The NYT reviews the laptop market… in 1985

These “gas-plasma displays” sound kinda rad!

“But the real future of the laptop computer will remain in the specialized niche markets. Because no matter how inexpensive the machines become, and no matter how sophisticated their software, I still can’t imagine the average user taking one along when going fishing…

Good stuff. The first portable Mac (all 16lbs. & $7,500 of it) was still four years in the future. Some 17 years after that, the iPhone arrived. Pretty sure people take them fishing. [Via Ross Hobbie]

3 thoughts on “The NYT reviews the laptop market… in 1985

  1. This line from the NYT deserves to be highlighted: “On the whole, people don’t want to lug a computer with them to the beach or on a train to while away hours they would rather spend reading the sports or business section of the newspaper.” Spoken with the genuine arrogance of a newspaper reporter who couldn’t foresee that it was the newspaper that was the endangered species. I wonder if those who are about to be disrupted are always so blind to their fate.

    1. Well, he was right that people wanted to read sports, business, etc. info on the go & wouldn’t carry giant machines in order to do so. He just couldn’t see the inflection point at which the devices & data would evolve to take the paper out of the paper.

  2. Love the fishing reference. Guides on good rivers often demand clients TURN OFF their phones until there’s a photo worth remembering (and they usually have waterproof compacts to get the best images).

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