IBM laptop computer, 1987-1988.

Laptop computer, model 5140, sometimes known as a PC convertible, made by IBM, New York, USA, shown here with user manuals. The IBM Personal Computer System was introduced to the market in early 1981, at a time when IBM was the world's largest mainframe computer manufacturer. Such was IBM's reputation that 200,000 of the PCs were sold in the first year. As a result it set a standard by which every other computer company was to be measured. The microcomputer market had grown from its beginnings in the kit building hobby market to a potential billion-dollar industry.