What does an $18,000 laptop look like?

the world’s first laptop, known as the GRiD Compass, was actually put into production and was generally available. It was designed in 1979 and made available in 1982. As each unit sold for over $8,000 however (taking inflation into account, that’s the equivalent of $18,000 today), they weren’t generally bought by the public, but were very popular with the US government.

link to full story

I would love to go back in time and tell people what computers would be like in 20 years. It would be great so see the disbelief.



[edit: added link to story]

[edit on 7-5-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

A can only wonder how many of them were "lost"?

Sorry, I got nothin' else.

reply to post by SystemiK


Yes, and in the process losing hundreds of bits of valuable data. Potentially, dozens of secrets!

When I clicked on this thread I was expecting to see something more modern or futuristic. I suppose around that time a laptop like that would appear so. It has seen a lot of action in its day according to that article.

How about a $1,000,000. laptop?



Gizmodo

Crave

And their mysterious website:

Luvaglio of London

I hope this is a joke.

[edit on 7-5-2008 by Alexi Humi]

reply to post by Karlhungis


What's even more humorous is that the answer to what laptops will look like in 2000 is that they will look basically just like the 1982 model, but with a bigger screen.

Of course there is more storage and there is connectivity, but for the programs that were available in 1982, a 5.25" floppy drive was adequate, and in 1982 there were acoustic modems.

Originally posted by Karlhungis
reply to post by SystemiK

 

Yes, and in the process losing hundreds of bits of valuable data. Potentially, dozens of secrets!

I was hoping I could start out the day with a good laugh. Thanks! That one did the trick, things are looking up already....

www.techepics.com...

another under $18,000 computer.

[edit on 7-5-2008 by CzErased]

Here is the first *laptop* I owned. Awesome typewriter only 24 ½ pounds



oldcomputers.net
Introduced: April 1981
Price: US $1,795
Weight: 24.5 pounds
CPU: Zilog Z80 @ 4.0 MHz
RAM: 64K RAM
Display: built-in 5" monitor
53 X 24 text
Ports: parallel / IEEE-488
modem / serial port
Storage: dual 5-1/4 inch, 91K drives
OS: CP/M

Released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation, the Osborne 1 is considered to be the first true portable computer - it closes-up for protection, and has a carrying handle. It even has an optional battery pack, so it doesn't have to plugged into the 110VAC outlet for power.

While quite revolutionary, the Osborne does have its limitations. For example, the screen is only 5" (diagonal) in size, and can't display more than 52 characters per line of text. To compensate, you can actually scroll the screen display back and forth with the cursor keys to show lines of text up to 128 characters wide.

Ahh…the memories

Peace

reply to post by Zeptepi


Wow, that was a vision of portability. It had a handle for Pete's sake. Laptops of today WISH they came with a handle.

It was considered carry on luggage at the airports back then. It could also be used as bullet proof armor.
And look at all the memory….64K …I could loose bits and bits of highly important data.
Hmmmm I wonder what it was now..the bits I lost. I blew coffee outa my nose when I read your post
About loosing bits and bits…..too funny.

Peace