Alan Kay of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center originated the idea of a portable computer in the 1970s. Kay envisioned a notebook-sized, portable computer called the Dynabook that everyone could own, and that could handle all of the user's informational needs. Kay also envisioned the Dynabook with wireless network capabilities. Arguably, the first laptop computer was designed in 1979 by William Moggridge of Grid Systems Corp. It had 340 kilobytes of bubble memory, a die-cast magnesium case and a folding electroluminescent graphics display screen (click here for a picture). In 1983, Gavilan Computer produced a laptop computer with the following features (click here for picture):
64 kilobytes (expandable to 128 kilobytes) of random access memory (RAM)
Gavilan operating system (also ran MS-DOS)
8088 microprocessor
touchpad mouse
portable printer
weighed 9 lb (4 kg) alone or 14 lb (6.4 kg) with printer
The Gavilan computer had a floppy drive that was not compatible with other computers, and it primarily used its own operating system. The company failed.
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