Misplaced Pages

#380619

58-792: The Osborne Computer Corporation ( OCC ) was an American computer company and pioneering maker of portable computers . It was located in the Silicon Valley of the southern San Francisco Bay Area in California . Adam Osborne , the founder of the company, developed, with design work from Lee Felsenstein , the world's first mass-produced portable computer, the Osborne 1 , in 1981. After Adam Osborne sold his computer book-publishing company to McGraw-Hill in 1979, he decided to market an inexpensive portable computer with bundled software and hired Lee Felsenstein to design it. The resulting Osborne 1 featured

116-690: A 300 baud modem. Osborne obtained the software in part by offering stock in the new Osborne Computer Corporation, which he founded in January 1981. For example, MicroPro International received 75,000 shares and $ 4.60 for each copy of WordStar Osborne distributed with his computers. Unlike other startup companies , Osborne Computer Corporation's first product was ready soon after its founding. The first Osborne 1 shipped in July 1981, and its low price set market expectations for bundled hardware and software packages for several years to come. The company sold 11,000 Osborne 1s in

174-478: A 32-character screen, a floppy disk: capacity = 140 000 characters, of a thermal printer: speed = 28 characters / sec, an asynchronous channel, a synchronous channel, a 220 V power supply. Designed for an operating temperature of 15–35 °C (59–95 °F), it weighed 12 kilograms (26 lb) and its dimensions were 45 cm × 45 cm × 15 cm (17.7 in × 17.7 in × 5.9 in). It provided total mobility. Its operating system

232-663: A 5 inch (127 mm) 52-column cathode-ray tube display, two floppy-disk drives, a Z80 microprocessor, and 64  KB of RAM . It could fit under an airplane seat and survive being accidentally dropped. The bundled software package included the CP/M operating system, the M BASIC and CBASIC programming languages , the WordStar word processing package, and the SuperCalc spreadsheet program. It also included project management software with PERT and GANTT charts, and communications software for

290-508: A Captain of Industry in the emerging Australian PC era. With outstanding success of Osborne 1 sales in Australia, President Computers was lauded at the time by Osborne Corp USA as the largest global distributor of Osborne 1 luggable computers outside of Computerland USA. However with success, Osborne's visiting CFO had his own sights on the Australian market place and convinced Adam Osborne to split

348-963: A continuous connection to an external power source; this limitation was later overcome by the laptop computers . Laptops were followed by lighter models such as netbooks , so that in the 2000s mobile devices and by 2007 smartphones made the term "portable" rather meaningless. The 2010s introduced wearable computers such as smartwatches . Portable computers, by their nature, are generally microcomputers . Larger portable computers were commonly known as 'Lunchbox' or 'Luggable' computers. They are also called 'Portable Workstations' or 'Portable PCs'. In Japan they were often called 'Bentocom'. ( ベントコン , Bentokon ) from " bento ". Portable computers, more narrowly defined, are distinct from desktop replacement computers in that they usually were constructed from full-specification desktop components, and often do not incorporate features associated with laptops or mobile devices. A portable computer in this usage, versus

406-797: A director of Brisbane Markets Limited. Ahern was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering . He served as chairman of the Australian Liver Foundation, a member of the board of governors of the ATSE Clunies Ross Foundation, also a member of the board of governors of the Queensland Community Foundation and was appointed special representative of the Queensland Government for Africa, The Middle East and India. He

464-496: A laptop or other mobile computing device , have a standard motherboard or backplane providing plug-in slots for add-in cards. This allows mission specific cards such as test, A/D, or communication protocol (IEEE-488, 1553) to be installed. Portable computers also provide for more disk storage by using standard disk drives and provide for multiple drives. In 1973, the IBM Los Gatos Scientific Center developed

522-488: A party meeting to allow his opponents to request a leadership spill, so the management committee of the National Party called one for 26 November. Sir Joh boycotted this meeting, at which the spill motion was carried by a margin of 38–9. With Sir Joh not even in the room, Ahern won a three-way contest for the leadership, with Bill Gunn as deputy leader. Ahern immediately wrote to the governor, seeking to be commissioned as

580-541: A portable computer prototype called SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) based on the IBM PALM processor with a Philips compact cassette drive, small CRT and full function keyboard. SCAMP emulated an IBM 1130 minicomputer in order to run APL\1130. In 1973, APL was generally available only on mainframe computers, and most desktop sized microcomputers such as the Wang 2200 or HP 9800 offered only BASIC . Because SCAMP

638-646: A proposal to have the world's tallest building built near Brisbane Central Station , objected to by the Brisbane City Council and many sectors of the public. Facing objections also voiced within his own partyroom, Sir Joh met the Governor of Queensland , Sir Walter Campbell , in November with a request to allow him to purge dissenters from his Cabinet. Eventually Campbell agreed on 24 November to allow him to sack Ahern and two other ministers. Sir Joh refused to call

SECTION 10

#1732869569381

696-440: A prototype and did not enter production. Successful demonstrations of the 1973 SCAMP prototype led to the first commercial IBM 5100 portable microcomputer launched in 1975. The product incorporated an IBM PALM processor , 5-inch (130 mm) CRT, full function keyboard and the ability to be programmed in both APL and BASIC for engineers, analysts, statisticians and other business problem-solvers. (IBM provided different models of

754-539: A system, he was successful in seeing established a Subordinate Legislation Committee and a Privileges Committee, the latter of which he became chair. Ahern once again found himself at odds with Bjelke-Petersen in his role as chair of the Select Committee on Education. The Queensland Department of Education proposed two new additions to the social science curriculum, resisted by fundamentalist lobbyists as promoting secular humanism . Bjelke-Petersen immediately banned

812-563: A trusted business relationship with Adam Osborne and was privy to an early viewing of the yet to be released new Osborne Executive . On sighting warehouses full of the first model, Cooper cautioned Osborne that the Osborne II should only be announced once the original Osborne 1 stock had been depleted. Ultimately, dismissing such advice contributed to Osborne Corporation's demise and Chapter 11 filing in September 1983. Osborne Corporation in Australia

870-494: Is about the size and weight of a sewing machine, and was advertised as the only computer that would fit underneath an airline seat . Another early portable computer released in 1982 was named the Kaypro II , although it was the company's first commercially available product. Some of the press mocked its design—one magazine described Kaypro Corporation as "producing computers packaged in tin cans". Others raved about its value, as

928-417: Is unknown but ADD instructions are documented as taking 16μs, i.e. ~62k ADD/s. Mike Ahern (Australian politician) Michael John Ahern AO FTSE (2 June 1942 – 11 August 2023) was an Australian National Party politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1987 to September 1989. After a long career in the government of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen , Ahern became his successor amid

986-648: The Morrow Pivot -based Osborne 3 (known as the Osborne Encore overseas). However, the company never regained its early prominence. A last ditch effort to create a fully IBM compatible Osborne produced three prototypes, but too late to save the company from bankruptcy. Commercial rights for the Osborne brand name were later acquired by the Finnish clone PC maker Mikrolog Ltd which sold its server and desktop PCs domestically under

1044-609: The Osborne effect theory, Adam Osborne damaged his company's current sales when he began showing the Osborne Executive to journalists in early 1983. Dealers rapidly started cancelling orders for the Osborne 1 in anticipation of the new Executive. Unsold inventory piled up and in spite of dramatic price cuts – the Osborne 1 was selling for $ 1295 in July 1983 and $ 995 by August – sales did not recover. Losses, already higher than expected, continued to mount, and OCC declared bankruptcy on September 13, 1983. Disagreement exists on whether

1102-472: The " Bjelkemander ," the rural overweighting that favoured the National Party. Ahern also brought in legislation relating to domestic violence and established the Southbank Corporation to redevelop the site of Expo '88 (now South Bank Parklands ). Ahern oversaw the parliamentary dismissal of a Supreme Court of Queensland judge, Angelo Vasta , who had been adversely implicated in some findings of

1160-622: The "portable" Hyperion Computer System. Both Eagle Computer and Columbia were sued by IBM for copyright infringement of its BIOS. They settled and were forced to halt production. Neither the Columbia nor the Eagle were nearly as IBM PC DOS compatible as Compaq's offerings. The first full-color portable computer was the Commodore SX-64 in January 1984.. Originally announced in 1987, the Atari STacy

1218-460: The 5100 supporting only BASIC, only APL, or both selectable by a physical switch on the front panel.) IBM referred to its PALM processor as a microprocessor , though they used that term to mean a processor that executes microcode to implement a higher-level instruction set , rather than its conventional definition of a complete processor on a single silicon integrated circuit ; the PALM processor

SECTION 20

#1732869569381

1276-519: The Agency much to Cooper's objection. This move saw President Computers equally divide its current Dealership arrangement when Osborne Corporation setup to hold half the dealership Agency. Upon this decision President Computers exclusivity signed on Osborne's luggable rival the US Del Mar CA manufactured Kaypro Computer produced by Non Liner Systems which boasted a larger format in-built screen. Cooper held

1334-564: The Fitzgerald Inquiry. The publication of the results of the Fitzgerald Inquiry in 1989 were seriously damaging to the Nationals, and all but negated Ahern's efforts to rehabilitate the government's image and distance the party from his now-detested predecessor. A Newspoll released after the inquiry came out showed that the Ahern government had only 22 percent support—the lowest ever recorded at

1392-486: The Inquiry's recommendations "lock, stock and barrel". Bjelke-Petersen worked actively to destabilise the government from outside of Parliament. Ahern tried to change the image of what had been one of the most unshakably conservative state governments in Australia. He announced plans to reform the public service and the parliament, and sought to take a more consultative approach to governing. However, he resisted calls to abolish

1450-621: The MIT Digital Systems Laboratory as a thesis project, it never entered production. It is currently in the collection of Dr. Hoo-Min D. Toong. An early portable computer was manufactured in 1979 by GM Research, a small company in Santa Monica, California. The machine which was designed and patented by James Murez. It was called the Micro Star and later the name was changed to The Small One. Although Xerox claims to have designed

1508-489: The National Party and became policy. After being passed over twice for a Cabinet post in the 1970s, Ahern nominated for the vacancy in the Deputy Leadership of the National Party in 1980—a post that de facto carried automatic Cabinet rank. Bjelke-Petersen was not willing to have Ahern as his deputy and potential rival, but could no longer justify keeping him out of the ministry. Sir Joh decided to placate Ahern by offering

1566-671: The National Party), in Landsborough and was campaign manager for Premier Sir Frank Nicklin . From 1964 to 1967 Jack Ahern was president of the Country Party. Michael Ahern was born in Maleny, Queensland and was educated at Conondale State School and Downlands College ( Toowoomba ). Ahern went on to study agricultural science at the University of Queensland , afterwards became active in

1624-472: The Osborne 1, ran CP/M and included a software bundle, but Kaypro offered larger 9 inch (229 mm) screens. Apple Computer 's offerings had a large software library of their own and with aftermarket cards, could run CP/M as well. IBM 's PC was faster, more advanced, and offered a rapidly growing software library, and Osborne's efforts to raise $ 20 million in capital to rush an IBM-compatible computer to market were unsuccessful. According to proponents of

1682-527: The Osborne Effect truly caused the company to collapse, with Robert X. Cringely and Charles Eicher attributing its failure to other causes. When it was apparent that the company would be closing down, a company meeting was held with all employees. The first round of layoffs involved sales staff, production staff, domestic marketing and most mid to low-level clerical support. These employees were presented with their paychecks only. The management that remained

1740-585: The Young Country Party. He was state president of the Young Country Party in 1967 and national president in 1968, as well as junior vice-president of the Country Party. He took Nicklin as a political mentor. When Nicklin retired in 1968, Ahern nominated to succeed him in his Landsborough electorate, located in the Sunshine Coast. He handily won election to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in

1798-488: The company advertised the Kaypro II as "the $ 1,595 computer that sells for $ 1,595 ", some noting that the included software bundle had a retail value over $ 1,000 by itself, and by mid-1983 the company was selling more than 10,000 units a month, briefly making it the fifth-largest computer maker in the world. It managed to correct most of the Osborne 1 's deficiencies: the screen was larger and showed more characters at once,

Osborne Computer Corporation - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-533: The controversy caused by the Fitzgerald Inquiry into official corruption. Ahern's consensus style and political moderation contrasted strongly with Bjelke-Petersen's leadership, but he could not escape the division and strife caused by his predecessor's downfall. In common with most National Party politicians, Ahern had a rural background. His father, Jack Ahern, was active in the Country Party (now known as

1914-678: The crisis to engulf the National Party. On 25 September 1989, Police Minister Russell Cooper , a National Party traditionalist, successfully challenged Ahern for the leadership. The Nationals lost the election just two months later, ending 32 years of continuous National Party government. Ahern resigned from Parliament six months after the election and proceeded to a successful business career. After retiring from politics, Ahern undertook board roles with predominately technology companies. He served as chairman of Intrapower Ltd, Family Care Medical Services Ltd, McIntosh Financial Planning, Indue Group of Companies and NeuMedix Health Group. He also served as

1972-525: The eight months after its July 1981 debut, with 50,000 more on backorder, although the early units had a 10 to 15% failure rate. The peak sales per month for it over the course of the product lifetime was 10,000 units, despite the initial business plan for the computer predicting a total of only 10,000 units sold over the entire product lifecycle. Osborne had difficulty meeting demand, and the company grew from two employees, Osborne and Felsenstein, to 3,000 people and $ 73 million in revenue in 12 months. The growth

2030-543: The ensuing by-election, being the youngest Country member of Parliament by nearly twenty years. When Jack Pizzey , Nicklin's successor, died, Ahern's prospects suffered a setback when the wily conservative Joh Bjelke-Petersen was elected as the Country Party's new leader. Bjelke-Petersen viewed Ahern with unconcealed mistrust. This was founded partly on Ahern's closeness to Nicklin, whom Bjelke-Petersen had resented; partly on Ahern's youth and intellect; and partly on Ahern's Roman Catholicism , unpalatable to Bjelke-Petersen as

2088-464: The first such system, the machine by Murez predated anything on the market or that had been documented in any publication at the time – hence the patent was issued. As early as 1979, the U.S. Government was contracting to purchase these machines. Other major customers included Sandia Labs, General Dynamics, BBN (featured on the cover of their annual report in 1980 as the C.A.T. system) and several dozen private individuals and companies around

2146-473: The floppy drives stored over twice as much data, the case was more attractive-looking, and it was also much better-built and more reliable. The Grid Compass ran its own operating system, GRiD-OS. Its specialized software and high price (US$ 8,000–10,000) meant that it was limited to specialized applications. The main buyer was the U.S. government. NASA used it on the Space Shuttle during the early 1980s, as it

2204-417: The legislature. The situation where Queensland had a "Premier who is not leader" and the National Party a "Leader who is not Premier" only ended after four days when Bjelke-Petersen retired and finally handed the post to Ahern on 1 December. Ahern also held 8 other ministries including Attorney-General on a temporary basis until he could establish his ministry. As premier, Ahern faced a National Party that

2262-404: The new premier. This normally would have been a pro forma request since the Nationals had a majority in their own right (as they had since 1983). However, despite not even having nominated for the leadership, Sir Joh insisted he was still premier. While it seemed that Campbell was bound by convention to appoint Ahern, he refused to terminate Bjelke-Petersen's commission until Sir Joh was defeated in

2320-405: The portfolio of Minister for Mines while successfully running his own preferred candidate, Vic Sullivan , for Deputy Leader. Other portfolios held by Ahern over the course of his ministerial career were Minister for Primary Industries, Minister for Industry, Small Business and Technology, and Minister for Health and Environment. Ahern was significantly younger than most of his Cabinet colleagues, and

2378-498: The previously world famous name until 2021, when Mikrolog went bankrupt. Portable computer The first commercially sold portable computer might be the 20-pound (9.1 kg) MCM/70 , released 1974. The next major portables were the 50-pound (23 kg) IBM 5100 (1975), Osborne 's 24-pound (11 kg) CP/M -based Osborne 1 (1981) and Compaq 's 28-pound (13 kg), advertised as 100% IBM PC compatible Compaq Portable (1983). These luggable computers still required

Osborne Computer Corporation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-512: The son of a Lutheran preacher. Bjelke-Petersen was determined to stymie Ahern's ambitions to be in Cabinet . For these reasons, Ahern had a long wait for ministerial preferment. Despite this, Ahern was chosen as National Party whip in 1972. He lobbied for Queensland to establish a system of parliamentary committees on the model of the Canadian parliament . Facing Bjelke-Petersen's opposition to such

2494-567: The time for a state government in Australia. The damage was magnified by the fact that the Nationals faced a statutory general election that year , and polls showed Labor having its best chance in years of winning government. Indeed, if the result of the Newspoll had been repeated in an election, the Nationals would have been defeated in a landslide. Although Ahern was not implicated in any form of corruption, hardline Bjelke-Petersen supporters blamed him for his alleged weakness and vacillation in allowing

2552-550: The two courses but faced a backlash from the Queensland Teachers Union and State School organisations. The government appointed the Parliamentary Select Committee with Ahern as chair to investigate. Ahern supported the recommendation that sex education be incorporated into the curriculum but was predictably vetoed by Bjelke-Petersen. Nevertheless, the committee's final report was eventually endorsed by

2610-664: The world. In 1979, Adam Osborne viewed the machine along with several hundred other visitors at the first computer show that was sponsored by the IEEE Westec in Los Angeles. Later that year the machine was also shown at the first COMDEX show. 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

2668-462: Was Prolog . A few hundred were sold between 1980 and 1983. The first mass-produced microprocessor-based portable computer released in 1981 was the Osborne 1 , developed by Osborne, which owed much to the NoteTaker's design. The company had early success with the design and went public but later due to small screen sizes and other devices being released found trouble selling the Osborne. The Osborne 1

2726-453: Was a large circuit board populated with over a dozen chips. In the late 1960s, such a machine would have been nearly as large as two desks and would have weighed about half a ton (0.45 t). In comparison, the IBM 5100 weighed about 53 pounds (24 kg and very portable for that time). The MIT Suitcase Computer, constructed in 1975, was the first known microprocessor-based portable computer. It

2784-409: Was a portable microcomputer designed and marketed by the studies and developments department of the French firm R2E Micral in 1980 at the request of the company CCMC specializing in payroll and accounting. The Portal was based on an intel 8085 processor, 8-bit, clocked at 2 MHz. It was equipped with a central 64 KB RAM, a keyboard with 58 alpha numeric keys and 11 numeric keys (separate blocks),

2842-524: Was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001. In the 2007 Australia Day Honours , he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) "for service to the Queensland Parliament, to economic and trade development through fostering primary production and international relationships, and to the community through technological, medical research, educational and charitable organisations". In 2010, Ahern

2900-454: Was based on the Motorola 6800 . Constructed in a Samsonite suitcase approximately 20 by 30 by 8 inches (510 mm × 760 mm × 200 mm) and weighing approximately 20 lb (9.1 kg), it had 4K of SRAM, a serial port to accept downloaded software and connect to a modem, a keyboard and a 40-column thermal printer taken from a cash register. Built by student David Emberson in

2958-410: Was increasingly riven between Bjelke-Petersen supporters and opponents, and a Fitzgerald Inquiry that was steadily provoking new revelations of official corruption at the very highest level during Bjelke-Petersen's tenure. Police commissioner Terry Lewis and several former cabinet Ministers were forced from their posts and convicted of criminal charges. Ahern, in a signature phrase, promised to implement

SECTION 50

#1732869569381

3016-639: Was one of few members of cabinet with tertiary qualifications. By the late 1980s the standing of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (he was knighted in 1984) as premier had begun to be compromised by the failure of the disastrous " Joh for Canberra " campaign in 1987 and the establishment, against Bjelke-Petersen's will in 1987, of the Inquiry into Police Corruption and Other Matters led by Tony Fitzgerald QC . Facing internal pressure to resign, in October 1987 Sir Joh announced he would step down in 1988 after hosting Expo '88 . Shortly afterwards, Sir Joh threw his support behind

3074-522: Was powerful, lightweight, and compact. The military Special Forces also purchased the machine, as it could be used by paratroopers in combat. Although Columbia Data Product 's MPC 1600, "Multi Personal Computer" came out in June 1983, one of the first extensively IBM PC compatible computers was the Compaq Portable . Eagle Computer then came out with their offering. and Corona Data Systems 's PPC-400.,

3132-506: Was primarily from the international marketing division. Nine days later on September 22, 1983 a group of 24 investors filed suit against OCC and several individuals, seeking $ 8.5 million in damages for masking the company's true financial situation and accusing several directors of the company of insider trading . Osborne emerged from bankruptcy in 1984 and released the Osborne Vixen , a compact portable running CP/M, in late 1984, along with

3190-903: Was released to the public in December 1989 and was one of the first laptop-like portables. Apple Inc. introduced and released the Macintosh Portable in 1989, though this device came with a battery, which added to its substantial weight. The Portable has features similar to the Atari STacy , include integrated trackball and clamshell case. After release of IBM PC Convertible in 1986, IBM still produced classic portable computers, include released in 1989 PS/2 P70 (with upgrade in 1990 to P75 ), and IBM produce portables for up to release of PS/2 Note and PS/55note notebook lines. In today's world of laptops, smart phones, and tablets, portable computers have evolved and are now mostly used for industrial, commercial or military applications. Clock speed

3248-463: Was so rapid that, in one case, an executive who returned from a one-week trade show had to search two buildings to find her relocated staff. The company announced in October 1982 a temporary bundling of Ashton-Tate 's dBase II , increasing demand so much that production reached 500 units a day and severely diminishing quality control. In 1982, Osborne was originally represented in Australia exclusively by President Computers Pty Ltd headed by Tom Cooper,

3306-490: Was the first to emulate APL\1130 performance on a portable, single user computer, PC Magazine in 1983 designated SCAMP a "revolutionary concept" and "the world's first personal computer". The engineering prototype is in the Smithsonian Institution . Xerox NoteTaker , developed in 1976 at Xerox PARC , was a precursor to later portable computers from Osborne Computer Corporation and Compaq , though it remained

3364-825: Was then restructured and moved towards the PC sector but retained use of the Osborne brand. By this time President Computers also had successfully enjoyed strong success with Kaypro luggable computer sales had itself moved into the PC Sector under its own private label brand with Cooper's President Computer PC Assembly plant officially opened on the Gold Coast Technology Park, 1 Computer Street, Labrador Queensland in 1986 by Minister for Industry, Small Business and Technology of Queensland for Industry and Innovation Hon. Mike Ahern . Despite early success, Osborne struggled under heavy competition. Kaypro Computer offered portables that, like

#380619