more on Adam Osborne RIP

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Denise Caruso <denise () caruso com>
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 23:09:55 -0500
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Adam Osborne RIP

Wow. Sad. My very first job in technology was as an editor for
Osborne Computer Corp.'s user magazine, which is where I met Lee and
a really truly remarkably eclectic cast of characters.

I hope Markoff writes the obit. Whatever anyone may have thought of
him as a human being, Adam was seminal to the PC industry in a whole
lot of ways. That column he wrote before he started the company was
catalytic, and remember that interminable lawsuit between him and
Lotus (it was Lotus, wasn't it?) about the legal right to make a
compatible spreadsheet? Ahead of its time, IP-wise, beyond the
obvious PR value. A fool's quest but still and all.

I certainly owe him my career -- it was Osborne's going bankrupt that
thrust me into the arms of Infoworld, where Markoff and Paul
Freiberger and Michael Swaine had just stalked off the job in protest
of Stewart Alsop's arrival as editor. After I wrote the news stories
about the company's demise, I got to take over Markoff's desk, which
I think explains everything about my subsequent career. :)

Anyhow. Just thought I'd share my flashback.

Denise

> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: Lee Felsenstein <lee () nerditude com>
> Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2003 15:39:36 -0800
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Adam Osborne RIP
>
> I have just been interviewed with a reporter from Reuters for an obituary
> of Adam Osborne, who apparently died recently in southern India. Adam had
> suffered a series of strokes several years ago which no doubt diminished
> his capacity to present a flamboyant image. I had not had contact with him
> for at least 10 years. Adam, Jack Melchor and I were the founders of
> Osborne Computer Corporation in 1981. I was the deisgner of the Osborne-1
> and the first VP Engineering.
>
> No reference turns up on Google so far reporting his death.
> Lee Felsenstein             Golemics, Inc.       "Take the obvious...
> 2460 Park Blvd. #1         (650)814-0427         and simplify it!"
> Palo Alto, CA 94306       fax: (650)322-2881
>
>
> ------ End of Forwarded Message
>
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