Andrew Kay, the designer of an early portable computer, the Kaypro II, that became a smash hit in the early 1980s before his company fell into bankruptcy in the 1990s as the computer industry leapfrogged ahead of him, died on Aug. 28 in Vista, California. He was 95.
His death was confirmed by his son, Allan.
For a time, Kay’s company, Kaypro, was the world’s largest portable-computer maker, ranked fourth in the PC industry overall behind IBM, Apple Computer and RadioShack.
Early on, the Kaypro II developed a loyal following. Arthur C. Clarke used a Kaypro to write his novel 2010: Odyssey Two; Stephen Case, who would become chief executive of America Online, bought one as his first computer, adding a 300-baud modem to explore the fledgling online world.
“The Kaypro computer was a necessary step in getting to the iPad,” Paul Freiberger, co-author of Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer, said in an interview on Friday. “Back then few thought of making a computer you could carry around. It was loved because he got almost everything right.”
The Kaypro II burst onto the scene in 1982 at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. The hobbyist phase of the industry was just ending and although IBM had entered the personal computer market the previous year, portable computers were still a novelty.
The 1981 exposition was dominated by Adam Osborne’s trailblazing Osborne I computer, which weighed 10.9kg, had a 5-inch display and came with a handful of programs for what was then a breakthrough price: US$1,795.
The next year Kay’s boxy computer appeared at the same event, downstairs in a tiny booth in what was normally an underground parking garage. The Kaypro II generated a great deal of enthusiasm by surpassing many of the Osborne’s features.
Both machines were described as “luggables” and were the size of portable sewing machines. However, the Kaypro’s case was rugged metal, in contrast to the Osborne’s plastic shell, and it had a 9-inch cathode ray tube display. It weighed 13.15kg and, like the Osborne I, sold for US$1,795.
Later that year, Kay’s fledgling company benefited when Osborne announced plans for a new model, effectively killing sales of the firm’s existing machine. This failure of business strategy became famously known as the “Osborne effect.” By the end of 1983, Osborne’s company was bankrupt.
Neither the Osborne I nor the Kaypro II initially ran the MS-DOS operating system, which would ultimately be an Achilles heel as the software world catalyzed around the IBM PC and the software platform Microsoft had developed for it.
Kay came to the personal computer industry when he observed that his son-in-law was having trouble moving a bulky Apple II that came with a separate monitor. It occurred to him that an all-in-one machine would be more portable. At the time, Kay owned a small company that made electronics test equipment for the aerospace industry in Southern California.
The idea for a portable computer arrived just in the nick of time. His firm, Non-Linear Systems, had originally grown on the strength of the military and space industries. However, after the Apollo space program ended in the early 1970s, the company foundered and lost money for a number of years.
Kaypro’s revenue exceeded US$120 million in 1985. However, the company never successfully made the transition to the IBM-compatible world. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1990 and Kay, putting up US$250,000 of his family’s money, said: “We’ll build up our independent dealer base and do it again.”
However, Kaypro was not able to emerge from bankruptcy and its assets were liquidated in 1992.
Andrew Francis Kopischiansky was born on Jan. 22, 1919, in Akron, Ohio, and received an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940.
After moving to California in 1949, he went to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he was involved in the Redstone rocket development program.
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS