Osborne PC
 Osborne PC prototype | |
| Developer | Osborne Computer Corporation |
|---|---|
| Type | Portable computer |
| Release date | 1984 (never released) |
| Operating system | |
| CPU | Intel 8088 @ 4.77 MHz |
The Osborne PC is an unreleased IBM PC–compatible personal computer developed between 1983 and 1984 by Osborne Computer Corporation. Only prototypes of the computer were ever produced.
History
[edit]In April 1983, Osborne introduced their Executive, the successor to their highly successful Osborne 1 portable computer. Both the aforementioned computers were Z80-based and ran the CP/M operating system.[1] Announced simultaneously was the Executive II, which was to be the company's first computer compatible with the IBM PC. The Executive II was slated to be a dual-processor machine, with both an 8088 and a Z80, allowing it to be both PC-compatible and capable of running CP/M.[2][3] By July 1983, however, the Executive II had no scheduled release date.[1]
Internally within Osborne, an effort was launched in the early summer of 1983 to raise the amount of capital necessary to produce a functional prototype for the Executive II. Although venture partners had contributed $9 million of funding in April and another $11 million in June, Osborne was unable to raise an additional $20 million considered necessary to get the IBM-compatible product to market.[4]: 28 A team was formed primarily to create a prototype DOS compatible printed circuit board and front bezel to accommodate the changes in connectors.[original research?] Lee Felsenstein, who designed the Osborne 1 from the ground up and contributor to the design of the Executive, was hired on a freelance basis to work on the PC prototype.[5]: 15–16 Its design used many of the parts of the Executive, including the disc drives, display, chassis, power supply and keyboard. It was completed in six weeks and shown to a number of potential investors, but was unable to generate sufficient interest to save the company from bankruptcy.[original research?] Shortly before they filed Chapter 11, on 5 September, Osborne had announced a replacement motherboard for the original Executive based on this PCB design that would have turned it into a PC compatible.[6]
Production shutdown
[edit]On 2 August, the company's New Jersey plant was shut down and 89 workers were laid off. A few days later 200 workers were let go from the Hayward, California, facility. In early September, banks seized the company's accounts receivable. On 9 September an additional 270 more workers were fired and all production ceased, leaving 80 employees on the California payroll. Three days later, on 12 September, Porter Hurt filed suit for $4.5 million owed his firms for PC boards. On 13 September 1983, OCC filed for Chapter 11 protection in Oakland, California, federal bankruptcy court, listing assets of $40 million, liabilities of $45 million, and 600 creditors.[4]: 28
Failed revival
[edit]While under bankruptcy protection, Osborne's founder Adam Osborne stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Ronald J. Brown, formerly the head of Osborne's international subsidiary. Brown submitted a strategy for exiting bankruptcy to California courts, which was approved in April 1984.[5][7] Part of the strategy was to revive the Osborne PC project. With Felsenstein still on board as a freelance designer,[5]: 15 the Osborne PC was formally announced in April 1984, with an estimated price tag of less than US$3,000, weighing around 28 pounds (13 kg) and possessing two 5.25-inch floppy disks, 256 KB of RAM, and a 7-inch amber-phosphor CRT display.[7] The Osborne PC appeared at the summer 1984 West Coast Computer Faire, where Jerry Pournelle (writing in Byte) remarked that it "looked a lot like the older Executive" and saw it running Microsoft Flight Simulator.[8]: 379
In December 1984, PC World reported that enthusiasm in the original Osborne PC project had waned and that there was only a "50 percent" chance it would survive. In the interim, the company licensed the Pivot portable computer from Morrow Designs and resold it as the Osborne 3.[9] In late 1985, the company released a PC-compatible desktop computer. Called the Osborne 2100, it was manufactured in Taiwan and features a NEC V20 processor (compatible with the 8088).[10][11]
Further reading
[edit]- Switz, Jim (May 1984). "The Osborne PC: A New Machine Revealed". Foghorn. III (8). First Osborne Group: 52, 55 – via the Internet Archive.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Sullivan, D. (July 1983). "Osborne Executive Takes Aim on Business Market". Desktop Computing. 3 (7). CW Communications: 97 – via Gale.
In April, 1983, Osborne Computer Corp. introduced its new portable, the Executive I, and its new president, Robert Jaunich.
- ^ Staff writer (18 April 1983). "Osborne Adding IBM-Compatible Portable Unit". Computer Systems News (118). UBM LLC: 5 – via Gale.
- ^ Immel, A. R. (July 1983). "Osborne Retools for Modern Times". Popular Computing. 2 (9). McGraw-Hill: 96–102 – via Gale.
- ^ a b Ahl, David H. (March 1984). "Osborne Computer Corporation". Creative Computing. McGraw-Hill. pp. 24–28.
- ^ a b c Caruso, Denise (30 January 1984). "Osborne survival strategy targets international sales". InfoWorld. 6 (5). IDG Publications: 14–16 – via Google Books.
- ^ Freiberger, Paul (5 September 1983). "New Board Makes Executive IBM-Compatible". InfoWorld. 5 (36). IDG Publications: 9 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Watt, Peggy (16 April 1984). "Osborne says it's back; intros IBM PC–compatible computer". InfoWorld. 6 (16). IDG Publications: 17 – via Google Books.
- ^ Pournelle, Jerry (July 1984). "The West Coast Faire". Byte. 9 (7). McGraw-Hill: 136–137, 376–382 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Greenberg, Ken (December 1984). "Born-Again Osborne Turns Compatible". PC World. 2 (13). IDG Publications: 134–135 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ Calvo, Melissa (4 November 1985). "New Osborne PC Called Too Costly by Resellers". InfoWorld. 7 (44). IDG Publications: 16 – via Google Books.
- ^ Staff writer (May 1985). "Stayput Osborne". Australian PC World. IDG Publications: 126 – via the Internet Archive.
External links
[edit]- Print advertisement for the Osborne 2100 in the Australian Your Computer