The PC Doesn’t Have to Be an Anchor

For years, portable computers were second-class citizens in the Republic of Computing. These were the auxiliary machines, adjuncts to the muscle machines on or below the desk. They were expensive, underpowered and, in the early years, much too large for anyone then to call them “laptops” or “notebooks.” In 1983, the Compaq Portable weighed 28 pounds, more than enough to set one’s shoulder throbbing halfway down an airport concourse; it cost $2,995 for one floppy-drive or $3,950 for two.