Re: Bus wi-fi

Charlie Hulme <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Tony Polson wrote:
Stimpy <stimpy1997uk@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:28:05 +0000, Charlie Hulme wrote
Stimpy wrote:
On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:30:57 +0000, Roland Perry wrote
It was a bit like that in the early days of portable computers. Some
people still insisted on using the term "Laptop" when the units weighed
ten pounds and were the size of a briefcase.

The Osborne1 could just be perched on ones lap - that made it a laptop!

Odd how the term 'laptop' evolved from 'desktop' which was originally
a term for what was on the Windows screen, not the size of the machine.
Did it??

I too was surprised to read Charlie's declaration. To me, "desktop"
simply describes something that sits on your desk, and laptop
something that sits on your lap.

It does now, yes, but was it commonly seen as such before GUI interfaces
came along? Would you have referred to a 'desktop' typewriter,
lamp, blotter, pencil sharpener ...?

OK, the OED finds some examples from the 1960s, mostly in the form
'desk top' or 'desk-top' and adds 'my' meaning in its 1997 update.


I was thinking of "desk top" in the same sense as "work top"
(kitchens) and "counter top" (shops). Those usages were around long
before the dawn of the IBM PC in the early 80s.

My grandfather's rather luxurious desk was made of walnut with an
inlaid leather "desk top". I think it was originally made for a ship.
He acquired it in the 1960s.

There were also items called "desk tops" that could be bought in
stationers. They variously might include a blotter, an inkwell and a
stand and/or tray for pens and pencils, often contained in a leather
or imitation leather-covered frame which was placed on the top of the
desk.


.

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