British laptop designer, Bill Moggridge, signs off

Stefan Mileschin · 11th September 2012, 07:36

The man who gave the world the first modern laptop with a foldable design has died.

Bill Moggridge, a British industrial designer came up with an early portable computer with the flip-open model that is common today. He was 69 and had been fighting cancer.

According to the BBC, Moggridge designed the Grid Compass, a computer with a keyboard and a yellow-on-black display.

You could pick one up for £5,091 in 1982. The device was encased in magnesium, and it was used by the US military. It was also aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1985.

Grid Systems Corp won the patent because it had a clamshell design with a foldable screen hinged toward the back of the machine.

Moggridge worked it out when he realised the flat-panel screen, keyboard and circuitry could fit snugly together.

Before that, portable computers were huge and weighed more than 9kg.

Moggridge wrote the books Designing Interactions, which was published in 2006, and Designing Media, published in 2010.

http://news.techeye.net/hardware/bri...idge-signs-off

11th September 2012, 07:36	#1
Stefan Mileschin [M] Reviewer Join Date: May 2010 Location: Romania Posts: 148,462	British laptop designer, Bill Moggridge, signs off The man who gave the world the first modern laptop with a foldable design has died. Bill Moggridge, a British industrial designer came up with an early portable computer with the flip-open model that is common today. He was 69 and had been fighting cancer. According to the BBC, Moggridge designed the Grid Compass, a computer with a keyboard and a yellow-on-black display. You could pick one up for £5,091 in 1982. The device was encased in magnesium, and it was used by the US military. It was also aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1985. Grid Systems Corp won the patent because it had a clamshell design with a foldable screen hinged toward the back of the machine. Moggridge worked it out when he realised the flat-panel screen, keyboard and circuitry could fit snugly together. Before that, portable computers were huge and weighed more than 9kg. Moggridge wrote the books Designing Interactions, which was published in 2006, and Designing Media, published in 2010. http://news.techeye.net/hardware/bri...idge-signs-off

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