View source for Grid Compass

{{short description|Early laptop computer}}
{{For|the navigating instrument|Grid compass}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name         = Grid Compass
| logo         = 
| image        = GRiD Compass 1101 (1).jpg
| caption      = Grid Compass 1101, from 1982
| manufacturer = GRiD Systems Corp.
| developer    = [[Bill Moggridge]]<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18732295/ |title=GRiD Compass Laptop Computer Prototype, 1981 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=17 April 2021 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>
| carrier      = 
| family       = 
| type         = [[Laptop computer]]
| generation   = 
| releasedate  = {{Start date|1982|04}}
| lifespan     = 
| price        = {{USD|8150|1982|round=-1}}<ref name="ldom_com-407">{{cite web | title =World's first laptop. Osborne 1 GRiD Compass 1101 | url =http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/first407.html | accessdate =2009-05-19 | publisher =The Longest list of the longest stuff at the longest domain name at long last | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161203115447/http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/first407.html | archive-date =2016-12-03 | url-status =usurped }}</ref>
| discontinued = 
| unitssold    = 
| unitsshipped = 
| media        = 
| os           = CCOS (Compass Computer Operating System), optionally MS-DOS 2<!-- operating system -->
| power        = 
| cpu          = [[Intel 8086]]
| storage      = 384 [[kilobyte|KB]] {{nowrap|[[magnetic bubble memory|magnetic bubble]]}}<ref name=oldcomputers>{{cite web|title=GRiD Compass 1101|url=http://oldcomputers.net/grid1101.html|publisher=oldcomputers.net}}</ref><!-- secondary storage or RAM?--><ref name="classiccmp_org-index00">{{cite web| author =Dave | title = Old computers |<!-- Comment out to disable "chapter" warning: |contribution = PC compatibles--> url=http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/pc/ | accessdate = 2009-05-19}}</ref>
| memory       = 256 [[kilobyte|KB]]<ref name=oldcomputers />
| display      = {{nowrap|320 × 240}}
| graphics     = 
| sound        = 
| input        = 
| controllers  = 
| output       = 
| connectivity = 19-pin "serial", Telephone line+Audio {{nowrap|1,200 bit/s [[modem]]}}, [[IEEE-488|GPIB]]<!--Check back picture, details still unclear however--><ref name="classiccmp_org-index00" />
| service      = <!-- online service/s offered -->
| dimensions   = 
| weight       = 
| predecessor  = 
| successor    = {{nowrap|[[GridCase]] 2}}
| related      =
| website      = }}

The '''Grid Compass''' is a family of [[laptop computer]]s introduced in 1982 by the [[Grid Systems Corporation]]. The design for the Compass was rendered by [[Bill Moggridge]]. Owing to its [[clamshell design]]—the first in a [[portable computer]]—some historians credit the original Compass as the first ever laptop.<ref name=mccracken />

This original model of Compass lacked an internal battery compartment, requiring [[AC power]] from the wall.<ref name=mccracken>{{cite web | last=McCracken | first=Harry | author-link=Harry McCracken | date=July 17, 2012 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/tech/innovation/clamshell-best-laptop-computing-form/index.html | title=Clamshell! The story of the best computing form factor ever | work=CNN.com | publisher=Time Inc. | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204033306/https://www.cnn.com/2012/07/17/tech/innovation/clamshell-best-laptop-computing-form/index.html | archivedate=December 4, 2022}}</ref> Grid sold the succeeding model, the Compass II, in 1984 with an optional external battery unit.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Foster | first=Edward | date=March 1985 | url=https://archive.org/details/personal-computing-march-1985/page/83/ | title='Lap' Portables: How Small Is Too Small | work=Personal Computing | publisher=Hayden Publishing | volume=9 | issue=3 | pages=82–97 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|91}} Grid replaced the Compass with the [[GridCase]] line in 1985.<ref name=casella>{{cite journal | last=Casella | first=Phil | date=June 16, 1986 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VC8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54 | title=Attractive Gridcase 2 Runs Well, Costs More | work=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=8 | issue=24 | pages=54–55 | via=Google Books}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:GRiDCompassInSpace.jpg|thumb|[[Astronaut]] [[John Oliver Creighton|John Creighton]] posing with a Grid Compass aboard a [[Space Shuttle Discovery]] [[STS-51-G|mission]] in 1985]]
Development of the Compass began in 1979, and the main buyer was the U.S. government. NASA used it on the Space Shuttle during the early 1980s, as it was powerful, lightweight, and compact. The military Special Forces also purchased the machine, as it could be used by paratroopers in combat.<ref>{{Cite web|last=didyouknowwebsite|date=2020-06-14|title=The Space Age Best Inventions We use Today|url=https://didyouknowwebsite.com/2020/06/14/the-space-age-best-inventions-we-use-today/|access-date=2020-06-14|website=Did You Know?|language=en-US}}</ref> The [[National Security Agency]] was reportedly interested in a [[Tempest (codename)|TEMPEST]]-compliant version produced by [[Leidos|SAIC]].{{r|byte198409}}

Along with the [[Gavilan SC]] and [[Sharp PC-5000]] released the following year, the GRiD Compass established much of the basic design of subsequent laptop computers, although the laptop concept itself owed much to the [[Dynabook]] project developed at [[Xerox PARC]] from the late 1960s. GRiD Systems Corporation subsequently earned significant returns on its [[patent rights]] as its innovations became commonplace.

=== Competitors ===

The portable [[Osborne 1]] computer sold at around the same time as the GRiD, was more affordable and more popular, and ran the popular [[CP/M]] operating system. But, unlike the Compass, the Osborne was not a laptop and lacked the Compass's refinement and small size.

== Models ==
The Compass runs its own operating system, GRiD-OS. Its specialized software and high price ({{US$|100000}}–{{US$|long=no|1000000}}) meant that it was limited to specialized applications.

Grid at first intended customers to purchase an [[IBM minicomputer]] as the "Grid Central" remote host, from which Grid Compass would download software. Customers were uninterested, and Grid replaced it with "Grid Server", hosting a [[local-area network]] of up to 48 Compasses and [[IBM PC]]s, and 10 remote systems. The Server would run both Grid and MS-DOS software, the company's first acknowledgement of [[PC compatibility]].<ref name="byte198409">{{Cite magazine |last=Markoff |first=John |last2=Shapiro |first2=Ezra |date=September 1984 |title=Cloak and Dagger |url=https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_09-10_1984-09_Computer_Graphics/page/n398/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2025-04-10 |department=BYTE West Coast |magazine=BYTE |pages=397-400}}</ref>

=== Compass ===
The initial model, the 1101, was introduced in April 1982;<ref name=oldcomputers /> The 1100 model designation were never released commercially, but featured in some pre-release marketing material.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-04-05|title=GRiD Compass|url=http://vintage-laptops.com/en/grid-compass/|access-date=2021-07-30|website=vintage-laptops.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQgoAQq7bP4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/OQgoAQq7bP4 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|contribution=Pioneering the Laptop&nbsp;– The GRiD Compass|publisher=Google}}{{cbignore}}.</ref> The computer was designed by [[United Kingdom|British]] [[industrial design]]er [[Bill Moggridge]].

==== Design ====

The [[Clamshell design|clamshell]] case (where the screen folds flat to the rest of the computer when closed) was made from a magnesium alloy. The computer features an [[Intel 8086]] [[central processing unit|processor]], a {{nowrap|320 × 240-pixel}} [[electroluminescent display]], 384-[[kilobyte]] [[magnetic bubble memory]], and a {{val|1200|ul=bit/s}} [[modem]]. Devices such as [[hard drive]]s and floppy drives can be connected via the [[IEEE-488]] I/O (also known as GPIB or General Purpose Interface Bus).  This port makes it possible to connect multiple devices to the addressable device bus. It weighs {{val|5|u=kg}} ({{val|11|u=lb}}). The power input is ~{{val|110|/|220|u=V}} AC, {{val|47|–|66|u=Hz}}, {{val|75|u=W}}.

=== Compass II ===
[[File:GRiD Compass II 1129.jpg|thumb|GRiD Compass II 1129]]
[[File:GRiD Compass II in communication station of VC-137B, closeup.jpg|thumb|GRiD Compass II onboard the [[VC-137]]]]
The Compass II was released in 1984; known as 1121, 1129, 1131 and 1139 models.
{{Expand section|date=July 2021}}

== References ==

{{refs}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|GRiD Compass}}

* {{Citation | url = http://www.netmagic.net/~clare/gis.html | title = GRiDs in Space | author = Clare | publisher = Net magic | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080625004757/http://www.netmagic.net/~clare/gis.html | archivedate = 2008-06-25 }}
* {{Citation | url = https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=900 | title = GRiD Compass | publisher = old-computers.com }}
* {{Citation | url = http://pages.total.net/~hrothgar/museum/Compass/ | title = GRiD Compass | author = Hrothgar | work = Cool Old Junk | publisher = Total}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=NjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24 InfoWorld Aug 2, 1982]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=EjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68 InfoWorld Nov 8, 1982]
* {{cite web |url=http://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18732295/ | title = GRiD Compass | author = Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum | accessdate = 10 October 2012 | publisher = Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum }}
* {{Citation | url = http://vintage-laptops.com/?page_id=46&lang=en | title = GRiD Compass 1100, 360 degree model | date = 5 April 2017 | publisher = Vintage Laptop Museum }}
* {{Citation | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5s2AHYsJmI | title = Video about GRiD Compass }}
* {{Citation | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGQS5AhZc14 | title = Video about the SPOC program that was used on the NASA Shuttle }}

{{GRiD}}

[[Category:Early laptops]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1982]]
[[Category:Grid Systems laptops]]