Currently, we associate the word portable with a device that we can carry from place to place comfortably, but that hasn’t always been the case, especially with the first portable computer, the Osborne 1, since weighed 11.1 kilograms and above had no battery, it had to be plugged in all the time. There are desktop computers today that weigh less, right?
How was the Osborne 1?
Launched in 1981 and quickly, we could classify it as a normal computer but it had a small screen and could be folded into a carrying case thanks to a handle. He didn’t have much else, because as we mentioned he didn’t even have a battery and it had to be plugged into the mains
It also had two slots for floppy disks, which sounds very striking in the case of a “laptop”, doesn’t it? Anyway, the company sold it to us very well, they said it was the first computer that could be carried under the seat of an airplane. And why they weren’t lacking in truth.
Its price at the time was $1,795. Something expensive today, imagine yourself in the 80s. It was not a product for all budgets, but more for big businessmen. Of course, the most powerful software on the market was included, as well as a pack of the best programs of the moment.
It was by no means the best computer of that era, there were faster, better ones, with much bigger and better screens and all for less money. However, the marketing bet they made paid off and the Osborne 1 was one of the best-selling computers of those years. He came to sell 10,000 units per montheven having problems keeping up with demand.
But all of this that had gone well for them was marred by the same strategy that had worked for them: advertising. They announced a new, much better model, with a bigger screen, lighter, cheaper, etc. This made everyone who was going to buy it wait for the new one to come out, as his project was still only on paper. As a result, they lost millions that they couldn’t get back and were advanced by other companies without them realizing it.
Aun así, el Osborne 1 consiguió atraer a miles de usuarios que luego buscaban a similar product, lo que celeró la investigation y el desarrollo de plus portables hasta la actualidad donde muchos de ellos pesan menos de 1 kilogramo y tienen duraciones de batería de hasta 12 Hours. Who would have thought so in 1981 after seeing this first model.
