This is cool - I love that it has a ribbon cable to plug the fold down keyboard in
The aim of the device is to absorb electronically the reporter’s original story, retain it in a computer, and eliminate all the retypings that now occur as a piece of writing makes its way from reporters through bureaus to the home offices to the desks of editors & eventually to linotype machines.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1975/02/10/the-p-1800 (paywall)
Late reply, but reading the WP article, I don’t think we would really call this a “computer” these days (or even by 70’s standards), but more of a smart terminal. One might also call it a kind of advanced typewriter that was able to connect to a mainframe in order to upload a single article. Not disputing the section you pasted, but moreso adding on.
Am I nitpicking terms here? Possibly, but actual portable computers were introduced around these same years, and obviously were a historic advance.
The first commercially sold portable computer might be the 20-pound (9.1 kg) MCM/70, released 1974. The next major portables were the 50-pound (23 kg) IBM 5100 (1975)…
Yeah another term for this could be a word processor (like the old school ones that were kinda smart typewriters with floppy disks on the side).
But instead of outputting through built-in printer, it spits out the output to a minicomputer (I’m assuming at the time).
“Word processor” is a good term. Specifically, these were made so that reporters could quickly work up articles from on-site news locales, then send them in to the newspaper office.
Holy shit dude that’s AWESOME. Its a really beautiful color. And that ribbon cable is super neat
As easy and practical as carrying around a toilet bowl around with ya!
![[Thread] Teleram P-1800 // portable computer (US, 1974)](https://files.catbox.moe/qtagql.jpg){kind=link}