5 Apr
2011
5 Apr
'11
2:16 p.m.
Kind of an interesting view, because Evan brings up a good point, with a
long extension cord and casters on a cabinet or desk, essentially a LOT
of a/c powered systems could've been considered "Portable" at the time
and that's not too far of stretch to say given many systems at the time
required reinforced floors to water cooling as essential operating
requirements...
;-)
Evan Koblentz wrote:
This depends on how you define 'portable'
and 'computer' :-)
More seriously there were portable minicomputers (meaning they had
handles nad you could just about stagger with one) over 40 years ago.
Of coruse they needed mains power to operate
PS - The suitcase computers needed AC power, too. At best, some of
them had conversion kits for 12V car batteries. In my opinion, if
you're tethered to AC power, then it's still not portable* even if it
were pocket-sized.
* Many people in recent years distinguish between portable and
mobile. They say the latter category means battery-powered and/or has
wireless networking. I say that's arbitrary marketing hogwash. But I
stand by the battery aspect as a core requirement for portability.