Adam Osborne

Adam Osborne (born the March 6th 1939, dead the March 18th 2003) is a writer Britannique, book publisher and of Logiciel S, and originator of Ordinateur S which founded various companies with the the United States and elsewhere.

Born in Thailand British parents, Osborne passes most of its childhood in India. It is graduate Université of Birmingham in 1961 and obtains its doctorate of physics to the Université of Delaware. It begins its career in the Chemical engineering with Shell with the the United States, before leaving this company at the beginning of the Années 1970, to satisfy its passion of the computers and the technical drafting.

It is thus one of the most assiduous members of famous the Homebrew Computer Club about 1975.

Its most famous realization is the first laptop, the Osborne 1, in April 1981. It weighed 12 kg, cost 1795 $ - that is to say half of the price of a computer of other manufacturers to the similar functions - and functioned under the OS CP/M version 2.2. It sold up to 10.000 Osborne 1 per month.

In 1983, Adam Osborne revealed the existence of two new more evolved/moved computers, on which its company worked. This revelation made fall the request for Osborne 1, which drove back the Osborne Computer Corporation with the Banqueroute, the September 13rd 1983. Osborne wrote its memories concerning the period of Osborne 1, entitled Hypercroissance , with John Dvorak, delivers published in 1985.

Osborne was also a pioneer of the edition of book of data processing, with the foundation of Osborne Books, specialized in the edition of data-processing handbooks easy to read. In 1977, it counted 40 titles with its catalog. In 1979, it was repurchased by McGraw-Hill.

In 1984, Osborne creates Paperback Software International Ltd, specialized company in the computers at low prices. One of its publicities, putting in Osborne scene, advanced the fact that if the operators of telephone applied same logic as the software publishers to their tariffing, a telephone would cost 600 $. One of its products was a clone of Lotus 1-2-3, which was worth a lawsuit to him. Lotus attacked Paperback software in 1987. The escape of the customers, frightened by the possible continuations of the lawsuit, caused a fall of 80% of the incomes of Paperback in 1989 and prevented an opening of the capital necessary to its development. In June 1990, the court judged that the product of Paperback Software, by offering an interface and an appearance similar to that of Lotus 1-2-3, had violated the copyright of Lotus. Paperback Software ceased its activities the same year.

In 1992, Osborne, suffering of a disease of the brain, turns over to India. He died eleven years afterwards with Kodiakanal (or Kodaikanal ).

A discussion which it had in 1982 with Steve Jobs, the creator of Apple, remained famous. Whereas Osborne had just criticized lengthily the LISA, it started to attack the Macintosh, making fun in particular of its innumerable delays. Steve Jobs would then have answered him:

Adam, Macintosh is a so good model that even when it puts your company at unemployment, you will continue to want to buy it for your children.

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