A laptop computer is a portable personal computer with an integrated screen, keyboard and battery folded into a single clamshell case that a user can carry and operate on their lap. Industrial designer Bill Moggridge designed the GRiD Compass, released in 1982, widely credited as the first laptop to establish the now-familiar clamshell form with a flat screen folding down over the keyboard, though it still required an external power connection rather than running on a true battery. The Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, released in 1983, and later machines from Compaq and other manufacturers added real battery power and lower cost, and laptops became a mainstream personal computing category through the 1990s.
Facts
Partially Attested
SignificanceIts clamshell design, with the screen folding flat over the keyboard, set the form that later portable computers followed, and some historians count the GRiD Compass as the first laptop. 1 Only some historians credit the GRiD Compass as the first laptop; the Epson HX-20, also released in 1982, is likewise described as the first laptop-sized notebook computer. Connections
Sources
1. Grid Compass, Wikipedia
Release, initial model
The initial model, the 1101, was introduced in April 1982.
Historical significance
Some historians credit the original Compass as the first ever laptop
View the SourceLaptop (Wikipedia)
In Group: Personal and Portable Computing Devices, lead states a laptop is a portable personal computerView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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