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Grid Compass: History, Measurement, Companies & Products

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.

Language: English [EN]
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Grid Compass topic overview

The analysis highlights History, Measurement, Companies and Products as prominent areas in the source structure around Grid Compass.

Related topics
32
Source areas
3
Connected nodes
35
Extracted relationships
62
Concept neighborhoods
12
Bridge connections
35

What this topic covers Research coverage

Source areas are shown by the number of related topics found in each part of the analysis. Use smaller areas too: they can reveal specialized angles and content gaps.

Overview · 16 topics
History · 10 topics
Models · 6 topics

Smaller areas are not necessarily less important. They contain fewer connections in this analysis and can be useful for finding specialized angles or coverage gaps.

Key facts & relationships

High-confidence facts extracted from structured source data. Use them as anchors for further research.

Connectivity
19-pin "serial", Telephone line+Audio 1,200 bit/s modem, GPIB
CPU
Intel 8086
Developer
Bill Moggridge
Display
320 × 240
Introductory price
US$8,150 (equivalent to $27,190 in 2025)
Manufacturer
GRiD Systems Corp.

Explore all related topics Closing gaps

Browse the complete topic structure, not only the most central items. Less prominent entities and concepts can reveal missing angles, specialized context and useful research gaps. Each item opens a new analysis centered on that subject.

Overview

History

Models

Advanced semantic analysis

Deeper signals for content research, entity SEO and topical coverage. The plain-language headings explain what each technical view is useful for.

How Grid Compass connects Entity context

The extracted context around Grid Compass shows recurring relationship patterns in the source. For example, Grid Compass → April, Clare, Compass, Cool Old Junk, Cooper-Hewitt, GRiD CompassVideo, GRiDs, NASA Shuttle, National Design Museum, Net, Nov, October, Retrieved, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, Space, SPOC, TotalInfoWorld Aug, Vintage Laptop Museum Another extracted example is Grid Compass → Along, Compass, Development, Dynabook, Gavilan SC, GRiD Systems Corporation, NASA, SAIC, Sharp PC-5000, Space Shuttle, Special Forces, TEMPEST-compliant, The, The National Security Agency, Xerox PARC. Use these groups to spot repeated connection types before inspecting the individual relationships.

Grid Compass

Top relations

related to External links · 18
Grid Compass → April, Clare, Compass, Cool Old Junk, Cooper-Hewitt, GRiD CompassVideo, GRiDs, NASA Shuttle, National Design Museum, Net, Nov, October, Retrieved, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, Space, SPOC, TotalInfoWorld Aug, Vintage Laptop Museum
related to history · 15
Grid Compass → Along, Compass, Development, Dynabook, Gavilan SC, GRiD Systems Corporation, NASA, SAIC, Sharp PC-5000, Space Shuttle, Special Forces, TEMPEST-compliant, The, The National Security Agency, Xerox PARC
related to Models · 14
Grid Compass → Compasses, Customers, Grid, Grid Central, Grid Server, GRiD-OS, IBM, IBM PCs, Its, MS-DOS, PC, The Compass, The Server, US
Connectivity · 1
Grid Compass → 19-pin "serial", Telephone line+Audio 1,200 bit/s modem, GPIB
CPU · 1
Grid Compass → Intel 8086
Developer · 1
Grid Compass → Bill Moggridge
Display · 1
Grid Compass → 320 × 240
Introductory price · 1
Grid Compass → US$8,150 (equivalent to $27,190 in 2025)
Manufacturer · 1
Grid Compass → GRiD Systems Corp.
Memory · 1
Grid Compass → 256 KB

Important terminology

Use these terms to understand the vocabulary surrounding the topic, not as a checklist for keyword stuffing.

Important terminology

compass grid design computer laptop 1982 model ii systems original released bill moggridge gridcase first battery external clamshell april operating

Grid Compass relationships Subject–Predicate–Object triples

TTTA extracted 62 structured relationships around Grid Compass. Examples in this analysis include Grid Compass → Connectivity → 19-pin "serial", Telephone line+Audio 1,200 bit/s modem, GPIB and Grid Compass → CPU → Intel 8086. The table shows each extracted connection, where it came from and its confidence.

SubjectPredicateObjectConfidenceSrc
Grid CompassConnectivity19-pin "serial", Telephone line+Audio 1,200 bit/s modem, GPIB1.00infobox
Grid CompassCPUIntel 80861.00infobox
Grid CompassDeveloperBill Moggridge1.00infobox
Grid CompassDisplay320 × 2401.00infobox
Grid CompassIntroductory priceUS$8,150 (equivalent to $27,190 in 2025)1.00infobox
Grid CompassManufacturerGRiD Systems Corp.1.00infobox
Grid CompassMemory256 KB1.00infobox
Grid CompassOperating systemCCOS (Compass Computer Operating System), optionally MS-DOS 21.00infobox
Grid CompassReleasedApril 1982 (1982-04)1.00infobox
Grid CompassStorage384 KB magnetic bubble1.00infobox
Grid CompassSuccessorGridCase 21.00infobox
Grid CompassTypeLaptop computer1.00infobox
Grid Compassis afamily of laptop computers introduced in 1982 by the Grid Systems Corporation0.90text

Related concept clusters Concept neighborhoods

The concept neighborhoods around Grid Compass bring nearby vocabulary together. In this analysis, examples include Grid, Systems and Design. Use the clusters to find adjacent concepts and terminology that may deserve separate research.

  • Grid Compass
    • Grid
    • Systems
    • Design
    • Laptop
    • Released
    • Computers
    • Corporation
    • External
    • Replaced
    • Sold
    • First
    • Museum
  • grid compass
    • Grid
    • Laptop
    • Systems
    • Design
    • Ii
    • Original
    • Model
    • Released
    • Computers
    • Corporation
    • External
    • Replaced
  • grid systems corporation
    • Corporation
    • Systems
    • Grid
    • Introduced
    • Computers
    • Design
    • External
    • Laptop
    • Models
    • Replaced
    • Bill
    • Moggridge
  • laptop computers
    • Corporation
    • Introduced
    • Laptop
    • April
    • Released
    • Design
    • Systems
    • Computer
    • Grid
    • Clamshell
    • Gpib
    • Gridcase
  • portable computer
    • Sold
    • Modem
    • Portable
    • Operating
    • System
    • Laptop
    • Gpib
    • Gridcase
    • Line
    • April
    • First
    • Moggridge
  • bill moggridge
    • Moggridge
    • Design
    • External
    • Models
    • Ii
    • Systems
    • Compass
    • Computer
    • Grid
  • gridcase
    • Line
    • Gpib
    • Modem
    • Replaced
    • April
    • Operating
    • System
    • Released
    • Laptop
  • clamshell
    • Portable
    • Computer
    • First
    • Original
    • Design
    • Laptop
    • Compass

Connections between topic areas Semantic bridges

For Grid Compass, one of the stronger structural bridges in this analysis connects Grid Compass with Overview. Bridges highlight paths between different parts of the map and can reveal research angles that are easy to miss in a flat list.

Min side: 3
Grid Compass — Overview · splits 19 ⟂ 17
Grid Compass — History · splits 25 ⟂ 11
Grid Compass — Models · splits 29 ⟂ 7

Map overview Semantic statistics

Grid Compass

Nodes36
Edges35
Triples62
Avg. degree1.94
Density0.055556
Components1

Source & methodology

TTTA analyzes the structure around Grid Compass to surface related topics, entities, relationships, concept neighborhoods and bridge connections. Use the map to explore areas such as History, Measurement, Companies & Products, including less central topics that may reveal useful research gaps. Automatically extracted connections are research leads rather than rewritten encyclopedia content.

Source: Wikipedia — Grid Compass · EN edition · Analysis: TopicsToTalkAbout

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