Laptops

There were many engineering refinements to the laptop concept. Here are some of the significant developments:

The "clam shell" design which represents our modern laptop was created in 1979 by William Moggridge (a Briton) for GRiD Systems Corporation. GRiD's Compass Computer entered the market in 1981. GRiD was acquired by Tandy Corporation in 1988.

One of the first commercially available laptop computers was invented by Adam Osborne in 1981. It was called the "Osborne I" and cost $1795. It came bundled with $1500 worth of programs. It had a tiny computer screen built into it. The Osborne I and Kaypro II were not really laptops, but "luggables" - at 23.5 lb and 29 lb, respectively.

One of the first modern style of "laptops" may well have been the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, with weight of approximately 3.1 lb.

Compaq Computer introduced their first computer which was considered portable around 1981 or 1982. It was about the same size as a modern mini-tower laid on its side, included a green monochrome monitor that was about 7 inches diagonally, and had a full-sized keyboard with a coiled cord that snapped over the monitor.

"The Dynabook concept was created by Alan Kay in 1968, two years before the founding of Xerox PARC. Kay wanted to make "A Personal Computer For Children Of All Ages." The ideas let to the development of the Xerox Alto prototype, which was originally called "the interim Dynabook". It embodied all the elements of a graphical user interface, or GUI, as early as 1972. The software component of this research was Smalltalk, which went on to have a life of its own independent of the Dynabook concept.

The Dynabook concept now known as a laptop computer or, (in some of its other incarnations) a tablet PC or slate computer with nearly eternal battery life and software aimed at giving children access to digital media. Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the target audience was children."
The laptop computer was invented by Adam Osborne in 1981. It was called the "Osborne 1" and cost $1795. It came bundled with $1500 worth of programs. It had a tiny computer screen built into it.

What is a laptop computer?

A laptop is a computer that can be folded up and carried around.

When was the laptop invented?

The laptop was invented in 1981.

Where was it invented?

It was invented by Osborne Computers, a book company that sold books to McGraw-Hill.

How was it invented?

It was invented by taking computer technology from that time and scaling it down to make a smaller, more portable computer.

Adam Osborne invented the laptop

There were many engineering refinements to the laptop concept, however ....

"The Dynabook concept was created by Alan Kay in 1968, two years before the founding of Xerox PARC. Kay wanted to make "A Personal Computer For Children Of All Ages." The ideas let to the development of the Xerox Alto prototype, which was originally called "the interim Dynabook". It embodied all the elements of a graphical user interface, or GUI, as early as 1972. The software component of this research was Smalltalk, which went on to have a life of its own independent of the Dynabook concept.

The Dynabook concept now known as a laptop computer or, (in some of its other incarnations) a tablet PC or slate computer with nearly eternal battery life and software aimed at giving children access to digital media. Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the target audience was children."

etc.

Steven John Freer in 1979

The "clam shell" design which represents our modern laptop was created in 1979 by William Moggridge (a Briton) for GRiD Systems Corporation. GRiD's Compass Computer entered the market in 1981. GRiD was acquired by Tandy Corporation in 1988. Tandyrecognizing the significance of the GRiD Patent portfolio (which also represented over 20 patents for hand writing recognition and pen based computing) aggressively pursued

settlements with most of the major laptops and computers sales company . As a former GRiD exec we always wished we could have had the resources to do the same prior to the Tandy acquisition. GRiD was sold again in 1993 to AST Computers with Tandy holding onto to the GRiD patents.

One of the first commercially available laptop computers was invented by Adam Osborne in 1981. It was called the "Osborne I" and cost $1795. It came bundled with $1500 worth of programs. It had a tiny computer screen built into it.

(The Osborne I and Kaypro II were not really laptops, but "luggables" - at 23.5 lb and 29 lb, respectively)

One of the first modern style of "laptops" may well have been the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, with weight of approximately 3.1 lb.

Compaq Portable circa 1981 or 1982?

I can't say if this was the definitive "invention" of the laptop, but I do remember that, when IBM PC XTs were running 8088 processors at 4.77MHz with 5MB disk drives, Compaq Computer introduced their first computer which was considered portable at the time. It was about the same size as a modern mini-tower laid on its side, included a green monochrome monitor that was about 7 inches diagonally, and had a full-sized keyboard with a coiled cord that snapped over the monitor. I think it ran an 8086 processor at 6 or 8MHz.

Below is a link to a site with several photographs.
Steve Jobs
Designed in 1979 by a Briton, William Moggridge, for Grid Systems Corporation, the Grid Compass was one fifth the weight of any model equivalent in performance and was used by NASA on the space shuttle program in the early 1980's. A 340K byte bubble memory lap-top computer with die-cast magnesium case and folding electroluminescent graphics display screen. Other computers before this were portable, but too heavy, and therefore, it is questionable if they can be called laptops. A few other models that were lightweight had two line, text only displays and should also be considered.

First thing to do - check wireless is turned on. It sounds basic, but sometimes the switch can get knocked, meaning that the laptop won't recieve any wireless signal. If this doesn't work, play around with the settings for a while - if you're running Windows you can go to 'network connection' in Control Panel and right-click on your wireless connection; go to 'repair' and the repair wizard will go through it to try and fix it. Make sure both the wireless switch on your laptop is turned on, and that your modem is turned on too.

If this doesn't work, go to your modem's setup page (usually a web page - the address will be in the manual) and choose a different wireless channel - 0, 6 and 11 are the only non-overlapping channels. You may want to adjust your wireless signal power to make sure you have enough signal. You might also want to run a diagnostic on your modem to see if it is running properly. Some modems will display on the setup page which computers are active. See if yours comes up.

If this still doesn't work, you may want to go to an internet cafe or other wireless hotspot to check whether it is your modem which is at fault. If you get a signal and can connect, then it may well be the modem at fault. Check at some other locations just to be sure. If not, it sounds like the wireless card has a problem. If it is an internal wireless card, you might want to take it back to the manufacturer for repair. If it is an external wireless adapter, you may just want to replace the card or adapter to see if this helps.