Laptop Computer — Questions and answers

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What was a challenge when trying to move computer information from one place to another in the early 1980s?

Choices

  1. A. People had to shout the information across rooms.
  2. B. The information was too secret to share.
  3. C. Data had to be carried on things like floppy disks, which could be slow or get damaged. ✓
  4. D. There were too many computers in one office.

Answer: C. Data had to be carried on things like floppy disks, which could be slow or get damaged.

From page 2

What was Adam Osborne's main idea for a new kind of computer?

Choices

  1. A. To make computers that could fly.
  2. B. To make computers that were very, very small, like a button.
  3. C. To put all the important parts of a computer (like the screen and keyboard) into one strong box that you could carry. ✓
  4. D. To make computers that only worked with separate parts.

Answer: C. To put all the important parts of a computer (like the screen and keyboard) into one strong box that you could carry.

From page 3

What was one of the big problems engineers faced when trying to make a portable computer in the 1980s?

Choices

  1. A. Making computers that were too quiet.
  2. B. Finding enough colorful stickers for the computer.
  3. C. The parts like screens and floppy drives were very big and heavy. ✓
  4. D. Deciding what color the computer should be.

Answer: C. The parts like screens and floppy drives were very big and heavy.

From page 4

What was special about how the Osborne 1 computer was made?

Choices

  1. A. It used brand new inventions for all its parts.
  2. B. It was designed to be carried in a tiny pocket.
  3. C. It put together parts that already existed into one portable, affordable computer. ✓
  4. D. It only had a keyboard and no screen.

Answer: C. It put together parts that already existed into one portable, affordable computer.

From page 5

What big change helped computers become truly 'portable' like today's laptops?

Choices

  1. A. Adding more buttons to the keyboard.
  2. B. Making screens much flatter and lighter, like LCDs, instead of big CRT monitors. ✓
  3. C. Painting the computers in different colors.
  4. D. Making them only able to do one thing.

Answer: B. Making screens much flatter and lighter, like LCDs, instead of big CRT monitors.

From page 9