Grid Compass

Astronaut John Creighton posing with a Grid Compass aboard a Space Shuttle Discovery mission in 1985.
Developer	Bill Moggridge[1]
Manufacturer	GRiD Systems Corp.
Type	Laptop computer
Release date	April 1982 (1982-04)
Introductory price	US$8,150 (equivalent to $25,730 in 2023)[2]
Operating system	CCOS (Compass Computer Operating System), optionally MS-DOS 2
CPU	Intel 8086
Memory	256 KB[3]
Storage	384 KB magnetic bubble[3][4]
Display	320 × 240
Connectivity	19-pin "serial", Telephone line+Audio 1,200 bit/s modem, GPIB[4]
Successor	GridCase 2

The Grid Compass is a family of laptop computers 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.^[5]

This original model of Compass lacked an internal battery compartment, requiring AC power from the wall.^[5] Grid sold the succeeding model, the Compass II, in 1984 with an optional external battery unit.^[6]: 91 Grid replaced the Compass with the GridCase line in 1985.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.

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.

The Compass ran its own operating system, GRiD-OS. Its specialized software and high price (US$8,000–$10,000) meant that it was limited to specialized applications.

The initial model, the 1101, was introduced in April 1982;^[3] The 1100 model designation were never released commercially, but featured in some pre-release marketing material.^[9][10] The computer was designed by British industrial designer Bill Moggridge.

The design used a clamshell case (where the screen folds flat to the rest of the computer when closed), which was made from a magnesium alloy. The computer featured an Intel 8086 processor, a 320 × 240-pixel electroluminescent display, 340-kilobyte magnetic bubble memory, and a 1200 bit/s modem. Devices such as hard drives and floppy drives could be connected via the IEEE-488 I/O (also known as GPIB or General Purpose Interface Bus). This port made it possible to connect multiple devices to the addressable device bus. It weighed 5 kg (11 lb). The power input is ~110/220 V AC, 47–66 Hz, 75 W.

The Compass II was released in 1984; known as 1121, 1129, 1131 and 1139 models.

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to GRiD Compass.

• Clare, GRiDs in Space, Net magic, archived from the original on 2008-06-25
• GRiD Compass, old-computers.com
• Hrothgar, "GRiD Compass", Cool Old Junk, Total
• InfoWorld Aug 2, 1982
• InfoWorld Nov 8, 1982
• Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. "GRiD Compass". Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
• GRiD Compass 1100, 360 degree model, Vintage Laptop Museum, 5 April 2017
• Video about GRiD Compass
• Video about the SPOC program that was used on the NASA Shuttle