Adam Osborne, Who Launched The World's First Portable Computer In A Suitcase Well Ahead Of IBM And Other PC Makers, Died After A Long Illness.

Unknown and unsung despite his high profile in the early 1980s, it took a week for news of Osborne's death to reach the outside world.

Osborne entered the limelight in 1981 when he launched the Osborne 1, a personal computer in a suitcase weighing about 10 kilos (22 lbs.), at the West Coast Computer Fair. Priced at $1,795, it was based on the Zilog z80 processor with 64 Kbits of RAM, two 5.25 inch internal floppy drives, a 5-inch monitor and no hard disk. It included free bundled software such as a spreadsheet and was based on the pre-DOS CP/M operating system.
EE Times