Dave's First Computer!
Here is my first computer, the Osborne O1; created in 1981 by Adam Osborne. This machine came out slightly before the IBM 5150 PC that most of the personal computers of today are based on.
The Osborne was the first personal computer that came with all of the software needed to be up and running in the new era of Personal Computing. A Word Processor, Wordstar; Spreadsheet, SuperCalc; Database, dBase III; and Operating System, CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) were all included in the $1795 retail price. This price was strategic as it made the computer inexpensive enough for a credit card purchase.
As computers were barely found in businesses and almost never in houses the portability of the Osborne was unique as well. This 26 pound package could be snapped shut and carried home, or it would fit underneath an airline seat making it suitable for travel. The great expense of a PC at the time could be justified since the machine could be taken anywhere you went!
The 5-inch internal, 52-character, black and white (or green) screen was the source of many "where is the monitor" jokes; but an 80-column upgrade and external monitor made the system complete. To make the 52-column internal screen usable for spreadsheets and word processing, a virtual window allowed the text within the tiny glass tube to be scrolled in all directions!
For the digital age, no computer was complete without a modem. An optional 300 baud pulse-dial modem slid conveniently into the left 5 1/4" floppy disk drive storage pocket allowing PC to PC connectivity, BBS or Bulletin Board System use, or Telex mail ability! This was 15 years before the Internet was popular!
I started using an Osborne when I was in 5th Grade, or about 11 years old. It wasn't long after getting the PC that I found the on-line world of BBSes and finally ran my own. My system, The Missing Link went online in 1986 from a dual 183k floppy based, 1200 baud Osborne. I first ran RBBS (Remote Bulletin Board System), then ran DVMBBS which I hired Dave Moellenhoff to port over from the Kaypro. Years later he went on to co-found Salesforce.com; and as his first customer I recognized great talent! Finally the BBS moved to DOS and WWIV once I went to a Columbia PC clone with a 2400 baud modem and a whopping 10 Meg hard drive! Forget about multiple lines back in these days. It was one user at a time and tons of busy signals. Those "in the know" used an auto-dialer and would have their favorite BBS' dialed one after another until you could get through.
Here are some links to some Osborne Literature, some other links, and a "Fly-By" of my computer and the original documentation I have for it.
My article on Microcomputer Beginnings.
UC Davis' Computer museum: http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~csclub/museum/items/osborne.html
From the 1980's Literature:
Specification
Sheet
Photo DetailsFrom the Movie Vault: A "FlyBy" birds-eye view of my Ozzy! Windows Media!