Thirty Years of Clamshell Computing

harrymcc writes "2012 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Grid Compass 1101, the first portable computer with a briefcase-like case with a keyboard on one side of the interior, a flat screen on the other, and a hinge in the middle--the 'clamshell' design that eventually became standard for all portable PCs. It's proven to be a remarkably useful and durable design, and only with the advent of the iPad has it faced serious competition."

Comments

Sorry, but iPad is *not* a challenger.

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone who does anything productive an iPad ends up buying a case and a bluetooth keyboard, ending up with exactly the same overall use case as a clamshell laptop. The only advantage with the iPad is that the keyboard is optional, but for those of us who do a lot of work that "optional" part is a hassle and thus I always end up just using my laptop anyway. Anyone who claims they can be productive for long periods of typing with the terrible iPad on-screen keyboard is probably lying.

Re:Best use of space in clamshell? NOT

[Hamsterdan]

Weight distribution. If the lid is heavier than the base, it's too easy to have the laptop do a backwards flip. Besides, it would add thickness to the machine (but allow for a bigger battery)

Re:Read vs. Write

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

Indeed.

You know what happens when someone forgets to check the bounds of their array and starts writing data to another process's memory?

Yeah. Imagine if that other process was your visual cortex.

We used to have drugs for that.