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Osborne 1

Developer	Adam Osborne
Type	portable computer
Release date	1981
Introductory price	US$ 1795
Discontinued	1983
Operating system	CP/M
CPU	Zilog Z80 @ 4.0 MHz
Memory	64 KB

The Osborne 1 was the first commercially successful portable microcomputer, released in April, 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation. It weighed 10.7 kg (23.5 pounds), cost US$ 1795, and ran the then-popular CP/M 2.2 operating system. Its principal deficiencies were a tiny 5 inch (13 cm) display screen and single sided, single density floppy disk drives whose disks could not contain sufficient data for practical business applications. Its design owed much to that of the Xerox NoteTaker, a prototype developed at Xerox PARC in 1976. There were ten prototypes produced, as described in an email^[1] to PBA Galleries, a San Francisco auction house, by Lee Felsenstein, the designer of the Osborne computer, on February 12, 2009:

I can confirm that this is one of the first ten prototype units built, known as the "metal case" units. I don't think they had serial numbers. The cases were made by Galgon Industries in Hayward but their quote for production was prohibitive, so work immediately commenced on the plastic cases. The circuit board was ready in January of 1981 and these were built shortly thereafter. They were used in the first ads ("the guy on the left doesn't stand a chance") in which the veins on the hand of the guy on the right bulge as he struggles with the 30-pound weight of his transformer-powered luggable. These were the units we took to the West Coast Computer Faire and the National Computer Conference in early 1981.

[edit] Software

The Osborne 1 came with a bundle of application software. The WordStar word processor, SuperCalc spreadsheet, and the CBASIC and MBASIC programming languages—all software packages that were the leading applications in their respective niches at the time—had a retail value of more than US$2000. The exact contents of the bundled software varied depending on the time of purchase; for example, dBASE II was not included with the first systems sold.

[edit] Hardware specifications

Hardware features:^[2]

• Dual 5¼-inch, single-sided 40 track floppy disk drives ("dual density" upgrade available)
• 4 MHz Z80 CPU
• 64 kilobytes main memory
• Fold-down 69 key detachable keyboard doubling as the computer case's lid
• 5-inch, 52 character × 24 line monochrome CRT display, mapped as a window on 128 × 32 character display memory
• IEEE-488 port configurable as a Parallel printer port
• RS-232 compatible 1200 or 300 baud Serial port for use with external modems or serial printers

The 500+ page Osborne 1 user manual contained instructions on the hardware, WordStar, Supercalc, BASIC software and the CP/M] operating system and utilities

The Osborne 1 was powered by a wall plug with a switched-mode power supply, and had no internal battery, although an aftermarket battery pack offering 1 hour run-time was available. Early models (tan case) were wired for 120 V or 240 V only. ^[3] Later models (blue case, shipping after May 1982) could be switched by the user to run on either 120 V or 230 V, 50 or 60 Hz.

Peripherals

• External Monochrome Display
• Parallel Dot matrix Printer

Operating system:

• CP/M version 2.2. A complete listing of the ROM BIOS was available in the Osborne technical manual.

Superseded by

• Osborne Executive

[edit] Games

ADVENT (Colossal Cave Adventure) running on an Osborne Computer circa 1982

Since the display of the Osborne did not support bit-mapped graphics, games were typically character based games, like text adventures (the 1982 game Deadline, for example, packaged in a dossier type folder and came on two 5 1/4" diskettes.). Compiled and MBASIC interpreted versions of Colossal Cave Adventure were available for the Osborne. Some shareware games made good use of the Osborne's limited character-mode graphics. ^[4]

[edit] Peripherals

These peripherals were not part of the base computer. Peripherals may have been offered by particular vendors at various times.

• External Monochrome screen - using separate synch and video connections, driven by the motherboard video circuitry.
• Dot Matrix Parallel Printer (Made by Star)
• 300 Baud Modem - fit into a diskette storage pocket, powered from the motherboard.

A small set of aftermarket vendors offered several other upgrades to the basic model, including third-party double density disk drives, external hard disks, and a battery-backed RAM disk that fit in a disk storage compartment.

Aftermarket 80-column video upgrades were available for the original 52-column-only machines.

The Osborne corporation offered a "Screen Pac" 80-column upgrade that could be switched between original 52 column and 80 column modes. Osborne 1 systems with the 80-column upgrade have an RCA jack installed on the front panel to allow connection of an external composite video monitor.

[edit] Market life

In the first eight months following shipment of the first unit to a customer, the Osborne corporation sold 11,000 units. ^[5] At its peak, Osborne Computer Corporation shipped 10,000 Osborne 1 units per month ^[6]. The computer was widely imitated as several other computer companies started offering low-priced portable computers with bundled software. The Osborne 1 was about the size and weight of a heavily packed suitcase; one commercial humorously pointed out that it did not quite fit under an airplane seat. As such it is now classified as a "luggable" computer in comparison to later laptop designs. The Osborne's popularity was surpassed by the similar Kaypro II which had a much more practical 9 inch (23 cm) CRT that could display the standard 80 characters on 24 lines as well as double density floppies that could store twice as much data.

Osborne Computer Corporation was unable to effectively respond to the Kaypro challenge until after the market window had closed and the day of the 8-bit, CP/M-based computer had ended. A popular belief is that sales of the Osborne 1 were hurt by the premature announcement of superior successor machines such as the Osborne Executive^[7]; a phenomenon called the Osborne effect. Later Compaq delivered a portable computer (the Compaq Portable) with a 9 inch CRT, that was software compatible with the IBM PC, making it the first PC clone.

From 1982 to 1985 the company published "The Portable Companion", a magazine for Osborne users. ^[8]

Osborne Computer Corporation filed for Chapter 11 (Bankruptcy) in September 1983.

The Osborne appears briefly in a scene of the movie The Philadelphia Experiment(1984), sitting on a desk inside a USMC base. In the same scene also a Commodore 64 is visible in the foreground.

[edit] After Chapter 11

When Osborne filed for Chapter 11 protection it was working on the Osborne Vixen, which when announced hampered the sales of the Osborne 1. In 1985 the Osborne-4 (Vixen) was released a smaller machine with the keyboard permanently fixed which acted as a stand. This model didn't sell in great numbers.

[edit] External links

• Osborne 1 information and photos – At the Obsolete Technology Website
• Osborne 1 detailed images and boot up video – At the Bunker of DOOM
• Collection of old digital and analog computers
• At the Old Computer Museum
• Osborne Prototype for auction at PBA Galleries

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Adam Osborne,John Dvorak Hypergrowth: the rise and fall of Osborne Computer Corporation,Idthekkethan Pub. Co., 1984 ISBN 0918347009