Boing Boing points to this charming little article in Mobile PC Magazine written by Christopher Null about the Birth of the Notebook. In the first page (and, indeed, the bit that’s on Boing Boing), they talk a lot about the ill-fated 24½ lb. “luggable” Osborne 1.

Pshaw. The Osborne 1 was shite. It had a crappy 5" white phosphor screen! Who could read that? It was ugly hunk of plastic, like an overgrown suitcase with 5¼" floppy drives. Ugh.

Contrast this with my family’s first computer: the KayPro II. It was the bomb. 9" green phosphor screen. CP/M support. NO GRAPHICS. A low, low price tag of $1,595. Plus, it was made of metal. HEAVY METAL. You could seriously injure someone by smashing them upside the head with the keyboard.

Plus, if it’s good enough for Arthur C. Clarke, it should be good enough for you.

Anyways, all I’m sayin’ is: if you’re going to write an article about portable computers, you better do as Ali G. does and respek, yo.