In the last five years, computer manufacturers have unveiled a series of thin computers with flip-up screens labeled “lap-tops”. The idea was that a person needing a certain degree of portability in their computer would opt for this design instead of a desk-top model. What these manufacturers are now finding out, however is that a large percent of users who buy lap-tops use them as their second computer.
Why should this news be significant to lap-top and portable computer manufacturers? These manufacturers have mis-interpreted the market segment of who would buy the computers, and have made them completely compatible computers with hard disks and floppy drives. The result is a computer thet weighs (conservatively) just over ten pounds and can hardly be labeled “portable”. Not only must it be packed, lugged, and contain a fresh charge of electricity every time it is needed, these computers must be handled with care – they cannot be dropped, bumped hard or “thrown” into the car. Enter the Sinclair Z88.
What Sinclair did with the Z88 that makes it unique, in my opinion, is correctly define a market segment. This computer has a built in operating system that contains a word processor, a database, and a spreadsheet. They are not versions of popular programs, but they accept files from popular programs without modification. The Z88 has no floppy, micro-drive, or hard drive option, but it remembers everything in RAM. Any applications a user might have stored in the RAM stay just as he/she leaves them until they are erased.
What makes the Z88 unique is its packaging. The computer is eight by eleven inches, weighs under two pounds and is only three fourths of an inch thick! This makes it the first truly portable computer. It is about as rugged as a pocket calculator. It contains a communications program that allows it to easily transfer files back and forth between a QL or a IBM (or clone). Thus, one would probably buy this as a second computer. The Sinclair Z88 is the shape of computers for the future. It fills a market niche previously undefined, and puts powerfully computing access at the hands of those who truly need portability.