1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And when I first 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: started out in the work world, sit down, we're going 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: to have a story time, it was a little bit 7 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,479 Speaker 1: of a different landscape. Now. First of all, I was 8 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:36,239 Speaker 1: not a podcaster. That was not my original profession. My 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:41,480 Speaker 1: first steady job was working for a human resources consulting firm. 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: Have you guys seen the film Office Space. If you have, 11 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: you might remember the Bob's in that movie. Those were 12 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: a pair of consultants who came into the company in 13 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: the film in a tech in order to figure out 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: which employees could be downsized. In other words, who's gonna 15 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: get fired? Well, I used to say that I essentially 16 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: worked for the Bob's, but that's probably being a little unfair. 17 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: But hey, that's that's neither here nor there, right So anyway, 18 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: more importantly for this episode, back then, I worked on designing, formatting, editing, proofing, 19 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: and producing various documents. I had a pretty fancy title, 20 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 1: but I was really more or less a copy editor. 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: Not that copy editors aren't fancy, they're incredibly important. But 22 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: the title they that I was given at that you know, 23 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 1: consulting firm made it sound like I was a manager 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: or something. But to do my work, I was assigned 25 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: a big, old desktop computer. It was a decent machine 26 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: for the time being, but it was also stationary. Right. 27 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: You weren't supposed to pick the thing up and take 28 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: it with you at the end of the day, so 29 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: I never had to bring work home with me. Now, 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: it's not that laptop computers were rare even back in 31 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: the ancient days when I first started working, but the 32 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: average office tended to rely more on desktop computers than 33 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: laptops at that point, with only really important folks like 34 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: senior consultants at my company having laptops, and that was 35 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: so that they could bring their work with them wherever 36 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: they went. Flash forward to a decade ago or so, 37 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: I was working at how Stuff Works dot com, and boy, 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: howdy do I miss those guys. Not only is that 39 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: where this podcast got its start, it's also where I 40 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,679 Speaker 1: got my first work laptop. Now that one I could 41 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: bring home with me. Right, I could bring the laptop 42 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: with me if I needed to, made it much easier 43 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: to work on any particularly tricky articles that I was 44 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: writing at the time. But on the flip side, you 45 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: could argue that I was suddenly able to put in 46 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: way more hours in a salaried job that I would 47 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: have if the computers were still metaphorically locked two desks 48 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: in an office. But whether you view it as a 49 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: pause of or a negative, the laptop at that point 50 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: had become standard office gear, largely replacing the towers and 51 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: base units of desktops of the past, and that brings 52 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: us to today's topic. I wanted to talk about the 53 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: origin and evolution of laptop computers. Now, clearly we won't 54 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: be talking about every variation. That would be insane. The 55 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: series would end up being one episodes long, and while 56 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,959 Speaker 1: I enjoyed walking down the path of PlayStation for four episodes, 57 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: that was already pushing it. So this is more of 58 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: an overview of how laptops first came into being, when 59 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: they first started getting popular, and then we're going to 60 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: talk in a second episode about some pretty dramatic shifts 61 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: and form factor and use cases over the years. So 62 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: this episode is going to really be about how we 63 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: kind of arrived at the standard form factor of what 64 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: we consider a laptop to be and and how that 65 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: was established. And in our next episode we'll look at 66 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: how various companies have innovated around that basic concept and 67 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: the effort to kind of differentiate themselves and also add 68 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: new features and capabilities. So to talk about laptops, we 69 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: also have to pull back a bit and talk about 70 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: the shift towards personal computers, because the two are very 71 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: closely related. The first purely electronic computer for general purpose computing, 72 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: as opposed to a machine that could really only do 73 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: one type of processing was the appropriately named Electronic Numerical 74 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: Integrator and Computer or an EAC computer, so famous that 75 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: Michael Simbello recorded a song about it for the movie 76 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: Flash Dance. Hang on a second, I'm getting a note here. 77 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: Um huh, Well, according to this note that I just 78 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: handed to myself, the whole song thing is a lie. 79 00:04:58,120 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: But for those of you out there who are as 80 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: old as I am, you get the joke right. Anyway. 81 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,600 Speaker 1: ENIAC was not the first computer, mind you, but it 82 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,359 Speaker 1: was the first electronic one, or largely agreed to be 83 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: the first electronic computer. There's even some disagreement on that matter, 84 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: but there were older computers. Those were electro mechanical machines. 85 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: But Eniac was in itself a huge machine, pretty much 86 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: taking up all of the wall space of a basement 87 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 1: that measured fifty ft by thirty feet or fifteen meters 88 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: by nine meters. Eniac had nearly twenty thousand vacuum tubes 89 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: as part of its wiring. Because this was a time 90 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: before the transistor, it was not, by any definition at all, 91 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:50,599 Speaker 1: a portable machine. Now we got better at building computers, 92 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: and components like the transistor would help immensely, and over 93 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 1: time we were able to miniaturize the various elements debate 94 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: computers work. We created circuit boards, and then we eventually 95 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: moved on to relatively tiny processors. Things that used to 96 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: take up several square feet of space or sometimes cubic 97 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: feet of space now could be fit on a few 98 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: chips on a circuit board, but even so that took 99 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: a while. The Eniac project began during World War two. 100 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 1: Three decades later, the computers were smaller, but still frequently 101 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 1: the size of a desk or workstation, or sometimes a 102 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: couple of them. There was no such thing as a 103 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: personal computer. Yet the machines were too large and way 104 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: too expensive for that, and the applications were mostly restricted 105 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: to scientific research and business applications like accounting analysis, that 106 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: kind of thing. In fact, there were two general classifications 107 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: of computers by the nineteen seventies, though people weren't necessarily 108 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: talking about them in these terms. At that time. You 109 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: had main frame computers. These were larger, centralized computers, typically 110 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: housed in their own rooms within a business or research facility, 111 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: and typically they were looked after by very highly trained technicians, 112 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: so there was a barrier between user and machine. They 113 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: were intended for multiple users, generally, and either those users 114 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: were accessing the main frame from dumb terminals meaning a 115 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: keyboard in some form of output that themselves had no 116 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: computing power. They just connected back to this central computer, 117 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: or you were sharing time on the same physical device, 118 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: typically through using those highly paid technicians. These main frames 119 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: were really expensive. I mean, it wasn't unheard of for 120 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: a mainframe computer to set a company back a million bucks, 121 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: and that is a princely some The other category would 122 00:07:54,680 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: be mini computers. These were smaller, but not necessarily tiny. Uh. 123 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: Defining the boundary between a main frame and a mini 124 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: computer is somewhat subjective. They also were typically multiple user computers. 125 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: They weren't necessarily meant to be a single individuals computer, 126 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: but they were smaller than their main frame counterparts. They 127 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: were also less expensive. You could swoop up one of 128 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: these babies for a cool hundred grand or so. See 129 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: either they're practically giving them away. By the mid nineteen seventies, 130 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,440 Speaker 1: miniaturization had reached a point where a computer could fit 131 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: on a desktop rather than taking up the space of 132 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: an entire desk, or two desks or a dozen desks. 133 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: This would start to get us into the era of 134 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: micro computers. Micro Computers is kind of another term for 135 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: personal computer in a sense the meaning is slightly different, 136 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: but effectively personal computers are micro computers. They're a subset, 137 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: you could argue. So these were still machine beings found 138 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: largely in research centers and big corporations, not in the 139 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: home at this time, so computer manufacturers were building machines 140 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: with that in mind. They weren't building for the home user, 141 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: but that would slowly change thanks to some computer enthusiasts 142 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: who saw an opportunity in vour. A company called micro 143 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems or MYTHS changed the game forever 144 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: in computers. This company was founded by a group of 145 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: hobbyists in the late nineteen sixties. These were electronics enthusiasts 146 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: and professionals, and their whole business was selling kits to 147 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: other hobbyists. And originally those kids were for stuff like 148 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: home radio transmitters and model rocket systems, thus the telemetry. 149 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: But in nineteen seventy four they put together a kit 150 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: that would let hobbyists build their very own programmable computer. 151 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: You wouldn't think of it as a computer by modern standards, 152 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: but it was the computer, and they named it the 153 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: Altaire eight hundred. They sold these kits for just four 154 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: hundred forty dollars, and they got a lot of publicity 155 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: from a cover page story in the magazine Popular Electronics. 156 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: By the way, if you were to adjust for inflation, 157 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: that fourty kit would set you back about two thousand, 158 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:24,199 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars in today's money. And keep in mind 159 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:26,440 Speaker 1: it was a kit. You would still have to actually 160 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: build the thing yourself. Now, the l tear didn't exactly 161 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: become the must have gadget of nine, but it did 162 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:38,319 Speaker 1: help usher in the personal computer era the micro computer era. 163 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,079 Speaker 1: It allowed people like the Two Steve's those being jobs 164 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: in Wozniak to get their own computer business going. In 165 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: case you aren't aware, that was a little company called Apple. Meanwhile, 166 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: over at IBM, the focus was still primarily on corporate customers. 167 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: That was a big part of IBM's business. In fact, 168 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: that was IBM's business, was selling products to other big companies. 169 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: It would be a couple of years before IBM would 170 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: try its hand designing a personal computer for a more 171 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: mainstream customer base, like and an actual consumer level computer 172 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: as opposed to a commercial computer. But it is at 173 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 1: IBM where our story about laptops really gets its start. 174 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: IBM had identified a market for computers that was underserved, 175 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,839 Speaker 1: and not again the average consumer. Instead, we're talking about 176 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: professionals who weren't necessarily connected to a big corporation or 177 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: research facility that has access to like a mainframe machine 178 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: or typical mini computer. So these were statisticians and engineers 179 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: and analysts and other people who would routinely work with 180 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 1: big numbers and complicated calculations. They could really use something 181 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: with the capabilities of a computer, a programmable machine, but 182 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,079 Speaker 1: they weren't working at places where those sort of resources 183 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: were readily available. So IBM set out to make a 184 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 1: machine that the company could market to those professionals. To 185 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: do so, IBM created a portable computer called the IBM. 186 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: This was an early example of an IBM mini computer. Now, 187 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: this wasn't a laptop computer by today's standards, certainly, but 188 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: it was a portable computer. In fact, it's pretty much 189 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: acknowledged as the world's first portable computer. However, when it 190 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: comes to the word portable, your mileage may vary. See, 191 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: the IBM was no lightweight device. In fact, it tipped 192 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: the scales at a hefty fifty five pounds. That's just 193 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:47,079 Speaker 1: under twenty five and yeah, that's heavy. You would not 194 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: want this on your lap for very long at all, 195 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: or you lose all feeling in your legs. But compared 196 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: to an IBM computer of the same capabilities from just 197 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: a few years earlier, it was positively smelt. An IBM 198 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: computer from the late sixties that would have the same 199 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:09,679 Speaker 1: processing capabilities as the nineteen IBM would have been the 200 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: size of two full desks and it would have weighed 201 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: half a ton, So this was definitely an achievement. The 202 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: IBM was an all in one computer. It included a 203 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: display that was built into the body of the computer itself, 204 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: so the case had everything. The case had the display, 205 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: it had the keyboard. Calling it a display, however, is 206 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: a pretty grand thing because it wasn't exactly large. In fact, 207 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: the screen size was just five inches or twelve point 208 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: seven centimeters on the diagonal, so you wouldn't be playing 209 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,440 Speaker 1: Doo Maternal on one of these things. In fact, they 210 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: could not show graphics like that. The screen could display 211 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: standard characters, but it wasn't designed for more advanced graphics. 212 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 1: The width of the display allowed for just sixty four 213 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: characters per line, with sixteen lines maximum on a screen, 214 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: so it had a height of sixteen characters and a 215 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: width of sixty four characters, so it was definitely limited. 216 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: The body of the computer also had a keyboard complete 217 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: with a number pad built into it, so this was 218 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: again a solid piece, one piece computer. And you if 219 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: you imagine an old computer case, you know the kind 220 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: that would sit horizontally on a desk, Just imagine poking 221 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: out the front is a keyboard and then you have, uh, 222 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: you know, the rest of the cases behind where the 223 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 1: keyboard is, and it goes up a bit on the 224 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: upper left side above the keyboard that's where the little 225 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: display is. You can do a Google image search for 226 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: the IBM to get a look at this thing. For storage, 227 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: the IBM had a tape drive. This was one of 228 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: several forms of data storage in the computer era. With tapes, 229 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: computers would store information onto reels of magnetic tape. The 230 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: specific version of the IBM fifty one hundred was the 231 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: d C three hundred cartridge drive. Those cartridges held three 232 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: hundred feet or about nine of tape. Then the tape 233 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: itself measured a quarter inch wide or point six centimeters. 234 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: It can hold up to two hundred four bytes of 235 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: data per cartridge. All right, let's do a quick refresher 236 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: on bites too. A bit is a single unit of 237 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: machine information, and it can be either a zero or one. 238 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: You can think of it like uh light switch. It's 239 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: either flipped off or on. A collection of eight bits 240 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: is a bite. This is something IBM had a really 241 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: big hand in establishing. But that's a matter for another podcast. 242 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: A kilobyte is one thousand bytes, though in terms of memory, 243 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: particularly in this era, we're really talking about one thousand, 244 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: twenty four bytes. To explain, why would have me go 245 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: off on yet another tangent. So we're just going to 246 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: ignore that for now, But just know that these cartridges 247 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: could hold up to two d four thousand bytes of data. 248 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: That's not that much. Even though two four thousand sounds 249 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: like a lot, it's not much at all, especially when 250 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 1: you consider that was on three hundred feet of tape. 251 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: In addition to that cartridge port, the IBM also had 252 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 1: a printer i O port io means input output, So 253 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: you physically connect the printer to this beheamoth of a 254 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: portable computer with a cable. I'll have a little bit 255 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: more to say about the IBM in a second, and 256 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: don't worry, I'm not gonna give every laptop the full 257 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: treatment like this. This is just to establish some baselines. 258 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: But before we get into that, let's take a quick break. 259 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: What was powering the IBM under the hood, right, What 260 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: was actually acting as the processor? Well, back in those days, 261 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: we weren't necessarily talking about CPUs the way we do 262 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: to day. In fact, it doesn't have a CPU the 263 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,360 Speaker 1: way we would think of at all for modern computers. 264 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: If you were to open up an old IBM, you'd 265 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,880 Speaker 1: find a circuit board kind of mounted upside down. You'd 266 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 1: actually have to turn it over, and you would find 267 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,120 Speaker 1: fifteen microchips mounted on that circuit board, and collectively those 268 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: chips acted as the computer's processor. So as such, it's 269 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,959 Speaker 1: a little tricky to talk about the IBMFE using modern 270 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: computing terms. It doesn't really fit. Plus, IBM offered up 271 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 1: a few variations of this particular computer, but the least 272 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: expensive model of the IBM had a clock speed of 273 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: one point nine Mega hurts. And just in case that 274 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,879 Speaker 1: doesn't mean anything to you if you didn't listen to 275 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: the PlayStation episodes, I'm going to explain that really quickly. 276 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: A processor's clock speed tells you how many steps of 277 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: instructions the processor can complete in a second. Uh These 278 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:59,960 Speaker 1: steps are called cycles in processor speak, and a hurt 279 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: is one cycle per second. A Mega hurts is a 280 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: million cycles per second. So essentially this means the IBM 281 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: could perform one point nine million steps of instructions per second. 282 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: And just a reminder, instructions can be really simple or 283 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: they can be really complicated, So a simple instruction might 284 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:25,119 Speaker 1: have only a couple of steps, Complicated instructions could have 285 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: lots and lots of steps. And all these terms still 286 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: hold true. Today, if you have a machine with a 287 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: three point for giga hurts processor, that processor is capable 288 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: of completing three point four billion steps of instructions every second. 289 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: And don't worry, software developers have created programs that have 290 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 1: way more complicated steps to them. So while we've seen 291 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: processor speeds skyrocket over the years, the demands of software 292 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,160 Speaker 1: have also increased. And that's part of why you might 293 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:01,640 Speaker 1: get the feeling that a new computer isn't that much 294 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: faster than older computers. It's not the fault of the 295 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 1: machine necessarily, but rather that software that you're running is 296 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: more demanding than the software you were using on older computers. 297 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: In fact, several prominent people in tech have made observations 298 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: that indicate software complexity pretty much negate the benefits of 299 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: Moore's law. That's the general observation that computing processing capabilities 300 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 1: typically double every eighteen to twenty four months. Alright, So 301 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: the IBM a one point nine megahertz processor or the 302 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: equivalent thereof the basic model also had sixteen kilobytes of memory, 303 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,119 Speaker 1: and the cheapest model IBM offered was for the ap 304 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:46,920 Speaker 1: L programming language. So what does a p L stand for? 305 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:52,800 Speaker 1: Get Ready, a p L stands for a programming language. 306 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: So your standard sixteen kilobyte ap L version of the 307 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: IBM fifty one hundred would set you back a cool 308 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: eight thousand, nine hundred seventy five bucks in nineteen. If 309 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: we adjust for inflation, that would be right around forty 310 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: three thousand dollars today. Now that is a princely sum 311 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: for a portable computer. And keep in mind that's the 312 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: cheapest model. Let's say your your daddy Warbucks, right, you 313 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: got all the money in the world, you want the best. 314 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:32,360 Speaker 1: So the most expensive version of the IBM had sixty 315 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,879 Speaker 1: four kilobytes of memory, which is, by the way, is 316 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: nothing compared to today's computers, and it could support both 317 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: a p L and basic programming languages. That one would 318 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: cost nineteen thousand, nine hundred seventy five dollars back in 319 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: nine so in today's money that would be about nineties 320 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:58,919 Speaker 1: six thousand bucks. So yeah, these things were major investments. 321 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,880 Speaker 1: But as I mentioned earlier, while the IBM was portable, 322 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:06,360 Speaker 1: it wouldn't fit our definition of laptop. It was more 323 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: of an all in one computer that you could set 324 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:10,960 Speaker 1: up on a desk, then after you were done, you 325 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: could power it down and then you could take it 326 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: somewhere else if you really needed to. UM I wouldn't 327 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,160 Speaker 1: recommend it too much. Like I said, still pretty heavy. 328 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: While the IBM would not qualify as a laptop or 329 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: as a personal computer, the concept of a portable computer 330 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: was intriguing and in another big company, a guy named 331 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: Alan Kay had been refining a concept he had been 332 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,440 Speaker 1: pulling over for years. The other company in this case 333 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: was Xerox, and Alan Kay would do a lot of 334 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: his thinking over at Xerox, and then later Xerox established 335 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: a research center, the Park Research Center, which is redundant 336 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: if you know what Park stands for. But truth be known, 337 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: k had been thinking about this for several years. He 338 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,080 Speaker 1: had really started thinking about in the late sixties, and 339 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 1: he wanted to create a type of computer that could 340 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,439 Speaker 1: be used by anyone. In fact, he really wanted to 341 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 1: develop a computer that kids could use. His dream was 342 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,679 Speaker 1: to make a computer that was portable, It was easy 343 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 1: to use. It would have essentially eternal battery life, although 344 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 1: that would require obviously recharging a battery over and over again. 345 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: It would have a low requirements for processing. It would 346 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:29,199 Speaker 1: have connectativity abilities, It would have a stylus where you 347 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: could have some sort of stylus input. He had a 348 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: lot of ideas about what would make this ideal computer, 349 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 1: and he had a lot of different form factors that 350 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,919 Speaker 1: he played around with in this concept, which I should 351 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: stress was strictly a concept. It was not a practical device. 352 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,360 Speaker 1: He he wasn't making a prototype because the actual ability 353 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: to deliver upon his vision was not there. Like he 354 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: was thinking about an ideal, but there was no way 355 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: of making it happen. He thought about perhaps having a 356 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 1: slate like tablet form factor. You know, something that's a 357 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: solid piece where you would have a screen mounted above 358 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: a keyboard. They're all on the same plane. So think 359 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: of it like if you had a tablet computer like 360 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,240 Speaker 1: an iPad, but on the bottom half was a physical keyboard. 361 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 1: That was kind of the form factor he was thinking about. Uh. 362 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: He did think about other ones too, but that was 363 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: one that was frequently cited, and it would have a 364 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,160 Speaker 1: graphic user interface or g u I Gooey that's similar 365 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: to Windows or Apple's OS today. In fact, Steve Jobs 366 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: got a look at Xerox Gooey a few years before 367 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: Apple would go on to introduce the Mac computer, and 368 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 1: it's graphic user interface. I'm just saying, you know, anyway, 369 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: researchers at Xerox would end up building a computer system 370 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: called the Alto, and the Alto was not a portable computer, 371 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: but it did incorporate many of K's ideas into that design. 372 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,720 Speaker 1: So while K was imagining this technology in the late 373 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, like I said, it just wasn't realistic to 374 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:08,080 Speaker 1: build at that time, his work did guide others Xerox 375 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 1: to create a portable computer called the note Taker that 376 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: was in nineteen eight. This, like the IBM, was a 377 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 1: pretty hefty machine. The case did have a keyboard that 378 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,160 Speaker 1: could fold down from the case, but think of it 379 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: like a briefcase, right, and it's not a briefcase that 380 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:29,880 Speaker 1: opens all the way up. Or think of it like 381 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: a standard computer tower on its side, and the front 382 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: can fold down to reveal a keyboard. It's still not 383 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: a clamshell design. We're not there yet. But we did 384 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: have the folding unit that had the keyboard in it. 385 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,440 Speaker 1: Closing it would allow you to carry the note Taker 386 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:50,199 Speaker 1: like it was a suitcase, which is really more what 387 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: appropriate than saying briefcase because this thing was pretty big. Again, 388 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 1: not really a laptop. Xerox also did not produce this 389 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,120 Speaker 1: as a consumer computer. The note Ta care was an 390 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:05,879 Speaker 1: internal project. Reportedly, they only ever produced about ten prototypes 391 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: of this. This, by the way, is a common thread 392 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: in xerox is computer history. Engineers at the company would 393 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,680 Speaker 1: pioneer these incredible designs and they would find their way 394 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: into internal Xerox architecture, like Xerox machines, but Xerox wasn't 395 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: using those as products. They were using them internally at 396 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,959 Speaker 1: the company to develop other Xerox products. Then those same 397 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: design elements would later find their way into the products 398 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:39,359 Speaker 1: of other companies. So a lot of the stuff that 399 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 1: we think of as being standard in personal computers comes 400 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: to us thanks to Xerox, but not through direct Xerox products. 401 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: It's pretty weird. So the company just didn't do very 402 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: much to capitalize on these developments in direct market products itself. 403 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: One company that came out of all this and would 404 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,879 Speaker 1: end up taking the note taker design and pulling it 405 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 1: forward was called Osbourne Computer Corporation, and it would make 406 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: a consumer computer called the Osbourne One, and that was 407 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,359 Speaker 1: heavily influenced by the Xerox NoteTaker design. In fact, if 408 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: you compare them side by side, you can definitely see 409 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: the the similarities. So the Osbourne one was a commercial 410 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: consumer computer, really more of still of a business computer, 411 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,680 Speaker 1: but it was a commercial success. It cost nearly two 412 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: thousand dollars when it debuted in nine and some sites 413 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: referred to it as the first true laptop. Now I 414 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 1: take issue with that. Uh, this thing weighed nearly twenty 415 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:44,200 Speaker 1: five pounds or around eleven kilograms, and while the keyboard 416 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: could fold down from the case, it still wasn't in 417 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: that clamshell design that we tend to associate with the 418 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: word laptop. Now, our next stop on the timeline of 419 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:59,119 Speaker 1: laptops takes us to a British industrial designer named Bill Mogridge. 420 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: And Madge got an invite from an x Xerox park 421 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: researcher named John Ellerby to join him and several others 422 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: in forming a new computer company called Grid Big G, 423 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: Big R, Little I, Big D. They formed the company 424 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine and they got to work. Margridge 425 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: was asked specifically to contribute to a project that aimed 426 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,959 Speaker 1: to create a portable computer that could fit inside a suitcase. 427 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: So Margridge gets to work and it was his design 428 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 1: that would lead to the clamshell form factor that we 429 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,919 Speaker 1: now associate with the word laptop computer. As far as 430 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: I'm able to determine, his design was the first of 431 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 1: this style, and the computer, which was called the Grid 432 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: Compass eleven oh one, would hit the market in nineteen 433 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,640 Speaker 1: eighty two, one year after the Osborne one. The Compass 434 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: eleven oh one had a screen that could display twenty 435 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: four lines of text, each line eight characters long. It 436 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: had an Intel eight eight six CPU running at eight 437 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,440 Speaker 1: mega hurts. It featured two hundred fifty six kilobytes of RAM. 438 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: It did not have a hard drive. Uh, it did 439 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: have threes of bubble memory. And that gives me a 440 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: chance to explain what the heck that is, because back 441 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,679 Speaker 1: in the seventies and eighties, engineers looked at bubble memory 442 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 1: as a possible alternative to platter based hard drives. So 443 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: let's say that you've got a strip of material and 444 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:33,679 Speaker 1: that material has the ability to be magnetized. Now imagine 445 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: that you apply very precise magnetic fields and you create 446 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: just a little area of magnetization on that strip. So 447 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 1: teeny tiny magnetization area. Those are the bubbles, And now 448 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 1: let's just say that we associate a bubble of magnetization 449 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: with the value of one in a binary system, and 450 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: if you have a section that doesn't have magnetization to it, 451 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: that's a zero. So now you can just do a 452 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: series of magnetized and non magnetized sections of this material 453 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: to create a record of binary information. So you could 454 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: do bubble, bubble, bubble, non bubble, non bubble, non bubble, 455 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: that would be one zero zero zero, But really, I 456 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: guess I should add one more bubble, non bubble, one zero. 457 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:29,400 Speaker 1: That way we have a full bite. Anyway, these areas 458 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: could then be moved or manipulated by an electromagnetic field. 459 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 1: You could actually move this series of bubbles and non 460 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,880 Speaker 1: bubbles to go past a magnetic reader, and the magnetic 461 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:44,680 Speaker 1: reader would register whenever a bubble goes by. So the 462 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: magnetic reader registers the two states bubble and non bubble, 463 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: thus recording whether it's a one or a zero. And 464 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: the really cool thing about this is that while you're 465 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: using the electromagnetic field, while you're using these bubbles that 466 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: are these little magnetized areas on a strip, there's not 467 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: actually any moving parts here. You're not moving the strip 468 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,959 Speaker 1: past the magnetic reader. That would be more like magnetic tape. 469 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,959 Speaker 1: With magnetic tape, you do a very similar thing. You 470 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: use a magnetic field to create magnetized areas on the tape, 471 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: and non magnetized areas can represent zeros. But you have 472 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 1: to move the tape past a reader head, right, So 473 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: that's why you have cassettes or reel to reel, you 474 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: have motors that have to turn those elements and pull 475 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 1: the tape across the reader head so that you can 476 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: read those zeros or ones. In this approach, you didn't 477 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: have to do that. Use the electro magnetic field and 478 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: these little bubbles of magnetic spaces would move past a 479 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: stationary magnetic reader, So it's almost like it's virtual if 480 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: you think of it that way. But again, no moving 481 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: parts makes it really simple and also makes it much 482 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: less likely to break down own mechanically because nothing's moving. However, 483 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 1: one downside to this is that you were storing information 484 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:12,240 Speaker 1: in a serialized format, meaning that let's say you you 485 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: filled up the bubble memory storage. You've completely filled up 486 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: those kill bytes of memory inside this machine, and you're 487 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: looking for a specific chunk of information that you've saved 488 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: in that memory, the system would actually have to search 489 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 1: the length of the information to find the chunk you're 490 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 1: interested in. You would have to start at the beginning, 491 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: kind of like think of a board game that is 492 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: a single pathway from beginning to end. Like you know, 493 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: I don't know candy Land, and you know you you're 494 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,680 Speaker 1: information is three quarters the way down the board. Well, 495 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:47,480 Speaker 1: you'd have to go through the whole board before you 496 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,959 Speaker 1: got there, and that's where things would slow down. And 497 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: so that slowed down was one of the reasons why 498 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:56,760 Speaker 1: bubble memory didn't really take off. It was also really 499 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: expensive and difficult to manufacture. So those components together are 500 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,360 Speaker 1: why we don't really talk about bubble memory anymore. But 501 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 1: at the time people were hopeful that it could be 502 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 1: a viable alternative to platter based hard drives. Now, in 503 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 1: addition to bubble memory, you could connect external floppy drives 504 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 1: to the grid Compass eleven O one and you could 505 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: store data that way. You could just save it to 506 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 1: a disk and then you'd have to insert the disc 507 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,200 Speaker 1: whenever you want to pull them that information back out. 508 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: The grid computer was not cheat when it launched, it 509 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 1: at a price tag of eight thousand one fifty dollars, 510 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,600 Speaker 1: so today that would be like twenty two thousand bucks. 511 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,200 Speaker 1: So Grid was really aiming at high level executives. We're 512 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:45,160 Speaker 1: talking like CEOs of big companies, and also they were 513 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: hoping to get some military contracts. The US Space program 514 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,640 Speaker 1: would end up using some grid Compass computers and sent 515 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: them up with astronauts to help with in orbit experiments. 516 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 1: So you can just put some of those up on 517 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: uh a spacecraft, fire that off into orbit, and then 518 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: they were using those while orbiting the Earth. Rumor has 519 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 1: it that the US Nuclear football a GA, the computer 520 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 1: that holds the nuclear codes necessary to authorize a nuclear strike, 521 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: once made their home on a compass even one oh 522 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:21,320 Speaker 1: and uh and that name the eleven o one. It 523 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,440 Speaker 1: makes you ask, what happened to the eleven hundred? Well, 524 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 1: there never was one except in promotional material. There never 525 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 1: was a physical eleven hundred products you could buy. Now, 526 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,320 Speaker 1: if I were making an argument for the first laptop, 527 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 1: the Grid Compass eleven oh one would be my candidate. 528 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:38,720 Speaker 1: That's the one I would argue is truly the first 529 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: laptop computer as we think of them today. It was 530 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: way too expensive for the vast majority of people to purchase, 531 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: and it was still pretty hefty. It was at nearly 532 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 1: eleven pounds or more than five kilograms, But that clamshell 533 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: form factor is the key component for me. Margaret's really 534 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: hit up on something truly useful, saving space by having 535 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 1: the keyboard screen face one another when you close the computer. 536 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: Other companies would later follow that lead. Now, another computer 537 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: that vised for the title of first true laptop is 538 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 1: the EPSOM h X twenty, which looks kind of like 539 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: an old word processor, which word processor is sort of 540 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:22,960 Speaker 1: a typewriter with a little bit more capability. The computer 541 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: has a flatform factor. It's a thick one, but it's flat, 542 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:29,880 Speaker 1: meaning that the keyboard in the screen are on the 543 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,200 Speaker 1: same plane as one another. You've got a keyboard and 544 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 1: then the screen is mounted slightly above where the keyboard 545 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:42,359 Speaker 1: is on this flat piece of hardware. They are both 546 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,160 Speaker 1: part of a solid case. The screen is small, it's 547 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 1: capable of showing just four lines of text that are 548 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:51,400 Speaker 1: only twenty characters per a line, and it had built 549 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: in data storage, rechargeable battery, and for a first for 550 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,719 Speaker 1: all portable computers, it had a built in printer. That 551 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: printer could print out documents that had twenty four characters 552 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,240 Speaker 1: per line, as speed of forty two lines in a minute, 553 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,439 Speaker 1: So it's not like you would use this to print 554 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,839 Speaker 1: out your screenplay. I mean, do you remember back when 555 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,239 Speaker 1: Twitter would limit us to a hundred forty characters per tweet. Well, 556 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 1: this printer could only print twenty four characters per line, 557 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:23,360 Speaker 1: so it's like printing on receipt paper. Then again, considering 558 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 1: how long some receipts are, you know, I'm looking at you, CVS, 559 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: I guess maybe you could print a whole screenplay that way. 560 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 1: But anyway, like the Grid Compass, the EPs and h 561 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:38,360 Speaker 1: X twenty would launch in late two, but unlike the Compass, 562 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:43,600 Speaker 1: it was much cheaper. It was seven dollars at the time. 563 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 1: That's around twenty one dollars in today's cash. Still expensive, 564 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:52,520 Speaker 1: but no longer in the astronomical range. And to be fair, 565 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: this computer was not meant for the average home user either. 566 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,960 Speaker 1: Oh and the epsom also had an l c D display. 567 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,120 Speaker 1: That's a liquid crystal display, y'all, And that means we're 568 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:05,200 Speaker 1: going to talk about how l c D s work. 569 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: But I have a feeling you might need to catch 570 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,800 Speaker 1: a breather before we do that, so we will jump 571 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:21,160 Speaker 1: on that after this quick break, I promise you guys 572 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:25,440 Speaker 1: a description about l c ds liquid crystal displays, and 573 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,239 Speaker 1: here we go. But to understand how they work and 574 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,239 Speaker 1: why it's important, one thing we need to talk about 575 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 1: is polarization, specifically in terms of light. All right, So 576 00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:38,920 Speaker 1: we know that light behaves both as a wave and 577 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,239 Speaker 1: a particle, right, So for this explanation, we're really going 578 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:46,920 Speaker 1: to focus on the wave part. So imagine a wave 579 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,799 Speaker 1: and you're probably imagining a curved line that moves up 580 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:54,440 Speaker 1: and down right, creating hills and troughs like a sign wave, 581 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,520 Speaker 1: And that's totally fine. That's that's totally cool. But light 582 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 1: waves can be oriented in any number of directions. So 583 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,800 Speaker 1: let's say that you're standing perpendicular to a light wave 584 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 1: and you can actually see that light wave like we're 585 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:11,960 Speaker 1: in this weird reality where you can do that from 586 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,480 Speaker 1: your perspective. That wave might be moving up and down 587 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:17,879 Speaker 1: with respect to your point of view, or it might 588 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:21,040 Speaker 1: be moving side to side so that the wave peaks 589 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 1: point away from you and the wave troughs point towards you. 590 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:27,520 Speaker 1: So you've got parts of the wave that are further 591 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:29,280 Speaker 1: from you. In parts of the wave that are closer 592 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,800 Speaker 1: to you, or it could be any other orientation between 593 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:36,320 Speaker 1: those two. Now, let's say that you've created a filter, 594 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:41,240 Speaker 1: and this filter has horizontal slits, and they're really really 595 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:45,160 Speaker 1: narrow slits, so that light waves that aren't in the 596 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:49,440 Speaker 1: same alignment as those horizontal slits can't pass through the filter. 597 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 1: They bounce off. So we're talking about the ability for 598 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:57,120 Speaker 1: light that's vibrating a specific way to pass through a 599 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:01,400 Speaker 1: specific type of hole. If the light is oriented a 600 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,760 Speaker 1: different way, if the waves are going up and down 601 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:07,600 Speaker 1: instead of left and right, it bounces off. So only 602 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:10,920 Speaker 1: light waves that have the same orientation as the slits 603 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,480 Speaker 1: and the filter can pass through the filter. This is 604 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:17,400 Speaker 1: how polarized lenses work. Now, let's say you've got two 605 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:21,560 Speaker 1: of these filters and they're both having these horizontal slits. 606 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 1: You put one behind the other. Light with the horizontal 607 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,200 Speaker 1: polarization would still be able to pass through both of 608 00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 1: those filters. But let's say say we take that second 609 00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,399 Speaker 1: filter and we turn it nine d degrees. So now 610 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 1: instead of having horizontal slits, we have vertical slits. Filter 611 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:40,880 Speaker 1: one is horizontal filter to is vertical. Well, that means 612 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:43,799 Speaker 1: that the light that gets through filter one will not 613 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: be able to get through filter two because the polarization 614 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:51,200 Speaker 1: the angle is different. So if you have a couple 615 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:53,600 Speaker 1: of pairs of polarized sunglasses, you can actually see this 616 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,120 Speaker 1: for yourself. You can put one pair in front of 617 00:38:56,160 --> 00:39:00,000 Speaker 1: the other, and then you can slowly rotate one set, 618 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:02,640 Speaker 1: and eventually you should see things get really dark until 619 00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:05,239 Speaker 1: you reach a point where light just isn't passing through 620 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:07,960 Speaker 1: at all. It just it turns black. I get this 621 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:11,520 Speaker 1: same effect when I wear my polarized sunglasses and I'm 622 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:15,200 Speaker 1: looking at my computer display at work. The polarized filter 623 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,600 Speaker 1: on my display screen is actually at a ninety degree 624 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,279 Speaker 1: angle from the polarized lenses that are in my sunglasses, 625 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:24,879 Speaker 1: so it means I have to tilt my head if 626 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:27,279 Speaker 1: I want to read the display, or you know, I 627 00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:29,359 Speaker 1: would have to take my sunglasses off. But then I'm 628 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,239 Speaker 1: not as cool, and I'm way more cool as a 629 00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 1: guy who's wearing sunglasses inside in an office who's tilting 630 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:37,040 Speaker 1: his head way off to the side in order to 631 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:40,480 Speaker 1: look at his computer monitor. There's been talk anyway back 632 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:44,280 Speaker 1: to l c DS liquid crystals, which refers to certain 633 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:47,360 Speaker 1: materials that flow as a liquid would, but have a 634 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:53,640 Speaker 1: molecular crystalline structure can twist light under certain conditions. So, 635 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:57,759 Speaker 1: in other words, certain materials, certain liquid crystals, can reorient 636 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,080 Speaker 1: light wavelength vibrations. Let's get back to our two polarization 637 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:05,440 Speaker 1: filters that have that ninety degree offset. So we've got 638 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:09,640 Speaker 1: the horizontal and the vertical slits in these filters. If 639 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:13,800 Speaker 1: you have an appropriate liquid crystal solution between those two filters, 640 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:17,359 Speaker 1: you could use those liquid crystals to twist the light 641 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,680 Speaker 1: coming from one side so it aligns with that second 642 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:25,320 Speaker 1: filter passing through. So the light might be horizontally aligned 643 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,520 Speaker 1: as as it's going through filter number one, it hits 644 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: the liquid crystals. The liquid crystals actually twist the polarization 645 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,880 Speaker 1: of that light, so now it's vertically aligned. It's not 646 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:41,439 Speaker 1: horizontally aligned anymore, which means it can actually pass through 647 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:45,640 Speaker 1: filter number two and you get light coming through. So 648 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:48,920 Speaker 1: it just you know, like the force, it all depends 649 00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:52,120 Speaker 1: upon a certain point of view. So yeah, every pixel 650 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:55,759 Speaker 1: on an l c D display has this arrangement of 651 00:40:55,840 --> 00:41:00,680 Speaker 1: filters and liquid crystals. Applying an electro magnetic field to 652 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:05,279 Speaker 1: the crystal sandwich between these two filters will untwist the 653 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:09,280 Speaker 1: liquid crystal. That means that the light coming from behind 654 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:12,920 Speaker 1: the screen will not realign as it passes through, and 655 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,520 Speaker 1: it will hit that second filter and it won't come 656 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:18,279 Speaker 1: through the second filter. This is why we sometimes call 657 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:21,399 Speaker 1: l c D displays backlit displays, because there's a light 658 00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:25,560 Speaker 1: that's always coming through from behind the display. It's just 659 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:28,760 Speaker 1: it's being blocked by that second filter unless the liquid 660 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:31,359 Speaker 1: crystals are twisting in such a way to allow light 661 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:34,640 Speaker 1: to come through. Now, on a related note, this is 662 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:38,560 Speaker 1: why plasma television enthusiasts preferred plasma to l c D 663 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:44,560 Speaker 1: t vs because the plasma displays didn't have this backlight. 664 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,719 Speaker 1: L c D s did, and because they had that backlight, 665 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:50,200 Speaker 1: I mean, if you were watching a scene in a 666 00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:53,440 Speaker 1: film that was really really dark, then it would be 667 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:57,360 Speaker 1: affected by this. Instead of getting like a really dark black, 668 00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:00,400 Speaker 1: you might get kind of a charcoal gray, so you 669 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,400 Speaker 1: would have a worse contrast ratio between the brightest white 670 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:08,160 Speaker 1: colors and the darkest black colors on screen. That's why 671 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:13,280 Speaker 1: plasma enthusiasts loved their approach because it didn't require a backlight. Anyway, 672 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:17,399 Speaker 1: let's get back to this, LCD screens would become way 673 00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:21,480 Speaker 1: more common in displays over the years, replacing stuff like 674 00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:26,600 Speaker 1: old cathode ray tube computer monitors and eventually becoming a 675 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,520 Speaker 1: really important component in laptops. And I guess it's also 676 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,560 Speaker 1: a good good time to address the name laptop in general. 677 00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:36,840 Speaker 1: So these days we tend to use the word laptop 678 00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:39,719 Speaker 1: to refer to that clamshell design computer that you can 679 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,640 Speaker 1: fold shut and carry around with you. But originally the 680 00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:46,040 Speaker 1: term laptop was more generally applied to any portable computer 681 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:50,240 Speaker 1: that wasn't too heavy to actually have sitting on your laps. 682 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:53,920 Speaker 1: So you had desktop computers, you had portable computers, and 683 00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:56,760 Speaker 1: then you had a subset of portable computers that weren't 684 00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:58,640 Speaker 1: so heavy to cause you pain if you were to 685 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,439 Speaker 1: have them on your lap, and those were hptops. And yeah, 686 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,200 Speaker 1: those definitions are really fuzzy, So in a way, it's 687 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,960 Speaker 1: kind of like the old puzzler, what's the difference between 688 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,640 Speaker 1: a boat and a ship, or what's the difference between 689 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:12,600 Speaker 1: a hill and a mountain. It wouldn't really be until 690 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:15,640 Speaker 1: the nineties that the term laptop would really not just 691 00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:18,800 Speaker 1: refer to weight and size, but a general form factor. 692 00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:22,879 Speaker 1: And it took a while for that clamshell design pioneered 693 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:26,399 Speaker 1: by the grid Compass one to become the standard. There 694 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:30,000 Speaker 1: were several laptop computers there were more of a slate 695 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:33,680 Speaker 1: or tablet style form factor in which the screen and 696 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:37,320 Speaker 1: the keyboard were on the same plane in a fixed case, 697 00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:41,520 Speaker 1: so there were no folding components. The Cryotronic eighty five 698 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,200 Speaker 1: also known as the TRS eighty model one hundred, that 699 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,719 Speaker 1: was it was offered by Texas Instruments here in the 700 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:51,759 Speaker 1: United States. It was that kind of computer. It was 701 00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:54,480 Speaker 1: all in one solid case with the keyboard and the 702 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:57,799 Speaker 1: screen mounted on the same plane so you're looking down 703 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,960 Speaker 1: at both. Other computers were essentially cases that had a 704 00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:05,600 Speaker 1: display incorporated into the processor tower, sometimes with a detachable keyboard. 705 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,720 Speaker 1: The Commodore s X sixty four was one of those. 706 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:11,120 Speaker 1: It had a handle that you could carry around and 707 00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,640 Speaker 1: the keyboard was separate. You would plug it into this machine, 708 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:15,759 Speaker 1: and the handle could also act as sort of a 709 00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:17,880 Speaker 1: stand so that you could look at the display that 710 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:21,359 Speaker 1: was on the end of this computer case. Again, look 711 00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:24,160 Speaker 1: these up in Google images if if it's not making 712 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:26,800 Speaker 1: sense to you, because these are old, clunky computers that 713 00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:30,960 Speaker 1: used to be the real cool stuff. One big reason 714 00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,719 Speaker 1: it took so long for a standard form to emerge 715 00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:38,200 Speaker 1: is that the demand for laptop computers was really low, 716 00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:43,040 Speaker 1: like personal computers in general were a rarity in most 717 00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:47,400 Speaker 1: households in the United States, in only eight point two 718 00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:50,600 Speaker 1: percent of households in the US had a personal computer 719 00:44:50,719 --> 00:44:54,320 Speaker 1: at all, according to Statista dot com. In fact, it 720 00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:57,399 Speaker 1: would take more than a decade before half of all 721 00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:00,560 Speaker 1: households in the US had at least one computer. That 722 00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:03,560 Speaker 1: would be two thousand when that happened here. So the 723 00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:07,200 Speaker 1: market for computers in general was still rather small, and 724 00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:09,880 Speaker 1: that meant companies that were making computers were kind of 725 00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:13,640 Speaker 1: picking their battles. So for many computer companies, the margins 726 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:16,880 Speaker 1: weren't great, meaning the amount of money it costs to 727 00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:19,759 Speaker 1: build computers and the amount of money you would get 728 00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:23,920 Speaker 1: for selling computers wasn't a huge difference, So you weren't 729 00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:26,520 Speaker 1: making an enormous amount of profit per sale unless you 730 00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:29,359 Speaker 1: were a company like IBM or Apple. Both of those 731 00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:32,680 Speaker 1: could make more specialized hardware, and they could also command 732 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:37,440 Speaker 1: much higher prices. Speaking of IBM, the company introduced the 733 00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: IBM PC Convertible in nine six, which, as the name suggests, 734 00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:45,360 Speaker 1: was a computer intended to serve both as a desktop 735 00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:49,719 Speaker 1: and a portable device, thus convertible in desktop form. You 736 00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,640 Speaker 1: would slide the case of the PC convertible under a 737 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:55,560 Speaker 1: stand had a computer monitor on it, and the monitor 738 00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:59,120 Speaker 1: would plug into a port on the case. But if 739 00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:02,319 Speaker 1: you needed to, you could disconnect the case from this 740 00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:05,840 Speaker 1: monitor and you could grab a smaller flip up monitor 741 00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:09,160 Speaker 1: to attach to this case and then flip it down 742 00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:11,279 Speaker 1: so that you could carry it off, and then on 743 00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:14,120 Speaker 1: the road you could flip up this detachable l c 744 00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,239 Speaker 1: D screen and do some work. It was not as 745 00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:20,960 Speaker 1: tall as the standard monitor, so the flip up screen 746 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:23,440 Speaker 1: had kind of a wide screen look to it. It 747 00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:26,520 Speaker 1: also wasn't as high resolution as the desktop monitor was, 748 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:29,759 Speaker 1: but it did allow for portable computing. This debut in 749 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:32,719 Speaker 1: nineteen eight six for under two thousand dollars and it 750 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:36,120 Speaker 1: weighed twelve pounds or five and a half kilograms. The 751 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:38,799 Speaker 1: detachable screen is a neat idea, and it gave you 752 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:41,880 Speaker 1: two different display options for the base computer, but it 753 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:45,400 Speaker 1: still was a pretty bulky machine. It wasn't super convenient 754 00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:49,280 Speaker 1: to carry around. In seven, the United States Air Force 755 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:52,520 Speaker 1: put in a really big order for portable computers and 756 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:56,320 Speaker 1: they chose the company Zenith Data Systems for this contract. 757 00:46:56,719 --> 00:46:59,840 Speaker 1: Zenith Data Systems had previously done a lot of big 758 00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:05,359 Speaker 1: orders for various militaries and other big organizations, and this 759 00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:08,719 Speaker 1: one was another tall order. It was ninety thousand laptop 760 00:47:08,719 --> 00:47:12,920 Speaker 1: computers for one hundred four point five million dollars, and 761 00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:15,880 Speaker 1: it was a project that was going to span three years. 762 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:18,759 Speaker 1: The specific model the Air Force wanted was the Z 763 00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:22,680 Speaker 1: one eight, which followed the clamshell design that was established 764 00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:26,640 Speaker 1: by the grid Compass. This was also a really thick computer, 765 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:30,360 Speaker 1: definitely bulky by today's standards, but the fold down display 766 00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:34,399 Speaker 1: makes it instantly relatable to today's laptops, and that big 767 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:38,239 Speaker 1: order really helped cement that form factor further, leading to 768 00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:42,760 Speaker 1: more companies following that design approach. Some other early folding 769 00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:47,560 Speaker 1: laptops included the portable Vectra cs from Hewitt Packard, which 770 00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:49,640 Speaker 1: was one of the first laptops to offer three and 771 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:52,560 Speaker 1: a half inch disk drives. Uh. There was also the 772 00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:55,520 Speaker 1: s l T two eight six, which was the first 773 00:47:55,719 --> 00:47:58,680 Speaker 1: battery powered laptop with v g A graphics. V g 774 00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:02,120 Speaker 1: A stands for Videographics Array. It's a set of standards 775 00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:05,120 Speaker 1: for computer graphics. First introduced in the late eighties. It 776 00:48:05,200 --> 00:48:07,960 Speaker 1: was an improvement over older standards like c G A 777 00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:10,800 Speaker 1: and e G A, but that would require its own episode. 778 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:15,440 Speaker 1: And then there was the Macintosh Portable, Apple's first attempt 779 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:19,520 Speaker 1: at creating a laptop mac That one was a pretty 780 00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,600 Speaker 1: much a flop in the marketplace. Of course, it cost 781 00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:25,719 Speaker 1: more than seven thousand dollars at the time, which was 782 00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:28,600 Speaker 1: part of the problem. And this computer came out well 783 00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:32,840 Speaker 1: after Apple management had exiled Steve Jobs from the company. 784 00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:34,960 Speaker 1: I've done full episodes about that. I won't go into 785 00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:37,200 Speaker 1: it here, but it would take some time for Apple 786 00:48:37,239 --> 00:48:40,839 Speaker 1: to formulate a winning laptop strategy. Now I'm gonna end 787 00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:43,359 Speaker 1: with the Macintosh Portable, but I will give a little 788 00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:45,680 Speaker 1: more detail about that one before we wrap this up, 789 00:48:45,719 --> 00:48:48,520 Speaker 1: because I don't want to just dog on that computer. 790 00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:51,160 Speaker 1: It was actually a really decent machine for the time. 791 00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:56,440 Speaker 1: That seven grand price tag wasn't just for prestige. The 792 00:48:56,480 --> 00:49:00,400 Speaker 1: processor ran at sixteen mega hurts. The standard amount memory 793 00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,560 Speaker 1: for the computer was one megabyte, which was a respectable 794 00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:06,040 Speaker 1: amount at that time. You could actually upgrade it up 795 00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:09,360 Speaker 1: to nine megabytes. The screen on the computer had a 796 00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:12,839 Speaker 1: resolution of six forty by four pixels and it had 797 00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:16,319 Speaker 1: what was called an active matrix display. What that effectively 798 00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:19,160 Speaker 1: met was the display could update much faster than others 799 00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:22,239 Speaker 1: on the market, which reduced blur. That screen was also 800 00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:25,000 Speaker 1: one of the components that significantly added to the cost 801 00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:28,160 Speaker 1: of the computer. The first portable mac came in at 802 00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:32,000 Speaker 1: a hefty sixteen pounds or about seven point three kilograms, 803 00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:34,960 Speaker 1: and by that time that was definitely on the heavy 804 00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:38,680 Speaker 1: side for laptop computers. But why was it so heavy? 805 00:49:38,719 --> 00:49:42,960 Speaker 1: What was making it way so much? Well, a good 806 00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:46,440 Speaker 1: portion of that weight was due to the battery. Apple 807 00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:51,319 Speaker 1: chose a lead acid style battery to power the portable Macintosh. 808 00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:54,160 Speaker 1: That's the same kind of battery that you find in cars, 809 00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:57,480 Speaker 1: car batteries or lead acid batteries, and you would get 810 00:49:57,520 --> 00:50:00,920 Speaker 1: between six and twelve hours of work one charge of 811 00:50:00,960 --> 00:50:04,239 Speaker 1: that big battery. So the fact that it was bulky, 812 00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:07,880 Speaker 1: heavy and expensive meant that not a whole lot of 813 00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:11,880 Speaker 1: people opted for the Macintosh portable. Now, in our next episode, 814 00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:14,439 Speaker 1: as I said before, we're gonna look at how things 815 00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:18,680 Speaker 1: really coalesced to create a laptop market. Then we'll explore 816 00:50:18,719 --> 00:50:24,640 Speaker 1: the different subcategories that followed, like netbooks. Remember netbooks If 817 00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:27,239 Speaker 1: you guys have suggestions for future topics for me to 818 00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:30,520 Speaker 1: cover here on tech Stuff, whether it is a specific technology, 819 00:50:30,719 --> 00:50:34,600 Speaker 1: a product, a company, maybe just a trend in tech, 820 00:50:35,239 --> 00:50:38,000 Speaker 1: let me know. Reach out to me on Facebook or Twitter. 821 00:50:38,120 --> 00:50:41,480 Speaker 1: The handle for both is tech stuff HSW and I'll 822 00:50:41,520 --> 00:50:50,080 Speaker 1: talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an 823 00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:53,960 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 824 00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:57,280 Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 825 00:50:57,360 --> 00:51:01,120 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Eight