The Macintosh Portable Computer was released by Apple Computer in September 1989. The 15.8 pound computer was Apple's first attempt at a battery powered laptop. It was large, heavy and rife with problems. PC Magazine rated it 17 on the top 100 worst tech devices ever created. Despite these shortcomings the Macintosh Portable did take one voyage a bit beyond its design specifications. The laptop went into space aboard the Space Shuttle. It was in the environment of weightlessness that some unexpected problems were discovered.
The first problem was with the trackball. It was quite easy for it to float away. At the time, trackballs were not integrated into many computers, and the Macintosh Portable had a full sized one included. The other problem was the floppy eject system. The Macintosh computer's floppy disk drive did not have a button to push. Instead you had to drag the disk icon to the trash, and the computer would automatically eject it. In outer space, the unexpected effect is that the disk does not stop... and floats away on the eject trajectory.
These lessons learned were incorporated into future laptop designs.
-Professor Walter
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