Which was the first laptop?
The title of “first laptop” is disputed, much as with other firsts, and it depends on what the word means. A laptop usually implies a computer with a built-in screen and keyboard, small enough to use on one’s knees and powered by a battery. By that standard, several machines came before the IBM ThinkPad of 1992. The ThinkPad deserves attention not as the first, but as a design that shaped what business notebooks looked like.
Early portable computers
Portable computing began with machines that were portable in a loose sense. The Osborne 1, sold in 1981, was a suitcase-sized computer with a small built-in screen, weighing around 24 pounds. The Compaq Portable of 1983 was an IBM PC-compatible machine in a luggage-like case. These were transportable and needed a mains outlet, so they are often called luggables.
The GRiD Compass, introduced in 1982 and designed by Bill Moggridge, used a clamshell form, with a flat display that folded down over the keyboard. It was expensive and sold largely to government and business, including the US space program. Many writers cite it as an early true laptop because of its design, which later machines copied. Other contenders include the Epson HX-20 of 1981, a small battery-powered handheld with a built-in printer, and the Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 of 1983, a light notebook-style machine popular with journalists.
The notebook arrives
By the late 1980s, advances in batteries, hard drives and flat displays made lighter machines possible. Toshiba’s T1000 and T1100 series, from the mid-to-late 1980s, were among the first widely sold PC-compatible laptops, and other makers followed. Features that seem basic today, such as a hard disk or a screen that could be read in room light, came gradually. Early liquid crystal displays were monochrome and hard to see at an angle.
IBM sold portable and laptop-style PCs through the 1980s, but it was not the market leader in the segment. Competitors from Japan and the United States, including Toshiba and Compaq, had stronger reputations in portables.
The 1992 ThinkPad line
IBM announced the ThinkPad in October 1992. The first group included the 300, the 700 and the 700C. The 700C had a 10.4-inch active-matrix color display, a hard drive and a 486-class processor, and it was expensive. The name came from IBM’s longtime “Think” slogan, combined with the idea of a pad of paper. The machines were developed in part at IBM’s research and design labs in Japan.
Design choices
The ThinkPad gained fame for its appearance and usability. Designer Richard Sapper, working with IBM, gave it a plain black case with squared edges. A commonly told story is that the form was inspired by a Japanese lunchbox, a bento box, whose neat closed shape hid an interesting interior. The story is widely repeated, though how much it shaped the final design is not clear.
The keyboard was a major selling point, with good key travel for a thin machine. Many models included the red TrackPoint pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard, a device that let users move the pointer without lifting their hands from the keys. The design of touchpads, and of the alternatives like mouse devices, was still being worked out, and IBM bet on the stick. A butterfly mechanism in the 700C’s keyboard allowed it to expand to a full-size layout when opened, and it became a well-known engineering feature, though it was used only on some models.
Reception and role
The ThinkPad was well reviewed and sold strongly to business customers, which gave IBM a firm position in notebooks. It won awards for design and was chosen for use in space flights, such as on NASA’s shuttle missions, in later years. It also shaped expectations for business laptops: sturdy, black, with a reliable keyboard and good support. Competitors copied some features, and the ThinkPad design language changed little for decades.
Later history
IBM sold its personal computer business, including ThinkPad, to Lenovo in 2005. The brand continued under Lenovo, which kept much of the design approach. Over time, laptops became thinner and lighter, with solid state drives and long-lasting batteries, and they overtook desktops in sales for many users. Smartphones and tablets took over some tasks that formerly needed a laptop.
What to remember
The ThinkPad did not invent the laptop, and claims that it was the first are inaccurate. Its significance is in showing how a thoughtfully designed notebook could succeed in the business market. For the real beginning of portable computing, the earlier machines from Osborne, GRiD and Compaq are the better answer.