In 1981, Rod Canion had to make a decision, and fast. He could either continue at his day job, plugging away for the next two years on a project he knew ultimately wouldn't succeed in the current ...

Ready for an underdog story? In the early 1980s, personal computing was a winner-take-all industry, and IBM was king — to the point where Intel gave Big Blue early access to its newest processors. And ...

In 1981, the first personal computer desktop was launched by IBM. However, the IBM PC had some limitations, such as the lack of a hard drive and too few expansion ports. 40 years ago today, on March 8 ...

The Compaq Portable III hails from the 386 era — in the days before the laptop form factor was what we know today. It’s got a bit of an odd design, but a compelling one, and the keyboard is pretty ...

January 1982 Former Texas Instruments manager Rod Canion comes up with the idea of a portable computer that runs all the programs that operate on the IBM PC without any modification. Canion, Jim ...

You don’t have to be a cattle driver to be a cowboy. “Silicon Cowboys” documents the rise and eventual demise of Compaq, a small Texas startup that took on IBM to become the largest computer company ...

Although we know the outcome, “Silicon Cowboys” feels like a suspense thriller. This documentary, directed by Berkeley’s Jason Cohen, recounts how Compaq took on behemoth IBM in a battle for ...

Makers of portable computers have spent the past 20-odd years striving to build systems that answer users' cries for "smaller, faster, cheaper." To a large extent, they have succeeded. One notable ...

(Let's hope I'm posting this in the appropriate forum)<P>I just purchased an old Compaq Portable III "Lunchbox" computer on Ebay. Here is the link to the actual item with pictures.<P>I have fond ...

Desktop Windows PCs have become boring commodity devices whose designers generally display as much ingenuity and boldness as politicians in an election year. If you think of George W. Bush and John ...