Seminal Laptops

Rarely if ever, are products truly seminal, in that they are unique to the degree that they become iconic or that they change the design philosophy of an industry or market segment. What I'm going to attempt to address today is a highly personalized view of laptop computers that in my opinion are "seminal" products.

The mobile computer has been around for a LONG TIME.
...but this Osborne and it's competitors such as the Compaq, etc. can hardly be called "the face that launch a thousand ships", they were called "luggables" for a reason. I used to own an IBM PS2 P75 with a cool red Plasma screen, but the 400Mb HDD weighed than any of our ThinkPads! So, what was the Helen of Troy of laptop computing? Well; I present.....the IBM ThinkPad 700c:
$5000 in 1992 dollars could buy you this, the first machine with the then HUGE 10.4" TFT color screen and cutting edge technology. Although it was a lot of money in those days, companies looking to get ahead began to equip their workers with these things and everybody else was immediately playing catchup. However, the button-down black Bento-Box IBM look wasn't for everybody and as time moved on, Apple demonstrated that portable computing could be "cool" looking. In 1997, they came out with in my opinion the most beautiful machine of any laptop, the G3 PowerBook:

And then in 2001, the iconic G4 "Titanium":

This machine is so cool that it's still the defacto "laptop" on TV. Don't believe me? Just watch for them especially on commercials.

While this was going on, IBM came up with one of the most unique and innovative products ever to be produced, the 701:
With it's folding keyboard, it literally could turn itself into an impossibly small black-box that didn't look like it did anything. Product placement aside, if you want to figure out whether something is really technologically interesting; see if it shows up in a James Bond movie. This one was in "Golden Eye" and one other I believe. You even see Bond typing on and then closing it inside "Q" Branch while he was supposed to be listening to instructions. Of course this amazing technological accomplishment came to naught when the market went toward increasingly larger screens thus eliminating the need for a folding keyboard. Never-the-less, the "Butterfly" was one of the most interesting laptops ever. I have 2 in the closet!

HP also got into the act with the amazing OmniBook line; the really tiny 800 with the retractable mouse and the 500 that was matched with possibly best integrated "dock" of all time.Yes, boys and girls; there was a time when HP did more than just make money well.
If you are of the camp that thinks that Apple is THE design innovator out there, then their hype machine must be working. In 2003, long before the "Air" was a glimmer in Steve Jobs eye, Sony already had the X505 on the market. Sure, it won't do all that the 2008 machines such as the MacBook Air and ThinkPad X300 will do, but just look at it! FIVE years before those other machines!
Yup, sure enough; that's it sitting next to an "Air" making it look fat.

In the meantime, other Panasonic decided that the market (not just Military, Police and Emergency folks) needed to have the Hummer of laptops; the ToughBook. Yes they didn't invent it (IBM did) nor are they the only ones, but they define it:

Each of these machines did something to change, define or redefine the laptop computer as we know it. As for me, this little essay isn't finished without including my current favorite and everyday user: The ThinkPad X300
Think MacBook Air with an optical drive and it's shirt tucked in.....