In the
April 1981
Editorial, Editor in Chief Chris Morgan discussed "Future Trends in Personal Computing." Let's read on and see how close he came
to the mark:
Editorial: Future Trends in Personal Computing
by Chris Morgan, Editor in Chief
Future Computers -- what will they be like?
Some exciting developments have been occurring in the industry lately that should give us some clues. I attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this past January, where Toshiba introduced what could be the most significant product of the year for the personal-computing market: a pocket-size flat-screen television set. While no specific mention was made of its possible use with a personal computer, it takes only a moment's thought to see the potential of this engineering marvel.
First introduced in Japan some months ago, the Toshiba television has a 4.1 by 3.1 cm (1-3/5 by 1-1/5 inch) LCD (liquid-crystal display) screen housed in a case measuring 17.3 by 8.2 by 1.8cm (6% by 3-1/5 by -3/50 inches)! It has only half the resolution of a standard CRT (cathode-ray tube) display, but its small size masks that fact
effectively. Toshiba has also solved the problem of liquid-crystal "overhang," the slow-fade effect that plagues LCDs in electronic games. The response time of this particular design is fast enough to handle the 1/30 of a second television-frame refresh rate. Although the screen is dimmer than a CRT display (the image is formed from reflected rather than transmitted light), it has acceptable contrast and sharpness.
The screen is fed by a bank of shift registers; it would be an easy task to display computer graphics and characters on it.
The Toshiba flat-screen unit is still in the prototype phase and will probably not be available for a year or so, retailing for approximately $600. I predict that within two years the market will be flooded with portable computers having built-in screens of every size and shape.
Sony has introduced a new electronic "typewriter" that fits in a briefcase and lets you enter, store, and edit up to 200 pages of text using a built-in microcassette recorder. T
ext is displayed on a one-line liquid-crystal display. Combine such a device with a flat-screen multiline video display and you have a very attractive concept, indeed.
Another Sony breakthrough is a new miniature floppy-disk system. Each disk measures 8.9 cm (3-1/2 inches) in diameter and holds over 800,000 bytes! The disk resides in a rigid housing for protection. Sony plans to introduce the disk as part of a new, miniature word-processing system. Although no official word has come from the company, we have learned that it is developing a complete personal-computer system. Fujitsu and Seiko are also developing personal computers for the U.S. market.
New Trends in Portability:
The Osborne I
This month Adam Osborne introduced a new personal computer, called the Osborne I, at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. Its features include: a Z8OA processor; 64 K bytes of dynamic programmable memory (60 K bytes are available to the programmer; the remaini
ng 4 K bytes are used by the display screen); IEEE and RS-232C interfaces; modem electronics; a 5-inch video monitor with 24 rows of 50 characters, upper- and lowercase, two display intensities, and underlining for all characters; two 5-inch single-density, single-sided floppy-disk drives; standard typewriter keyboard; 10-key numeric pad; two pockets for storing floppy disks; and the following software: the CP/M operating system, CBASIC, WordStar, Mailmerge, and a CP/M-compatible spread sheet program that resembles VisiCalc.
There are two particularly interesting points about this computer: (1) it will cost $1795, and (2) it's portable! An optional battery pack will be sold with the unit. Also optional are a 9-inch monitor, an acoustic coupler, and double-density, double-sided floppy-disk drives. The $1795 price tag (which includes all the software) is remarkably low. It remains to be seen if the company can turn a profit at this price. I recently had an opportunity to see the Osborne I in action. I was
impressed with its compactness: it will fit under an airplane seat. (Adam Osborne is currently seeking approval from the FAA to operate the unit on board a plane.) One quibble: the screen may be too small for some people's taste. Consulting Editor Mark Dahmke is preparing a full test report on this computer for an upcoming issue of BYTE.
* * *
Update
We have received numerous requests for more information on the Microterminal described in the January editorial. We cannot divulge any more information at this time, but watch for a complete report coming soon. Also in the works: full reports on the Commodore VIC-20 color computer; the TRS-80 color computer hi-res (high-resolution) graphics; a special issue on local networks; reviews of three LISP packages; the new spelling-correction programs; Logo for the Apple II and TI 99/4; and our annual August language issue, this year on Smalltalk, one of the most exciting languages in the computer field tod
ay. Watch our upcoming editorials for further information about future computers.
The Carl Helmers Newsletter
For more information about subs
cribing to the newsletter, write to North American Technology Inc, Strand Building, Suite 23, 174 Concord St, Peterborough, NH 03458, or call 603-924-6048. We wish Carl luck in his new venture...
CM
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