VINTAGE Osborne 1 "Portable" Computer Model OCC1.Serial No 118483.
Boots from ROM and prompts for disk (not included). No other testing done. Screen text is bright and clear.
Excellent Condition. From the estate of a collector. Well cared for. Some yellowing on case. Leather strap and power cord like new.
Its history:Released in June 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation, the Osborne 1 is considered to be the first true portable, full-featured computer. It includes all the components required to be a completely useful and operational computer system:
- two built-in floppy drives which hold 91K of data each, with floppy disk storage compartments
- a detachable full-size keyboard with numeric keypad
- a built-in, albeit small, monochrome CRT monitor.
- runs the CP/M Operating System, the most popular OS at the time.
What makes it portable, or more often described as luggable, is that everything is in one package, easily transported from one location to another by simply unplugging the power, attaching the keyboard to the front of the system, and being on your way. The leather carrying handle on the back is a classy touch.
Adam Osborne, the founder of Osborne Computer Company, enlisted Lee Felsenstein, who also designed the Processor Technology Sol-20 computer five years earlier in 1976, to design the Osborne 1 computer. Read Lee's blog at http://fonly.typepad.com for information and insight on his days at Osborne Computer Company.
While exciting and unique, the Osborne 1 does have its limitations. For example, at 24.5 pounds (11 kg), the system is not light-weight by any means, and the screen is only 5" (diagonal) in size and can't display more than 52 characters per line of text. Adam Osborne said that the small screen was chosen to keep the overall system as small as possible, but that he later regretted that decision. Additionally, 5-inch screens were readily available, as IBM used them in their IBM 5100 Portable Computer from 1975.
The Osborne 1 portable computer wasn't intended to be high performance or revolutionary - it was meant to be 'good enough'. Adam Osborne's philosophy was that "better is the enemy of good - adequacy is sufficient and everything else is irrelevant". And his opinion of the Osborne 1 computer? "Merely adequate - it is not the fastest microcomputer, it doesn't have huge amounts of disk storage space, and it is not especially expandable."
