15.4 Laptop Bag

Personal computing is a relatively new concept, and laptop computers are even newer. Before purchasing that laptop, it is fun to look at how far and fast laptop computers have come.

The idea of laptop computers was first conceived by a Xerox engineer, Alan Kay, in a paper written on the subject and called “Dynabook” in 1968. However, it was only in 1973 that the first prototype of a laptop computer was produced by IBM¬¬–the original makers of the personal computer. IBM gets the credit for the first laptop prototype as well with what they called the “IBM SCAMP”–The Special Computer APL Machine Portable. It had the PALM processor–Put All Logic in Microcode–that made this first prototype of laptop computers possible.

It was only in September of 1975 that the very first commercially viable laptop computer was produced by IBM. This series of laptop computers was named the IBM 1500 series and was based on the SCAMP processor. With this introduction of laptop computers to the world of computing, portable computers became much more in demand and with it the wide acceptance of the 8 bit microprocessor chip that was used as the CPU of the system.

However, these slow granddaddies of laptop computers are literally no comparison to their modern day contemporaries. They were heavyweights no doubt weighing in at as much as 25 pounds compared to today’s laptop computers that weigh as little as 3 pounds and  are sizzling fast with much more resources such as memory, computing power, disk storage, removable storage and interconnectivity to name some capabilities.

The first laptop computers, though portable, had no battery backup built into their systems. This was additional and had to be carried separately. Laptop computers of today offer so much more and come with power back up built in that can power the laptop computers for hours at a stretch. Not to mention that these computers come ready to use the internet given that Wi-Fi access ability is usually included. However, the internet was just in its incubation period when the first laptop computers emerged.

While laptop computers almost always cost more than their desktop cousins, their size and portability make them an attractive choice for many. A smaller size also means they usually do not have as much power as desktops either, but their specifications are usually pretty close. In recent years, laptop computers have sometimes sold more than desktop computers with many groups including executives, professionals and even students often opting for portability of laptops.