Comments on: The Laptop, Circa 1968

By: Word Processing Circa 1968 | Technologizer

Word Processing Circa 1968 | Technologizer — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:57:13 +0000

[...] computers, but there are hints of what was to come everywhere in their pages. I wrote about a 1968 story on a 75-pound pseudolaptop recently. And after the jump, I’m reprinting a story from the November 13th, 1968 issue on Astrotype, [...]

By: Безплатни програми - Безплатни програми » The Laptop, Circa 1968

Безплатни програми - Безплатни програми » The Laptop, Circa 1968 — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:35:19 +0000

[...] the rest here: The Laptop, Circa 1968 This entry is filed under Безплатни програми. You can follow any responses to [...]

By: Top Posts « WordPress.com

Top Posts « WordPress.com — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:06:18 +0000

[...] The Laptop, Circa 1968 In 2009, portability is the default state of affairs with computers, since laptops outsell desktop PCs. But in the [...] [...]

By: La laptop de 1968

La laptop de 1968 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:27:39 +0000

[...] Technologizer encontre un artículo muy interesante sobre una “especie de laptop” en 1968. En [...]

By: Hot Dogs, Fireworks and Whipple Flags - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

Hot Dogs, Fireworks and Whipple Flags - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:36:49 +0000

[...] The original laptop, a 75-pound portable Teletype machine from 1968. [Technologizer] [...]

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:03:20 +0000

My dad brought home a TI Silent 745, hooked up to the Bell Labs systems circa 1980. Great for Unix ‘maze’ and ‘banner’!

By: chavansoft » Luggable 75 lb "laptop" from 1968

chavansoft » Luggable 75 lb "laptop" from 1968 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:41:13 +0000

[...] The Laptop, Circa 1968 [...]

By: squarebrackets

squarebrackets — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:26:49 +0000

[that was a pretty good read, make me appreciate my laptop and the time I live in even more]

By: Para Handy

Para Handy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:01:15 +0000

In 1974 the ASR-33 was alleged by my boss to cost £1200. They were very robust and long lived. ASR was indeed Automatic Send and Receive, as the first poster suggested. Almost totally mechanical, I spent many a happy hour tweaking various bits to ensure error free operation. The paper tape readers in particular were prone to getting dirty and needed frequent cleaning. After that the 8 fine gold wires that sensed the holes in the paper needed bending (special tool provided) so they worked correctly 100% of the time.

By: TK

TK — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:31:26 +0000

Gosh, look at all the authentic history. All I can think of to add is that we used to feed the paper tape into the 33 to upload a program. (Hard drive space was not often granted to mere mortals at one time.)

You could string the roll of tape across the floor of the room and then wait. BUT you had to be careful in the winter because if you had snow on your feet, the paper might fall in the showmelt and your (typically unbacked-up) program tape would rip in two.