If someone made us this question almost certainly that we say they were big brands like APPLE or IBM. We are however somewhat away from reality. The first portable computer thought up by Adam Osborne and was called the Osborne 1 (has nothing to do with our Bull) was composed in a plastic suitcase and weighed 11 kg, and had two units of 5.25 and 184 kB capacity each one. Likewise, possessed a monitor, a professional keyboard, RS232 (IEEE488 e) ports as well as CP/m operating system. The computer was shipped with a software package created by Microsoft CBASIC, Wordstar (word processor), SuperCalc (worksheet), MailMerge (program for e-mails) and dBase II (database). It is also true that it contained no battery so it had to be plugged into the nearest standard electrical outlet.
This computer was sold with great success in 1982 but the next model the Osborne Executive arrived late since already IBM pulled harder and began to monopolize the market. In fact, the huge stock that occurred with the Osbornes-1, which could no longer sell is because customers waited for the new Executive, was the cause of the bankruptcy of the company and in 1983 they had to make suspension of payments. The urban legend called the Osborne effect which is that when a company makes public that he is working on larger models, which currently is in the street, produces an immediate stoppage of the sales was created from this moment. Apparently the great error of Adam Osborne, was precisely advertisements trumpeting the Executive and ponder the Excellencies and improvements in the new model over the former. However, other sources say that the bankruptcy of this company, was due not so much to this error marketing, but to the fact of trying to save costs by reusing the plates of the Osborne 1 and spend many dollars in a plastic mold for manufacturing the new model Kit. Be that as it may, it is always interesting to find out where we come from isn’t it?