May 6, 2003— Computing pioneer Adam Osborne, 64, died March 18 in India.

He is credited with introducing the first portable computer, when he presented the Osborne 1 computer at the West Coast Computer Faire in June 1981. The 24-pound machine with a 5-inch display screen came with software that included a word processor, spreadsheet, database and programming languages.

One of the fastest growing computer companies at that time, Osborne Computer Corp. ended in bankruptcy after a second generation of the computer was announced months before it was ready to go on sale. His successes and failures became “one of the Silicon Valley’s great cautionary tales,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

Born in Thailand to British parents, Mr. Osborne grew up in India. He moved to England as a teenager and studied chemical engineering at Birmingham University. He received master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering at UD in 1966 and 1968, respectively.