electronic notebooks

The first commercially available laptop ( the name notebook was not feasible at that time as they were much bigger than the versions available now ) was the Osborne I in 1981. Though it was much heavier and had only a tiny CRT monitor, yet it had a revolutionary effect on the business and industrial sectors. The idea of taking back work to home was given a full new meaning. A better installment of the laptop or the `notebook` came in 1983. Compaq Portable was the first tech - product of Compaq and was a notebook version of the then hugely popular IBM Personal Computer. It became a hit as it was more IBM - compatible than portable from its predecessors!

But the first notebook was arguably the GRiD Compass 1101, released in 1982 by Bill Moggridge. The `clamshell` design, or the `notebook` design, where the LCD monitor remains shut against the keypad, was introduced. It was enclosed in a magnesium case, and could run on batteries. The first commercially successful notebooks were from the SupersPort series from Zenith Data Systems ( ZDS ), which competed with several other companies such as IBM, Toshiba, Compaq and others to notch up a deal with the U. S. Air Force for a contract of supplying 200, 000 notebooks in 1987. This made the laptop popular and penetrative to the business and affordable price ranges to the common consumers.

Even though the notebook might seem a powerful and mobile genius of this age, it has its fallacies too. The major ones may be listed below.