The Senior Partner (stylized as the Sr. Partner) is an IBM PC-compatible

portable computer A portable computer is a computer designed to be easily moved from one place to another, as opposed to those designed to remain stationary at a single location such as desktops and workstations. These computers usually include a display a ...

that was introduced by the

Panasonic Corporation is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and changed its name to in 2008. In 20 ...

in 1984. Weighing roughly in its base configuration, the computer came equipped with a

cathode-ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, a ...

display and a built-in

thermal printer Thermal printing (or direct thermal printing) is a digital printing process which produces a printed image by passing paper with a thermochromic coating, commonly known as thermal paper, over a print head consisting of tiny electrically hea ...

Specifications

In its stock configuration, the Senior Partner weighs and measures . Its monochrome, green-

phosphor A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or ...

display measures nine inches diagonally and supports the CGA video mode for IBM PCs and compatibles, displaying text at up to 80 columns by 25 rows and graphics up to 640 by 200 pixels. The Senior Partner runs an

Intel 8088 The Intel 8088 ("''eighty-eighty-eight''", also called iAPX 88) microprocessor is a variant of the Intel 8086. Introduced on June 1, 1979, the 8088 has an eight-bit external data bus instead of the 16-bit bus of the 8086. The 16-bit registers ...

microprocessor clocked at the IBM-PC-standard 4.77 MHz. A slot for an aftermarket

8087 The Intel 8087, announced in 1980, was the first floating-point coprocessor for the 8086 line of microprocessors. The purpose of the chip was to speed up floating-point arithmetic operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, di ...

floating-point co-processor is included on the motherboard. The computer's base configuration is equipped with 128 KB of

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

, expandable to 256 KB via a proprietary plug-in expansion board. At the rear of the system unit is an RS-232

serial port A serial port is a serial communication Interface (computing), interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in Pa ...

, a Centronics-style parallel port (in a deviation from the IBM-PC-standard

DB-25 The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems. Description, ...

parallel connector), and an RGBI port. Panasonic offered three models of the Senior Partner: one with one 5.25-inch floppy drive; another with two such drives; and the last with one 5.25-inch floppy drive and one 10 MB

hard drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

. Panasonic dubbed the lattermost model the Super Senior Partner. The company supplied all units with

MS-DOS 2.11 MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few oper ...

, as well as a bundle of application software including

GW-BASIC GW-BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language developed by Microsoft from IBM BASICA. Functionally identical to BASICA, its BASIC interpreter is a fully self-contained executable and does not need the Cassette BASIC ROM found in the ori ...

WordStar WordStar is a discontinued word processor application for microcomputers. It was published by MicroPro International and originally written for the CP/M-80 operating system (OS), with later editions added for MS-DOS and other 16-bit computing, ...

VisiCalc VisiCalc ("visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp on October 17, 1979. It is considered the killer application for the Apple II, turning the microco ...

, pfs:File, pfs:Graph, and pfs:Report. The Senior Partner features a built-in

capable of operating at up to 55 cps. The printer can feed out up to 80 inches of paper before jamming due to lacking a tractor-feed mechanism. It can print up to 132 columns of text per row.

Development and release

Panasonic announced the Senior Partner in November 1983 and began delivering units to customers in March 1984. The hard drive–based Super Senior Partner was unveiled in May 1984, to be available in August that year. Despite being manufactured in Japan, Panasonic did not sell the computer domestically and instead only sold the computer in North America. By April 1984, Panasonic secured nearly 500 nationwide dealers in the United States to sell the Senior Partner. Panasonic commissioned a name-creation company to conjure the Senior Partner name; the final trademark was selected from a pool of 400 candidates.

Reception

The Senior Partner received largely positive reviews from the technology press, although some criticism was reserved for the printer's output. For example, Russ Lockwood in ''

Creative Computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format t ...

'' wrote that, although operating at a very quiet noise level and producing overall good-quality prints, "letters with slanted and curved lines are not as sharp as they could be. Lockwood called the Senior Partner very heavy: "You will either develop bulging biceps or suffer a separated shoulder if you lug it about more than occasionally", albeit "Panasonic attaches a well-padded handle to ease the burden of carrying it". In the end, he called it a "fine machine with many extras—including a built printer—at a very competitive price". In July 1985, Panasonic released the Executive Partner, the successor to the Senior Partner that also features a built-in printer. The Executive Partner replaces the Senior Partner's CRT display for a gas-plasma one and adds the ability to use loose-leaf paper in its printer with the purchase of an ink-ribbon print head.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em, refs= {{cite journal , last=Lockwood , first=Russ , date=December 1984 , url=https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1984-12/page/n55/ , title=Panasonic Sr. Partner , journal=Creative Computing , publisher=Ahl Computing , volume=10 , issue=12 , pages=52–59 , via=the Internet Archive {{cite journal , last=Maney , first=Kevin , date=July 21, 1985 , url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116127507/2000-can-go-a-long-way-in-todays-mark/ , title=$2,000 can go a long way in today's market , journal=The Daily Times , location=Mamaroneck, New York , page=H1
H2
, via=Newspapers.com {{cite journal , last=Levine , first=Martin , date=December 30, 1985 , url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116127585/yes-the-japanese-are-thinking-pc/ , title=Yes, the Japanese Are Thinking PC , journal=Newsday , page=103 , via=Newspapers.com {{cite journal , last=Pollack , first=Andrew , date=November 29, 1983 , url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/424806416 , title=Panasonic Introduces Computer , journal=The New York Times , page=D17 , id={{ProQuest, 424806416 {{cite journal , last=Ferguson , first=K. , date=March 26, 1984 , url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A549589/GPS?sid=wikipedia , title=Panasonic Begins Deliveries of Senior Partner Portable System , journal=Computer Retail News , publisher=UBM LLC , pages=18–19 , via=Gale {{cite journal , last=Staff writer , date=July 8, 1985 , url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A652836/GPS?sid=wikipedia , title=Panasonic Links New PC through Partner Name , journal=Computer & Software News , publisher=Lebhar-Friedman , volume=3 , issue=27 , page=2 , via=Gale Computer-related introductions in 1984 IBM PC compatibles

Senior Partner A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations m ...

Portable computers X86-based computers