Time magazine just did a released little story called "Clamshell! The Story of the Greatest Computing Form Factor of All Time." It is about the laptop design that dominates the world of computing today. It tells the story of how Bill Moggridge came up with the design of the screen that folded over the keyboard back in the eighties at a company called GRiD Systems. The part that they miss, is that a patent search shows that 1982 patent number 280511 for the design of the "portable computer"actually has 4 inventors including Dave Paulson, Steve Hobson and, good friend of Digital Diner, Glenn Edens (Bill, Dave and Glenn were three of the four founders of GRiD). Bill Moggridge was the industrial designer behind this form factor, but I believe the other three deserve some credit as well. So it is with much joy that we recommend this little celebration of the clamshell design that we all know and love. Quirky, I know, but with the tablet computers comping on so hot and heavy, it is important to pay homage to the design that has served us so well.
Read the story at Time Magazine
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