Hi, My candidate for the first "laptop" is the MCM/70, from 1973. It was an 8008 computer, with APL in ROM, a one line 32-character video display, dual cassettes for mass storage, internal batteries (so it could run "on your lap" for a bit :), and "virtual memory" via the casettes. Some more info at: http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/index.asp?Article=1044 http://www.cs.yorku.ca/~zbigniew/MCM_col.html I got a phone call yesterday from a guy who owns a working MCM/70 ... that he bought new in 1975. Sadly (for me :), he doesn't want to part with it :( He confirmed that it could run for a short while on batteries. The MCM/70 was announced in 1973. I'm not sure of the actual first shipping date, but his was received in Jan 1975. (The Computer History Museum's MCM/70 is dated 1974 on the display card.) Misc notes about the MCM/70 from the guy... He ordered his MCM/70 in August, 1974 ... and started threatening legal action in December ... that got him a machine in January 1975. (I'm not 100% sure of the months.) This makes me wonder: did the machine *ever* ship in 1973 or 1974, or did it first ship in 1975? He said that if the batteries were low, powering on the machine often resulted in a failure in the power supply. He reduced the problem by (1) adding a 10-ohm resistor (somewhere unknown); and (2) switching to a different kind of battery pack (instead of the individual batteries). Did I mention that he doesn't want to sell it? I'm working with him on trying to copy/scan some of the material he has about the computer (including original advertisements). Stan

My candidate for the first "laptop" is the MCM/70, from 1973. It was an 8008 computer, with APL in ROM, a one line 32-character video display, dual cassettes for mass storage, internal batteries (so it could run "on your lap" for a bit :), and "virtual memory" via the casettes.

I got a phone call yesterday from a guy who owns a working MCM/70 ... that he bought new in 1975. Sadly (for me :), he doesn't want to part with it :( He confirmed that it could run for a short while on batteries.

The MCM/70 was announced in 1973. I'm not sure of the actual first shipping date, but his was received in Jan 1975. (The Computer History Museum's MCM/70 is dated 1974 on the display card.)

Did I mention that he doesn't want to sell it?