Consumer demand for laptops was growing dramatically in the late 90s, but some were becoming tired of lugging around a large, heavy computer. In 1998 Microsoft hatched a plan to help drive inexpensive, lightweight notebooks and Sharp delivered quite a unique model.

Sources:
"Jupiter enters PC orbit," InfoWorld, January 12, 1998.
HP 360LX photo: https://www.cnvintage.org/d/236winc...
Sharp HC4600 photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blakesp...
NEC palmtop photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handhel...
Vadem Clio photo: https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/o...
"Sharp Mobilon TriPad and Vadem Clio," PC Magazine, December 1, 1998.
"Vadem Clio," Maximum PC, March 1999.
"Three Looks, One Notebook," Popular Science, January 1999.
"Lag in apps holds back sexy Clio," InfoWorld, November 9, 1998.
"IBM's Winning Jupiter H/PC," PC Magazine, June 8, 1999.
IBM WorkPad Z50 photos: https://www.sohu.com/a/336499835_1201...
"Smaller Isn't Better for Some Handheld Users," Computerworld, August 2, 1999.

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