name of portable computer??

Have you ever heard anyone refer to a portable computer as a labtop?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Portable

No, not really.

Specifically with a "b" ?

No, but it's a surprisingly common typo.

A laptop, but with the way people talk, lap and lab sound the same a lot of the time.

I've always referred to them as laptops, not portable computers.

Years ago, a luggable computer weighed in at about 48 pounds was the size of a suitcase and a bear to carry around. They were often referred to as portable. Similar to the TI programming terminal or the AB T-3.




edit: sorry, harryting - just checked out your link to the Compaq - yes, just like that...

labtop/laptop - I think it's just one of those silly mistakes people make when they say what they think they are hearing all the time?

It's like people saying "installation tape" instead of "insulation tape".

Contrary to their name, you are actually advised not to use your "laptop" on your lap. Besides overheating issues, there are concerns that when used directly on our laps we are exposed to higher levels of electromagnetic fields (EMF), which may be harmful over time. Never?

The term "portable computer" was used when the dinosaur IBM PCs learned how to walk. They were portable, but not easily.

But also, the early portable programming computers we used to lug around were termed as a "portable programmers".

I remember when serving my apprenticeship having to carry the Modicon GOULD P180 "portable programmer" around a lot for the seniors. It was a big plant. It was on the move so much we eventually got a trolley on wheels for the beast...

"Portable computer? That's not a portable computer!"

what I was talking about is what I would call a laptop... I just didn't know what to call it when asking my original question.

My boss calls them labtops all the time ....really irks me ... he doesn't know any better

makes me think, "why is he my boss?' ....makes me feel bad

Geospark said:

I remember when serving my apprenticeship having to carry the Modicon GOULD P180 "portable programmer" around a lot for the seniors. It was a big plant. It was on the move so much we eventually got a trolley on wheels for the beast...

Click to expand...

Wow, I haven't seen a P180 for a long time. I lugged one of those around the Plant, as well as a P190, and an AB T2 Industrial Terminal as they called it. It had a handle, so that made it a portable.

We finally bought a Laptop, and also made up a cart to push those things around. Fortunately, we had concrete floors pretty well anywhere we would need a Programming Terminal or Laptop.

Stu....

realolman,

My last employer used always say "pacific" instead of "specific". He'd say like "you need a pacific cable for that job", or "the pacifics of a job". I don't know if it was because he couldn't pronounce "specific" or he just though "pacific" was the correct word?

When we attended high profile meetings while tendering jobs, and he'd use it, I used to squirm. I don't think people noticed too much, or gave it more than a seconds thought. How I felt about it probably had more to do with my pedantic nature than the very small idiosyncrasies that he displayed?

While at times it bugged me near to the point of correcting him, and with the teacher that's always fighting to get out of me, I never did. I also never thought any less of him for it, nor did I pity him. He's an intelligent enough man. It certainly never made me think "why is he higher up the food chain than I?".

As much as it might irk you, I would not question someone's right to their professional status on such a relatively small mistake alone.

Ignorance is not stupidity, although it does like to dress stupidly.

G.

Anyone remember Compaq? They were the original "portable" PC. The name was specifically created to invoke the idea of "compact", because it was smaller than the original IBM PC, later to become a "desktop" PC.

It was the first IBM clone using DOS, and they made it portable, which at the time was what we would now refer to as "disruptive" technology. It wasn't really the first portable computer, that was the Osborne I think, but that was not a PC format that we have come to love. Compaq borrowed their portability concept and applied it to the PC clone concept and made it big. I think I am still suffering from shoulder damage from lugging that beast around, but compared to an IBM PC or even a DEC PDP11 before that, it was a dream come true!

"Physical" instead of "fiscal"....
I had a boss that drove me nuts with that.

"We need to move on this before the end of the physical year..."

As opposed to what, the end of the mental year? The spiritual year?

I always used it correctly, he never caught on, or if he did, refused to (or could not) change. The sad thing was, other people I worked with who I KNEW were capable of using the right word, would go along with him when talking to him.

Geospark. Very nice reply ....thank you
Unfortunately, i think it is a very accurate indicator of the level of his understanding. And he is not my employer. A low level corporate manager
Decades of having to find and correct semicolons where there should have been a comma leaves me not nearly as generous as you... A fact that rather shames me.

realolman,

Well, that is why I used the word "alone". But if you have "Decades" of experience with this person, then you may be qualified to judge them as you have.
There is nothing wrong with having high standards. But now you are into the realms of incompetency, more so than ignorance. Although they are close cousins.

It's easier to ignore the flaws in those we care for. We are blinded.
Yet we look harder for the negatives in those we hold in low regard. We are oversightful, perhaps?

(Ok, grammar check - any semicolons? No. OK good...phew!)

G.

All-in-One Computers...

jraef,

Good fun alright. Look at those dual 5¼" diskette drives purr.

Harryting provided a Wikipedia link in Post #2, you may have missed it? If you look at the article you may notice that these machines were actually termed as an "all-in-one computer". If you link to that it describes the all-in-one form factor in a bit more detail...

All-in-one

An all-in-one desktop computer integrates the system's internal components into the same case as the display, eliminating some connecting cables and allowing for a smaller footprint, sometimes giving a degree of portability, compared to the standard desktop configuration of the separate display monitor and computer system case. However the all-in-one form factor still requires an external power supply and must be deployed on a table or desk to use the (still separate) keyboard and mouse, making them less mobile than a laptop which can rely on power supplied by a rechargeable battery and provides a built-in keyboard plus pointing device for its user.

The all-in-one form factor was popular during the early 1980s for computers intended for professional use such as the Kaypro II, Osborne 1, TRS-80 Model II and Compaq Portable. Many manufacturers of home computers like Commodore and Atari included the computer's motherboard into the same enclosure as the keyboard; these systems were most often connected to a television set for display. Apple has manufactured several popular examples of all-in-one computers, such as the original Macintosh of the mid-1980s and the iMac of the late 1990s and 2000s. By the early 2000s, many all-in-one designs were using flat panel displays, and by late 2012 some all-in-one models also included touchscreen displays to accommodate Windows 8.

Some all-in-one desktops such as the iMac G4 have used laptop components in order to reduce the size of the system case. Like laptops, some all-in-one desktop computers are characterized by an inability to customize or upgrade internal components, as the systems' cases do not provide easy access except through panels which only expose connectors for RAM or storage device upgrades. However, newer models of all-in-one computers have changed their approach to this issue. Many of the current manufacturers are using standard off-the-shelf components and are designing upgrade convenience into their products.

That last paragraph is noteworthy. I have been saying for years how laptop components are to dissimilar between manufacturers making them harder to upgrade with any real choice between COTS components.

G.

Laptop = 2 syllables, specifically a computer in today's vernacular.
Portable = 3 syllables, all by itself could mean anything that can be moved.

Okies say laptop. Okies are syllable savers. Although my partner at a previous job always called his a portable. He was from Tennessee where perhaps syllables are not as endangered.