Adam Osborne is a British author, book and software publisher, one of the most charming, persuasive, egotistical, and supremely confident people in the computing field, indeed, in all industry.
The Osborne weighed 24 pounds (10kg) and ran the CP/M operating system. It sold for $1,795 or £1250+VAT, which included Micropro's Wordstar software. The Osborne 1 was very popular. In 1982, over 125,000 Osborne computers were sold and in 1983 Osborne announced that it would produce an IBM compatible portable computer, to be called the 'Vixen.' Osborne 1 In 1980 Adam Osborne designed a portable computer based around the prevalent technology of the time: CP/M running on a Z80 microprocessor. His machine, introduced in 1981, was about the size of a small suitcase and was shaped to fit under an airline seat.
Adam Osborne was born in Thailand in 1939 to British parents and spent much of his childhood in Tamil Nadu in South India, where his father, the writer Arthur Osborne, a devotee of Sri Ramana Maharshi, helped popularize ideas from Eastern religion in the West. Osborne moved to England as a teenager and received a degree in chemical engineering from Birmingham University in 1961. He later received a doctorate in chemical engineering at the University of Delaware and took a job with Shell Oil in California, but he left Shell in the early 1970s to pursue his interest in computers and technical writing.
Summary The Osborne 1 is the first mass-produced portable computer-a suitcase-sized 'luggable' system weighing 23.5 pounds. It was one of the first bundled systems, with an inclusive package of hardware and software including word processing, spreadsheet, and BASIC programs. Osborne 1 computer late model with fan + lots of software and documentation! $395.00 + shipping. VINTAGE TOSHIBA T100SE PORTABLE LAPTOP COMPUTER PA8003U, Strictly.
In the mid-1970’s Osborne became a computer hobbyist and began self-publishing on computing, writing a programming manual for Intel’s first microprocessor. In 1972 he founded Osborne and Associates to create a series of easy-to-read computing manuals (long before the For Dummies… series). By 1977, Osborne Books, as the company had become, had published over 40 computing titles. In 1979, Osborne sold his publishing company to McGraw-Hill. During the same time, he began writing columns for computer magazines Interface Age and later Infoworld. He was becoming increasingly convinced that for computers to be truly useful, they needed to be mobile, as they needed to move with the people who used them and be available whenever and wherever people were. This was a concept he didn’t think the existing companies understood or were prepared to deal with.
The idea of the laptop computer (also known as a notebook computer, notebook, notepad) wasn’t a new one. It was visualized by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1968 and talked of in his 1972 paper as the Dynabook. The idea was later developed in another Xerox PARC creation—NoteTaker. The laptop is a small portable computer having its primary components (processor, display, keyboard) built into a single unit capable of battery powered operation, which typically weighs from 1 to 7 kg, depending upon dimensions, materials, and other variables. As the personal computer became viable in the early 1970s, the thought of a portable personal computer arose.
In March, 1980, at the West Coast Computer Faire, Adam Osborne approached the ex-Intel engineer (and a nerd from the Homebrew Computer Club, just like Steve Leininger of TRS-80, Apple‘s Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak) Lee Felsenstein with the idea of starting a computer company that would not only produce an affordable, portable computer, but would offer bundled software with the machine. Osborne asked Felsenstein to develop the hardware of the portable computer. Using the money from his publishing business along with venture capital Osborne found Osborne Computer Corp. in January, 1981.
Following Osborne’s specifications, Felsenstein designed a portable computer that had a case with a carrying handle, could survive being accidentally dropped and would fit under an airplane seat (see the nearby photo). The machine weighed only 24 pounds, had a 52-column display that would fit on a five-inch screen, contained a cushioning tube, and had two floppy disk drives. The computer even has an optional battery pack, so it doesn’t have to plugged into the power outlet. To meet the small screen requirements, Felsenstein stored a full screen’s worth of information in memory and gave the users keys that allowed them to scroll the memory screen across the display. In April, 1981, at the same West Coast Computer Faire, Adam Osborne introduced the Osborne 1 Personal Business Computer for initial price $1795.
The Osborne 1 (see the lower image) featured a 5 inch 52-column display, two floppy-disk drives (capacity 92K), a Z80 microprocessor (working at 4.0 MHz), 64k of RAM, a parallel port (IEEE-488), and a modem/serial port (see the Technical Manual of Osborne 1). It included a bundled software package that included the CP/M operating system, the Microsoft MBASIC programming language, the WordStar word processing package, the SuperCalc spreadsheet program and Digital Research CBASIC programming language (2000 worth of retail software alone).
Osborne 1 Personal Business Computer
Osborne 1 appears to be a huge market hit—in September, 1981, Osborne Computer Company has its first US$1 million sales month. In the first 8 months since its introduction, 11000 Osborne 1 computers ship. The peak sales per month for Osborne 1 personal computers over the course of the product lifetime was 10000 units, despite the initial business plan for the computer predicting a total of only 10000 units sold over the entire product lifecycle.
Despite early success, Osborne struggled under heavy competition. Kaypro Computer offered portables that, like the Osborne 1, ran CP/M and included a software bundle, but Kaypro offered larger 9 inch display. Apple Computer’s offerings had a large software library of their own and with aftermarket cards, could run CP/M as well. IBM’s 16-bit IBM PC was faster, more advanced, and offered a rapidly growing software library, and Compaq offered a portable computer that was almost 100% compatible with IBM’s offering. Osborne’s efforts to raise $20 million in capital to rush an IBM-compatible computer to market were unsuccessful.
Besides the severe competition, Osborne made several heavy management and business errors—difficulty meeting demand, poor quality of the production, overstocking, etc. The final blow occurred in 1983 when Adam Osborne boasted about an upcoming product months before it could be released, killing demand for the company’s existing products. It is unclear whether this boast was about the Osborne Executive, which was released in May 1983 for $2495 and featured a 7 inch display and did not sell as well as its predecessor, or, more likely, the Osborne Vixen, a smaller portable that promised to offer compatibility not only with earlier Osborne models, but also with MS-DOS, allowing it to run software designed for IBM and Compaq computers. Dealers rapidly started canceling orders for the Osborne 1
Unsold inventory piled up and in spite of dramatic price cuts—the Osborne 1 was selling for $1295 in July 1983 and $995 by August, the sales did not recover. Losses, already higher than expected, continued to mount, and Osborne declared bankruptcy in September, 1983. This marketing blunder came to be known as Osborneing and the phrase circulated in Silicon Valley for the next decade.
Osborne emerged from bankruptcy in the mid 1980s and finally released the Osborne Vixen, a compact portable running CP/M, in 1984. However, the company never regained its early prominence.
In the 1990s Adam Osborne returned to India, the land of his youth, and started up another company dealing with computer software. He died in March, 2003.
| Industry | Computer Hardware |
|---|---|
| Fate | Bankrupt |
| Successor | Mikrolog Ltd |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Defunct | 1985 |
| Headquarters | Silicon Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, California |
Key people | Adam Osborne, Lee Felsenstein |
| Products | Osborne 1, Osborne Executive, Osborne Vixen, Osborne PC |
The Osborne Computer Corporation (OCC) was a pioneering maker of portable computers. It was located in the Silicon Valley of the southern San Francisco Bay Area in California.[1]
Adam Osborne, the founder of the company, developed, with design work from Lee Felsenstein, the world's first mass-produced portable computer in 1981.[1]
History[edit]
The Osborne 1[edit]
After Adam Osborne sold his computer book-publishing company to McGraw-Hill in 1979, he decided to market an inexpensive portable computer with bundled software and hired Lee Felsenstein to design it. The resulting Osborne 1 featured a 5 inch (127 mm) 52-column display, two floppy-disk drives, a Z80 microprocessor, and 64 KB of RAM. It could fit under an airplane seat and survive being accidentally dropped. The bundled software package included the CP/M operating system, the BASIC programming language, the WordStar word processing package, and the SuperCalc spreadsheet program. Osborne obtained the software in part by offering stock in the new Osborne Computer Corporation,[2] which he founded in January 1981. For example, MicroPro International received 75,000 shares and $4.60 for each copy of WordStar Osborne distributed with his computers.[3]
Unlike other startup companies, Osborne Computer Corporation's first product was ready soon after its founding. The first Osborne 1 shipped in July 1981, and its low price set market expectations for bundled hardware and software packages for several years to come. The company sold 11,000 Osborne 1s in the eight months after its July 1981 debut, with 50,000 more on backorder, although the early units had a 10 to 15% failure rate.[4][3] The peak sales per month for it over the course of the product lifetime was 10,000 units, despite the initial business plan for the computer predicting a total of only 10,000 units sold over the entire product lifecycle. Osborne had difficulty meeting demand, and the company grew from two employees, Osborne and Felsenstein, to 3,000 people and $73 million in revenue in 12 months. The growth was so rapid that, in one case, an executive who returned from a one-week trade show had to search two buildings to find her relocated staff.[2] The company announced in October 1982 a temporary bundling of Ashton-Tate's dBase II, increasing demand so much that production reached 500 units a day and severely diminishing quality control.[3]
Competition[edit]
Despite early success, Osborne struggled under heavy competition. Kaypro Computer offered portables that, like the Osborne 1, ran CP/M and included a software bundle, but Kaypro offered larger 9 inch (229 mm) screens. Apple Computer's offerings had a large software library of their own and with aftermarket cards, could run CP/M as well. IBM's PC was faster, more advanced, and offered a rapidly growing software library, and Osborne's efforts to raise $20 million in capital to rush an IBM-compatible computer to market were unsuccessful.
The Osborne Effect[edit]
According to proponents of the Osborne Effect theory, Adam Osborne damaged his company's current sales when he began showing the Osborne Executive to journalists in early 1983. Dealers rapidly started cancelling orders for the Osborne 1 in anticipation of the new Executive. Unsold inventory piled up and in spite of dramatic price cuts – the Osborne 1 was selling for $1295 in July 1983 and $995 by August – sales did not recover. Losses, already higher than expected, continued to mount, and OCC declared bankruptcy on September 13, 1983.[3] Disagreement exists on whether the Osborne Effect truly caused the company to collapse, with Robert X. Cringely and Charles Eicher attributing its failure to other causes.[5][6]
Bankruptcy[edit]
When it was apparent that the company would be closing down, a company meeting was held with all employees. The first round of layoffs involved sales staff, production staff, domestic marketing and most mid to low-level clerical support. These employees were presented with their paychecks only. The management that remained was primarily from the international marketing division.
Nine days later on September 22, a group of 24 investors filed suit against OCC and several individuals, seeking $8.5 million in damages for masking the company's true financial situation and accusing several directors of the company of insider trading. Osborne emerged from bankruptcy in 1984 and released the Osborne Vixen, a compact portable running CP/M, in late 1984. However, the company never regained its early prominence. A last ditch effort to create a fully IBM compatible Osborne produced three prototypes, but too late to save the company from bankruptcy.
Commercial rights for the Osborne brand name were later acquired by the Finnish clone PC maker Mikrolog Ltd which to this day markets its server and desktop PCs domestically under the previously world famous name.[citation needed]
References[edit]
Osborne Laptops & Desktops Driver Download
- ^ abThe Henry Ford Blog: 'The Rise and Fall of the Osborne Computer Corporation', April 16, 2015 — with images.
- ^ abMcCracken, Harry (April 1, 2011). 'Osborne!'. Technologizer. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ abcdAhl, David H. (March 1984). 'Osborne Computer Corporation'. Creative Computing. Ziff-Davis. p. 24. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
- ^Hogan, Thom (April 13, 1981). 'Osborne Introduces Portable Computer'. InfoWorld. IDG. p. 1. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
- ^Cringely, Robert X. (June 16, 2005). 'The Osborne Effect'. The Osborne Effect: Sometimes What Everyone Remembers Is Wrong. PBS. Archived from the original on August 3, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
- ^Andrew Orlowski (June 20, 2005). 'Taking Osborne out of the Osborne Effect'. The Register. Retrieved June 22, 2009.
- Freiberger, Paul; Swaine, Michael (1984). Fire in the Valley. McGraw Hill. ISBN0-07-135895-1.
- Leonard G. Grzanka. 'Requiem for a Pioneer' in Portable Computer Magazine, January 1984.
External links[edit]
- Osborne, Adam; Dvorak, J. C. (1984). Hypergrowth: The Rise and Fall of Osborne Computer Corporation. Idthekkethan Publ. Co. ISBN0-918347-00-9.
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Osborne computers. |
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