Which Came First? The Computer or the Airplane?

With a name like Adam he probably felt the pressure to be the first of something.  Well, he was.  Adam Osborne was the first man to invent a computer that fit under the seat of an airplane.

The Portable Osborne Computer released in April 1981. The handheld (lugged) computer weighed 24.5 pounds and had a software package that was almost as heavy. The Osborne was the first successful portable computer to hit the market.  Portable, because it could be buckled up in its entirety and carried by one man (or strong woman) and travel across the country on business trips.

In it’s heyday, the Osborne Computer was selling 10,000 units per month. Story has it; that Adam Osborne destroyed his own company by bragging about a new computer he was working on that would put the Osborne 1 to shame. People stopped buying in anticipation of the new machine, and Mr. Osborne was stuck with a large stockpile of his first machine.  Bankruptcy was the dissolution.

I remember when Urban E Recycling got it’s first original Osborne computer.  It was in excellent condition.  Everything included even the original manual.  We still have the computer and several other Osborne of the same model now.

We get in the some of the best and unique items.  And that is one reason we enjoy working at Urban E Recycling.