John Ellenby, a British-born computer engineer who played a critical role in paving the way for the laptop computer, died on Aug. 17 in San Francisco. He was 75.
The laptops you use today are based on the pioneering work John Ellenby did in 1980s.
In fact, in the tech community, he is known as the Godfather of laptops.
His son Thomas confirmed the death but said the cause had not been determined.
Ellenby workwith laptops started when he founded Grid Systems, a company in Mountain View, Calif.
As chief executive, he assembled an engineering and design team that included the noted British-born industrial designer William Moggridge.
The team together produced a clamshell computer which was to be the predecessor of today’s laptops that we use.