Reintroducing the 28lb Compaq Computer
Posted By RichC on September 16, 2006
Laptop computers came up in conversation today as my kids and I were sitting at the kitchen table. My daughter commented that her professor was joking about using technology in one of her classes and pulled out a 1990’s laptop that had some size to it. They started laughing since it was ‘large’ relative to what they know. I smiled and said I my first laptop was 28 pounds.
The next hour was spent showing off my vintage Compaq Portable with its impressive green screen, 640 kilobytes of RAM and 5-1/4 inch true floppy. To their laughter I booted up MS-DOS version 1.14 to which they began playing the built in games. I realized that I hadn’t boot this computer up in their lifetime. It was enjoyable to see their reactions, especially when I removed the bottom to display the tiny screen and keyboard. My daughters comment was “I thought maybe the side would open” — she thought the whole surface was a display! (photos and posting with Palm Treo 700p smartphone)
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