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| Laptop inventor Moggridge dies at 69 |
| By special contributor fran on 2012-09-11 19:26:38 |
| "Bill Moggridge, the London-born industrial designer credited with creating the first laptop computer,died on Saturday aged 69 after a battle with cancer. Moggridge is best known as the creator of the GRiD Compass, a device which introduced many of the design traits used in modern laptops, including the hinged case, the flat display and the low-profile keyboard. Moggridge said that when he tested the device prototype in 1981, it was the first time he had used a computer." |
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| Whoah.. |
| By Bill Shooter of Bul on 2012-09-11 20:24:55 |
| I should keep hanging on to the Grid I have in my parents basement. I had no idea it had that kind of heritage. |
 - Score: 2 |
| Comment by MOS6510 |
| By MOS6510 on 2012-09-12 06:10:34 |
|
It is a bit sad that millions of people use laptops daily, but no one has heard of this person. If a manufacturer had style 'n' class they should honor his name either on the case or in the BIOS screen. It would also give the user the feeling he or she's holding the product of invention, hard work and evolution in their hands, not some mass produced luxury consumer good. |
| - Score: 8 |
| Not a laptop or at least not the first |
| By puenktchen on 2012-09-12 08:59:24 |
| The first laptop was the Epson HX-20, introduced in 1981. The Grid Compass was only introduced in 1982, and more important, it didn't run on batteries, why it doesn't qualify as laptop. |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE: Not a laptop or at least not the first |
| By henderson101 on 2012-09-12 14:00:55 |
|
I think the point being made is that the Epson, and Dynabook concept - which predates the Epson by 20 odd years, don't *look* like a modern laptop. They are more like slabs with a keyboard. The GRiD Compass actually *looks* a lot like a modern Laptop design. I'm sitting here with my laptop plugged in to the mains sans battery (as keeping a Lithium-Ion battery connected to the mains constantly at full charge will kill it dead, dead, dead before too long unless the inbuilt charging circuit is very, very good.) Does that mean I don't have a laptop? It's effectively a desktop, and gets used 90% of its like at a desk. Ponder that :-) |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: Not a laptop or at least not the first |
| By smashIt on 2012-09-12 17:42:04 |
|
> as keeping a Lithium-Ion battery connected to the mains constantly at full charge will kill it dead, dead, dead before too long unless the inbuilt charging circuit is very, very good. nowadays every midrange laptop should have no problem with this except if it's form apple those bastards even had the nerve to celebrate balanced battery-packs as something completely new |
| - Score: 4 |
| RE[3]: Not a laptop or at least not the first |
| By Neolander on 2012-09-13 07:22:24 |
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> nowadays every midrange laptop should have no problem with this except if it's form apple those bastards even had the nerve to celebrate balanced battery-packs as something completely new My sense of hardware history is failing me. Is this sarcasm or does every mid-range laptop actually have this feature nowadays ? |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[4]: Not a laptop or at least not the first |
| By smashIt on 2012-09-13 09:37:33 |
|
haven't heard of a laptop that still is destroying it's batterie on my thinkpad i can even set the threshold for charging myselfe |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[5]: Not a laptop or at least not the first |
| By Neolander on 2012-09-13 10:19:16 |
| The more I hear about Thinkpads, the more they sound interesting... I would probably make the switch for my next laptop if only they came packed with a bit more number-crunching power for the price. |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[3]: Not a laptop or at least not the first |
| By henderson101 on 2012-09-13 11:45:42 |
|
> nowadays every midrange laptop should have no problem with this Wrong. It's the biggest issue with any portable device. If you leave your laptop plugged in all day, you will *harm* you battery. Fact. Lithium ion batteries are prone to damage when two factors are reached: 1) being kept at 100% charge for prolonged periods without discharge (usual method for desktop use, plugged in to the charger all day.) 2) charge going below a specific threshold, usually somewhere between 1% and 6% of actual battery capacity (not necessarily what your OS reports as the current charge level.) A good charge circuit will not keep the battery at 100%, but will allow it to slightly discharge within a threshold. Though this will still damage the battery if used for prolonged periods, but the risk is mitigated if the user simply charges the batter and then forgets to take it off charge when complete for a couple of hours. Lithium ion batteries just don't deal with being kept at full charge for prolonged periods as it screws with the electrolytes in the composition, causing oxidation and causing the capacity to diminish. (edit: this happens anyway, it just accelerates the issue..) Lithium polymer are slightly different, but the general rules still apply. Lithium Polymer are slightly more hardy due to the lack of an organic electrolyte compound. Lithium Polymer are more just explosive ;-) None of this is anecdotal. If you want anecdotes though, I have seen enough Laptops with dead batteries through prolonged desk use in my career to make me a believer. Edited 2012-09-13 11:57 UTC |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[4]: Not a laptop or at least not the first |
| By smashIt on 2012-09-13 12:14:18 |
|
I think you are mixing up some things a good charger in a laptop starts charging only when the battery is below a certain threshold and cuts the power to the battery after it has been charged an ballanced and thats all you can do for the battery everything else is normal ageing of the battery sure cheap cells degrade faster than high-quality ones, but that still has nothing to do with the charger |
| - Score: 3 |
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