[inforoots] RE: the ' Who first said "laptop"? ' thread...

[John C Green Jr]

news at computercollector.com (Evan Koblentz) wrote:

>Another question is "What was the first device actually advertised as a
>laptop?"  Sellam says he believes it's the Toshiba T1100 (pardon if I'm
>misquoting you, Sellam) -- but I think the really answer is "It doesn't
>matter!"  Why not?  Because as Gavilan / Grid / Sharp illustrated with their
>clamshells by other names, what matters is the innovation, not the branding.
>(That's why I get so steamed when people claim the Apple Newton was the
>"first" PDA, since they ignore that handheld electronic organizers existed
>in 1978!)

True!  When roller coasters were first** invented they were called:

     Switchback Railroads
     Switchback Railways
     Scenic Railroads
     Scenic Railways
     Giant Dippers
     Big Dippers
     Roller coasters

It's the innovation, not the branding, that mattered.

** Actually when roller coasters were re-invented in the 1880s by
people who were unaware that they'd been invented 150 years before
in the 1730s in St Petersburg Russia.  The first time around they
were called Russian Hills.  Today the generic term for Rollercoaster
is Russian Hills in:

     Italian
     Spanish
     French
     http://photos.linternaute.com/photo/152401/3636743427/6/montagne_russe/
     Portuguese

I find it interesting that the Russian term for roller coaster is

     American Hills

The German term for roller coaster is:

     Achterbahn (or Figure-8 Railroad)
     http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achterbahn

Perhaps a Babbage competitor invented a mechanical laptop.  The Millionnaire
would fit on a lap.  :-)

Regards,
John Green