13 Jan
1998
13 Jan
'98
1:05 a.m.
At 09:45 PM 1/12/98 -0800, you wrote:
Well,
the Gavilan is portable and it has no handles. IIRC the RDI Bright
Lite (spelling could be wrong) is "portable" even though it has no handle.
(It is not yet a classic. Actually, I believe that the Powerbook 190
does not have a handle either). In fact a quick survey of the machines
in the room:
NEC PC-8201A - no handle
NEC Starlet - no handle
Epson PX-8 - handle
AT&T 3B1 - no handle
Sun 3/60 - no handle
Hmmm, maybe having handles isn't the best criteria for determining if a
machine is portable.
It seems that portable machines are those which the manufacturer built
to be easily picked up (in some cases without grunting too loudly) and moved
to another location to be used. This holds for suitable values of "easily".
Where I could pickup the 3B1 and take it into work with me everyday, I
have a difficult time believing that this is what AT&T expected.
Yeah, my HP-41 doesn't have a handle ether!
On Mon, 12 Jan 1998, Uncle Roger wrote:
> > Portable Computer: IBM also called the 5100 a "portable computer".
I
> >guess they considered it a portable computer because everything was in one
> >unit. It was certainly NOT portable in the sense that one person could
> >pick it up and move it around. It's huge and it's heavy and there
aren't
> >even any handles on it. Not to mention the fact that it has an
unprotected
>
> No handles??? 'Tain't a Portable then!
Hey, I didn't say it was portable! I own one remember (grunt!). That's
what IBM said! IBM also said that it was a "personal computer", but I
wonder how many people could afford a $15,000 computer in 1975! (or '76,
'77, '78 etc etc)
Joe
Yes, Roger. I know you were kidding.
That says it all!
Joe
--pec
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