And if it's not, what is? I was looking around a bit for something else that's lap-sized, battery-powered, programmable, and with some sort of storage and/or printing capability, but couldn't find anything predating the 97.
Does HP hold the claim to not only the first handheld "computer" (65), but also the first "laptop"?
I'd say the first laptop was the Epson HX-20. It was introduced a few years later than the HP-97, but it has capabilities that are more in line with what I usually think of as a computer, rather than a calculator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson_HX-20
The
MCM/70 is a candidate, too --- and came out much earlier. Didn't sell nearly as many units as the Epson.
The IEEE Annals of the History of Computing has a good article about it at
The Making of the MCM/70 Microcomputer (this is in their library, and may not be available for free).
(06-13-2020 04:24 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote: [ -> ]I'd say the first laptop was the Epson HX-20. It was introduced a few years later than the HP-97, but it has capabilities that are more in line with what I usually think of as a computer, rather than a calculator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson_HX-20
Yeah, the HX-20 is definitely the first laptop to resemble what we now expect a computer to look like, with a QWERTY keyboard and character display. But a PDP/8 mainframe has neither, and thus while it looks quite different from what we would expect a computer to look like today, there's no denying that it is one. So I think it becomes kind of a murky philosophical debate whether we can call something a "computer" or a "calculator".
(06-13-2020 06:00 PM)KF6GPE Wrote: [ -> ]The MCM/70 is a candidate, too --- and came out much earlier. Didn't sell nearly as many units as the Epson.
The IEEE Annals of the History of Computing has a good article about it at The Making of the MCM/70 Microcomputer (this is in their library, and may not be available for free).
Oh yeah, that could certainly qualify. Though at 20 lbs, I don't know whether you'd
want to use it on your lap very long. It would be better than a 40 lb HP 9100A at least.
(06-13-2020 08:24 PM)Dave Britten Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah, the HX-20 is definitely the first laptop to resemble what we now expect a computer to look like, with a QWERTY keyboard and character display. But a PDP/8 mainframe has neither, and thus while it looks quite different from what we would expect a computer to look like today, there's no denying that it is one. So I think it becomes kind of a murky philosophical debate whether we can call something a "computer" or a "calculator".
It's not that murky. A PDP-8 may not have a built-in keyboard and monitor (neither do lots of modern computers, including typical tower PCs, rack-mounted servers, or the Mac mini sitting next to my TV), but you interact with it through a terminal, which provides those components. So the QWERTY keyboard and character display are typically part of the way we interact with computers anyway.
Along These lines the Tandy 100 an 102 are fine early laptops also.
And if I remember correctly some of Bill Gates last programming work was done for the Tandy 100.
Happy June,
TomC
(06-13-2020 08:24 PM)Dave Britten Wrote: [ -> ]Oh yeah, that could certainly qualify. Though at 20 lbs, I don't know whether you'd want to use it on your lap very long. It would be better than a 40 lb HP 9100A at least.
OK, I'll gladly take a 40 pound HP 9100A or B off your hands (and lap?) and give you a brand new laptop computer that only weighs about two pounds and can run rings around the old, obsolete HP!
(06-14-2020 02:32 AM)toml_12953 Wrote: [ -> ]OK, I'll gladly take a 40 pound HP 9100A or B off your hands (and lap?) and give you a brand new laptop computer that only weighs about two pounds and can run rings around the old, obsolete HP!
What about an old laptop with a HP9100B emulator, does that qualify ;-)
cheers
Tony
(06-14-2020 07:25 AM)toml_12953 Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2020 06:42 AM)teenix Wrote: [ -> ]What about an old laptop with a HP9100B emulator, does that qualify ;-)
cheers
Tony
How much does it weigh?
Depends on how many program cards you've stuffed into it.
(06-14-2020 12:34 PM)Dave Britten Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2020 07:25 AM)toml_12953 Wrote: [ -> ]How much does it weigh?
Depends on how many program cards you've stuffed into it.
Hee hee! I almost convinced a guy to delete data off his laptop when he said it was too heavy. I wouldn't have actually let him do it, though.
I guess that's one way to make it a bit less heavy!