I can confirm that this is one of the first ten prototype units built, known as the "metal case" units. I don't think they had serial numbers. The cases were made by Galgon Industries in Hayward but their quote for production was prohibitive, so work immediately commenced on the plastic cases. The circuit board was ready in January of 1981 and these were built shortly thereafter. They were used in the first ads ("the guy on the left doesn't stand a chance") in which the veins on the hand of the guy on the right bulge as he struggles with the 30-pound weight of his transformer-powered luggable. These were the units we took to the West Coast Computer Faire and the National Computer Conference in early 1981.
Software
The Osborne 1 was the first microcomputer that came with application software. The WordStar word processor, SuperCalc spreadsheet, and the CBASIC and MBASIC programming languages—all software packages that were the leading applications in their respective niches at the time—had a retail value of more than US$2000. The exact contents of the bundled software varied depending on the time of purchase; for example, dBASE II was not included with the first systems sold.
Hardware Specifications
Hardware features:
Dual 5¼-inch, single-sided 40 track floppy disk drives ("dual density" upgrade available)
4 MHz Z80 CPU
65 kilobytes main memory
Fold-down keyboard doubling as the computer case's lid
5-inch, 52 character × 24 line monochrome CRT display
IEEE-488 port configurable as a Parallel printer port
RS-232 compatible 1200 or 300 baud Serial port for use with external modems or serial printers
The Osborne 1 was powered by a wall plug, and had no internal battery, although an aftermarket battery pack offering 1 hour run-time was available. Early models (tan case) were 120 V only, later models (blue case) could be switched to run on either 120 V or 230 V, 50 or 60 Hz.
Games
ADVENT (Colossal Cave Adventure) running on an Osborne Computer circa 1982
Since the display of the Osborne did not support bit-mapped graphics, games were typically character based games, like text adventures (the 1982game Deadline, for example, packaged in a dossier type folder and came on two 5 1/4" diskettes.). Compiled and MBASIC interpreted versions ofColossal Cave Adventure were available for the Osborne. Some shareware games made good use of the Osborne's limited character-mode graphics.
Peripherals
These peripherals were not part of the base computer. Peripherals may have been offered by particular vendors at various times.
External Monochrome screen - using separate synch and video connections, driven by the motherboard video circuitry.
Dot Matrix Parallel Printer (Made by Star)
300 Baud Modem - fit into a diskette storage pocket, powered from the motherboard.
A small set of aftermarket vendors offered several other upgrades to the basic model, including third-party double density disk drives, external hard disks, and a battery-backed RAM disk that fit in a disk storage compartment.
Aftermarket 80-column video upgrades were available for the original 52-column-only machines.
Market life
At its peak, Osborne Computer Corporation shipped 10,000 Osborne 1 units per month. The computer was widely imitated as several other computer companies started offering low-priced portable computers with bundled software. The Osborne 1 was about the size and weight of a heavily packed suitcase; one commercial humorously pointed out that it did not quite fit under an airplane seat. As such it is now classified as a "luggable" computer in comparison to later laptop designs. The Osborne's popularity was surpassed by the similar Kaypro II which had a much more practical 9 inch (23 cm) CRT that could display the standard 80 characters on 24 lines as well as double density floppies that could store twice as much data.
Osborne Computer Corporation was unable to effectively respond to the Kaypro challenge until after the market window had closed and the day of the 8-bit, CP/M-based computer had ended. A popular myth is that sales of the Osborne 1 were hurt by the premature announcement of superior successor machines such as the Osborne Executive; a phenomenon called theOsborne effect. Later Compaq delivered a portable computer (the Compaq Portable) with a 9 inch CRT, that was software compatible with the IBM PC, making it the first PC clone.
Osborne Computer Corporation filed for Chapter 11 (Bankruptcy) in September 1983.
In brief--Osborne-1
Released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation, the Osborne 1 is considered to be the first true portable computer - it closes-up for protection, and has a carrying handle. It even has an optional battery pack, so it doesn't have to plugged into the 110VAC outlet for power.
While quite revolutionary, the Osborne does have its limitations. For example, the screen is only 5" (diagonal) in size, and can't display more than 52 characters per line of text. To compensate, you can actually scroll the screen display back and forth with the cursor keys to show lines of text up to 128 characters wide.
The Osborne was designed with transportation in mind - it had to be rugged and able to survive being moved about. That's one reason that the screen is so small - a larger and heavier screen would be more susceptable to damage.
The two pockets beneath the floppy drives work great for floppy disk storage, although the Osborne modem also fits perfectly in the the left pocket and plugs into the front-mounted "modem" port.
Designed as a true portable computer system - it can be considered airline carry-on luggage, and it will fit under the passenger seat of any commercial airliner.
Here is the Osborne without the case - now you know the real reason the screen is so small. There's not much room left with those two full-height floppy drives.
While the Osborne was a good deal at $1795, it also came bundled with about $1500 of free software:
- CP/M System
- CP/M Utility
- SuperCalc spreadsheet application
- WordStar word processing application with MailMerge
- Microsoft MBASIC programming language
- Digital Research CBASIC programming language
- The Osborne was a huge overnight success, with sales reaching 10,000 units a month.
- In September 1981, Osborne Computer Company had its first US$1 million sales month.
Seen below is the second release of the Osborne portable. It has a sturdier case and a slightly different look - double-density floppy-drives are optional.
Intentional or not, the "new" Osborne has a very military-like appearance, with its square face, dark blue color, and its many knobs and compartments.
In 1982, the Osborne Computer Company announced a successor, the Executive model OCC-2 (seen here to the below), with a larger screen and a cooling fan.
Shortly thereafter, they announced the next system, the Vixen, a portable running the CP/M operating system.
Unfortunately, potential customers stopped buying the Osborne 1, waiting for the Executive and the Vixen,
which wasn't even ready to ship yet. Additionally, the new Kaypro II was now available with a larger screen for less money. Osborne sales plummeted and Osborne quickly ran out of money and filed for bankruptcy in September of 1983.
NAME OSBORNE 1 MANUFACTURER Osborne Corp. TYPE Transportable ORIGIN U.S.A. YEAR 1981 BUILT IN LANGUAGE None KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard with separated numeric keypad CPU Zilog Z80 A SPEED 4 MHz RAM 64 KB ROM 4 KB TEXT MODES 52 / 80 / 104 char. x 24 lines GRAPHIC MODES Only graphic characters COLORS Monochrome SOUND Beeper SIZE / WEIGHT 51(W) x 32,5 (D) x 22,5(H) cm. Weight : 10,2 Kg. I/O PORTS RS232, IEEE 488, Modem port, Composite Video BUILT IN MEDIA 2 x 5.25'' FDD OS CP/M POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit PERIPHERALS Supplied with : CBasic, WordStar, SuperCalc, MailMerge, DBase II PRICE 3201
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