On this day in 1983 the Osborne Computer Corporation (OCC) officially declared bankruptcy. The OCC was founded by Adam Osborne in 1980 and was responsible for creating the world’s first mass-produced portable computer, the Osborne 1. It was a compact machine with a 5-inch display, 64 KB of RAM, a Z80 microprocessor and two floppy-disk drives. It could fit easily under an airplane seat, could survive being dropped, and included a comprehensive bundled software package. Because of its many great features, portability and low price the Osborne 1 became incredibly in demand.
There’s some debate over exactly what caused the OCC’s bankruptcy but many speculate that it was due to the introduction of the Osborne Executive, the supposed successor of Osborne 1. After the Executive was introduced to the media many orders for Osborne 1 were apparently cancelled, sales rapidly declined and eventually the company could not keep up with the losses.
The Osborne 1 – Image taken from oldcomputers.net