INDIANAPOLIS — Working men walking the streets of downtown Indianapolis were frequently seen clutching briefcases of all kinds in the mid-1980s.
It was a trend that caught the eye of WRTV consumer reporter Barbara Boyd, who set out to find out what those businessmen were lugging around.
Boyd got answers from syndicated travel columnist Christopher Lofting who said the briefcases often contained cutting-edge technology for the traveling businessman.
“If you’re going to be on any kind of an extended trip, a small personal computer such as the Hewlett-Packard 110 is a must for the business traveler,” Lofting said. “It is your travel agent, the way you get your electronic mail, you transmit your letters that you’ve done on the road back home again.”
While the HP-110 weighed about eight pounds, other devices were as light as air.
“In addition to handheld computers, we have air pagers now that not only give you the phone number but also give you the message,” Lofting said.
Perhaps the most interesting technology Lofting identified as a must-have was the McCormack World-Walker 1, a talking translator that you could take the go.
“In the next few years, no business traveler is going to be able to go anywhere unless he can carry his office with him,” Lofting said.
