11/27/2017 Laptop - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Laptop
A laptop is a computer which is easy to carry around. Its user can fold
the laptop along its hinge for carrying. The laptop was created mainly for
this particular reason. Computer parts were scaled to smaller size so this
could happen.

History
The first laptop was invented in 1979 by British Designer Bill Moggridge.
GRiD Systems Corporation helped improve his design. GRiD made the
product with a fold-down display that covered the keyboard. It was called
the GriD Compass. In 1982, Grid Systems began to make many GriD Using laptops
Compass laptops. They were mostly sold to the US Military and NASA.

GRiD's computer was one fifth the weight of any other computer used at that time. NASA used the laptop in its Space
Shuttle program, in the 1980s. The Grid Compass required mains power.

GRiD owned patents for the "Clamshell" design which is used in almost all modern laptop designs. GRiD Systems was
bought by Tandy Corporation in 1988.

The portable micro computer the Portal of the French company R2E Micral CCMC officially appeared in September 1980
at the SICOB show in Paris. The Portal was based on an Intel 8085 processor, 8-bit, clocked at 2 MHz. It was equipped
with a central 64K byte Ram, a keyboard with 58 alpha numeric keys and 11 numeric keys (separate blocks), a 32-
character LED screen, a floppy disk: capacity = 140 000 characters, a thermal printer: speed = 28 characters / second, an
asynchronous channel, a synchronous channel, a 220V power supply. It weighed 12 kg and its dimensions were 45 cm
45 cm 15 cm. It had no hinge and its operating system was Prolog.[1]

Some historians, however, count as the first "true" portable the Osborne 1. It was created in 1981 by Adam Osborne who
was also a former book publisher. He was the founder of Osborne Computer. His portable computer weighed 11 kg (24
pounds).

The computer had a five-inch screen, a serial port and two floppy disk drives. Several programs were included with the
Osborne 1. Customers could also buy a 1 hour battery pack.

Also in 1981, another laptop computer called Epson HX-20 went on sale. It was a portable computer with a liquid crystal
display (LCD) monitor. The computer also included a built-in printer. The whole device was could be battery powered.

One year later, in 1982, two computer designers from Microsoft, Kazuhiko Nishi and Bill Gates, discussed a new portable
computer. The main thing about the computer was a new LCD technology. The prototype of the new laptop was presented
to Radio Shack. Radio Shack agreed to start making the computer. A year later the company launched its TRS-80 Model
100, which was a computer that looked pretty much like the laptops that we know today. In 1986 the company created its
improved version called TRS Model 200. The following two years saw the appearance of a laptop PC from Compaq
Computers and the first notebook-style laptop from NEC called NEC UltraLite.

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11/27/2017 Laptop - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The year 1989 was quite successful for laptop producers. First there was Apple Computer that developed its first portable
computer called Macintosh Portable the evolution of which turned it into PowerBook. Then the company named Zenith
Data Systems introduced its Zenith MinisPort a portable computer weighing 6 pounds (2.5 Kg). Finally there was
Compaq Computer that designed its first laptop PC called Compaq LTE.

The development of laptops continued with various upgrades and additional functions added. Laptops have advantages
such as:

People can carry them anywhere, whether office or home.

They can be used in a smaller space than an ordinary desk computer.
At the same time portable computers have several negative points such as:

Price is higher
Computer thefts became easier
They can be used in a car, resulting in distracted driving
They travel frequently, thus can be damaged
Some laptops have usually low technical specifications and are available in low prices. [2]
They are often slower than desktop computers with heavy tasks like gaming, video editing or graphic design.[3]
In 2005, an organisation called One Laptop Per Child started trying to improve education using cheap laptops.

Notebook computers are small laptops. After 2010 people bought fewer laptops because tablet computers are even more
portable. [4]

References
1. "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". www.old-computers.com. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
2. "Tufi Tech". TufiTech.com. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
3. "Laptop Runner". laptoprunner.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
4. PC sales decline (http://www.computerworld.com/article/2489057/tablets/pc-sales-to-drop-by-6--in-2014.html) PC
World

Other websites
Laptop Categories (http://www.usb4ever.com/laptopcg-p.html) See the
Wikimedia Commons has
categories of laptops.
media related to Laptops.
Laptop or Desktop? (http://laptopstudy.com/which-should-i-buy-laptop-or-d
esktop/) Find out more about the differences between a laptop and a
desktop.
BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7006316.stm)

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This page was last changed on 27 August 2017, at 01:37.

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