Heh, beatcha by ~ a year - got my Osborne1 S/N 0189 in spring '81.

Dealer in Hayward had CP/M and Apples - all of which were sold TO DO VISICALC, as reported above and most other places. Knowing little about such things, having most experience with CDC-6600s, Modcomps, PDP-8s and my hP-65 .. I looked under the hood of the ][ -- this being prior to revelations of Jobs' tech-guru (Andy Herzfeld, was it?) and the manic desire to make things serve multiple purposes to save pennies / sell for ^$$^, as Andrew points out succinctly. I did not like what I saw lectronically therein, so headed for the Digital Research OS spread. Dealer saw CP/M as eating Apple lunch, and Digital Research as the savvier OS guys.

Fortunately, Adam O. invented BUNDLING, and my $1800ish 64K Os1 came with WordStar, etc. on its scrawny scrolly 5" 'window on an 80-character-screen'. KB was OK, whereas Apple's was NOT. I put up with the one-board sewing-machine design because of cost/design effectiveness (esp. with the bundling). And.. it was at least, portative..

Having then my Own WP and that.. contrasted with the massive Wang-thing at work: I was sure this stuff would catch on. [So why ain't I rich?]

Gawd what a disaster BillyCo have made of Doze - perhaps the main reason? why Jobs' hyper-ego / temper tantrums were tolerable even to bizness types all along. Yes, he's a Bastard - but a far more 'innovative' and Useful Bastard than the Beast, who only ever market stuff they don't ever understand. (Hard to weigh the Greed factor between the two sociopaths, of course.)

All overpriced until nowadays.. now it's bitchin Value per dollar - esp. compared to the store-grade Intel crap for iggerant peons. I'll have one anon, reinforced after again playing with friend's Powerbook / recent interlude in LA:

Order coffee, turn-on. Watch it magically and autonomously log-on to network with no BS. (Airport card added per your clue!) A jewel of industrial design, that Powerbook - a techno connoisseur would want one even if it didn't work.

But Hey.. my Otrona fired up last time I tried it; will still pick WStar over fucking bloated mouse-obsessed Word, for any speedy text composition I'd ever need to do. Could brush up on WS KB commands in prolly a half-hour; they Understood mnemonics! Word Imperfect never did...

My 3 Kopeks



Of Course they're All bastards! Murican capitalism can spawn no other type of Leader than the best-lying sociopath and dream-weaver. Mother's milk.