Grid Compass
The Grid Compass is a family of laptop computers introduced in 1982 by the Grid Systems Corporation. The design for the Compass was rendered by Bill Moggridge. Owing to its clamshell design—the first in a portable computer—some historians credit the original Compass as the first ever laptop.
This original model of Compass lacked an internal battery compartment, requiring AC power from the wall. Grid sold the succeeding model, the Compass II, in 1984 with an optional external battery unit. Grid replaced the Compass with the GridCase line in 1985.
History
Development of the Compass began in 1979, and the main buyer was the U.S. government. NASA used it on the Space Shuttle during the early 1980s, as it was powerful, lightweight, and compact. The military Special Forces also purchased the machine, as it could be used by paratroopers in combat. The National Security Agency was reportedly interested in a TEMPEST-compliant version produced by SAIC.Along with the Gavilan SC and Sharp PC-5000 released the following year, the GRiD Compass established much of the basic design of subsequent laptop computers, although the laptop concept itself owed much to the Dynabook project developed at Xerox PARC from the late 1960s. GRiD Systems Corporation subsequently earned significant returns on its patent rights as its innovations became commonplace.
Competitors
The portable Osborne 1 computer sold at around the same time as the GRiD, was more affordable and more popular, and ran the popular CP/M operating system. But, unlike the Compass, the Osborne was not a laptop and lacked the Compass's refinement and small size.Models
The Compass runs its own operating system, GRiD-OS. Its specialized software and high price meant that it was limited to specialized applications.Grid at first intended customers to purchase an IBM minicomputer as the "Grid Central" remote host, from which Grid Compass would download software. Customers were uninterested, and Grid replaced it with "Grid Server", hosting a local-area network of up to 48 Compasses and IBM PCs, and 10 remote systems. The Server would run both Grid and MS-DOS software, the company's first acknowledgement of PC compatibility.