Osborne 1: Everything You Need to Know

When you consider that many people are likely reading this on a laptop today, the history of computers as portable machines is arguably not given much thought. However, the history of portable computing is fascinating, and it starts in a big way with Adam Osborne.

With the release of the Osborne 1, Osborne set the computer market on a path that would eventually make computers smaller and more portable. Today, the laptop and portable computer market is double that of the desktop world, and it’s all because of the Osborne 1.

The History of Osborne 1: What to know

First released on April 3, 1981, Osborne 1 is touted as the first commercially successful portable computer manufactured by the Osborne Computer Corporation. It runs on the CP/M 2.2 operating system and is powered from a wall socket.

Osborne 1 was designed by Lee Felsenstein and developed by Adam Osborne. Osborne was an author of computer books before creating the Osborne 1 computer, whose design was primarily based on the Xerox NoteTaker, a prototype developed by Alan Kay in 1976.

Apart from its few brilliant functions, the computer was designed primarily for portability. The developer was particular about its weight and size, so they advertised Osborne 1 as the only computer that could fit under an airline seat. In its day, the computer was regarded as “luggable,” especially compared to other laptop designs.

Osborne Design

Osborne 1 was also famously described as “a perfect blend of a shrunken instrument panel of a DC-3 and a World War II radio.” Its portability was amusing at the time of its release. The computer also included software, such as spreadsheets, word processing, games, etc.

However, Osborne 1 wasn’t comparatively faster than other microcomputers and didn’t have a large or expandable disk storage space. Another drawback of the computer is its tiny 5-inch display screen; most importantly, it was considered expensive for its price.

Despite the drawbacks and evident rapid growth of competitors after the release of Osborne, the parent company, Osborne Computer Company, has already recorded its first $1 million in sales. But this growth was short-lived for a few reasons.

See It In Action

If you want a strong sense of how the Osborne 1 works and even how it came in the box, this 25:18 video by saveitforparts is pure bliss. There’s just something magical about how the YouTuber shows you the inner workings of this magical machine that looks both ancient and very advanced.

At 24.5 pounds, this was not portable in the way we are familiar with today, but as the video shows, the ability to take this machine with you and work anywhere must have felt like you were living in the future.

Of course, you can also watch the video to see the Osborne 1 completely disassembled, where the YouTuber adds some 3D-printed parts to help restore this computer to feel even more sturdy and well-built than its initial design.

Initial Sales Were Good

Upon its release, Osborne 1 appeared to be a huge market hit. By September 1981, the Osborne Computer Company had hit its first US$1 million sales month. In the first 8 months since its introduction, 11,000 units of Osborne 1 computers had been sold.

The peak sales per month throughout 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. In other words, the computer saw far more success than initially imagined.

At the height of the company’s success, it was not only producing 10,000 units monthly but had grown to over 3,000 employees and earned over $73 million in revenue in just 12 months.

Tough Competition

Despite its early success, the Osborne 1 struggled under heavy competition. First, Kaypro Computer offered portables that, like the Osborne 1, ran CP/M and included a software bundle. But Kaypro earned an edge over the Osborne 1 by providing a larger 9-inch display that could display 80 characters across 24 lines and double-density floppy disks that could store twice as much information as the Osborne 1.

Similarly, Apple Computer’s offerings had an extensive software library with double-density floppy disk support and, with aftermarket cards, could run CP/M. IBM’s 16-bit IBM PC was faster and more advanced, offering a rapidly growing software library. Compaq offered a portable computer almost 100% compatible with IBM’s offering. 

This competition, alongside poor advertisement and product management, much of which had been championed by Adam Osborne himself, stifled life out of Osborne’s sales growth, and soon the company began to see massive losses. As unsold inventory piled up, the company turned to dramatic price cuts, with the first shifting the Osborne 1 price down to $1,295 in July 1983 and again in August 1983 to $995. These efforts were in vain, as sales still did not recover.

The End Is Near

As a result, company losses, which were already higher than expected, continued to mount. Even the release of the Executive model OCC-2 in 1982, which offered a larger 7-inch display, twice the RAM, and double-density floppy drives, couldn’t stem the flow. This is especially true when considering the OCC-2 was priced at $2,495.

Toward the end of 1983, Osborne discontinued its computer sales and declared bankruptcy. However, Adam Osborne emerged from bankruptcy in the mid-1980s and finally released the Osborne Vixen, a compact portable running CP/M, in 1984. Unfortunately, the company never regained its early prominence.

In the 1990s, Adam Osborne returned to India, the land of his youth, and started another company that made computer software. He died in March 2003.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Marcin Wichary / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.