of Apple laptops and peripherals had a growing green light. $25 million just so the green light can shine "through" the aluminum.

46 points by bootload 11y ago

No mention of the Kaypro: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro Random stories: I think I have an old T3100 (later version of the Toshiba in the picture, but which looks about the same). Someone gifted it to me circa 1999 - it came with some obsolete DOS TCP/IP stack which operated over a serial cable PPP link and I submitted to the nmap database just for kicks... virtually any invocation of nmap (even TCP half-open scans) would crash the thing. I'm sure I had an older, huge, really heavy box-type portable as well. It wasn't an Osborne, and as far as I can tell from online pictures and foggy memory it wasn't a Kaypro. I didn't see it featured in this article, either. Not sure if it's still around, but the thing worked on 5 1/4 or 8 inch disks and had a horrible monochrome display. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_T3100 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_T3100

teh_klev 11y ago
Well to be fair, and in terms of notability for the purposes of the article, the Osborne 1 was the original "commercially successful portable microcomputer" [0] you could run CP/M on with disks and a proper monitor. The Kaypro etc just copied and improved upon the idea, as did Compaq, IBM etc. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1

kooltechar 11y ago

I just wish glossy screens were something in the past and that all new laptops had matte screens or at least an option for it. You could argue that glossy screen gives better color representation but I can not personally stand the reflection I get on glossy screens. When I sit on a matte screen, do I think about that my colors are slightly worse? No. When I sit on a glossy screen, do I think about that my colors are slightly better? No, but I do think about the reflections all the time because sometimes I can not even see what is on my screen because of all the reflections. I have a Thinkpad with a matte IPS screen, it appears that this will be my last laptop given the trend at the moment.

IlPeach 11y ago
Can't agree with you more. I've been given a Dell XPS 13 at work and I need to get one of those anti glare screens... Lenovo did it better for sure.
joshuapants 11y ago
I agree wholeheartedly. Glossy screens have their place, and that place is as a desktop display in an area where light is controlled so there is no glare. On a mobile device they are nothing but a pain. Unfortunately, I'm uncomfortable with giving Lenovo any of my money after Superfish and all the computing technology that interests me is only available with glossy screens (Microsoft's Surface tablets are particularly cool, but I still haven't been able to take the plunge).
- ekianjo 11y ago
  > I'm uncomfortable with giving Lenovo any of my money after Superfish That Superfish thing was never for business models of laptops. Not saying you should forgive Lenovo or anything, but it did not affect every model out there.
  - joshuapants 11y ago
    Oh, I know. They just lost a lot of my trust for doing something so terrible in the first place. They may earn it back at some point, but I'm in no hurry to give them any of my money.
    - agumonkey 11y ago
      It was such a big and public mess, let's hope they'll give twice the effort to make up for it. After all, they backpedaled on the track point buttons.
- userbinator 11y ago
  I buy laptops for the hardware, not the crap software that always certainly comes with it. Anything preinstalled is of no significance, as long as I can wipe it out and install the software I want. Modifying the hardware is a far more difficult thing to do...

VLM 11y ago

Its interesting that if you want an actual lap mounted laptop (not a transportable) you want one of these from 1983: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 I had one of these about 30 yrs ago, it was pretty awesome.

akhilcacharya 11y ago
I would _love_ a modern version of these - a cheap, long lasting, "fast enough", super portable and durable machine to run a lightweight linux distro on. The closest thing like it I can think of is the Samsung Series 3, but I've heard it's a bit fragile.

ghshephard 11y ago

Unfortunately, the industrial equipment to bore tiny holes in MacBooks on a production line in China didn't yet exist. Ive's team of experts eventually found a US company that made machines—at $250,000 a piece—that could be adapted to do the job. Apple got the equipment provider to sign an exclusivity deal, then proceeded to buy "hundreds of them." Within a few years, millions of Apple laptops and peripherals had a growing green light. $25 million just so the green light can shine "through" the aluminum.