This is known as the Osborne Effect, named after Adam Osborne, the prolific inventor, entrepreneur and writer, and founder of the eponymous Osborne Computer Corporation. In 1981, Osborne introduced a machine that was, in effect, the first commercially available portable computer, the Osborne 1:
such as the redoubtable Robert X Cringely, contend Osborne wasn't osborned, but merely outcompeted. I was at Apple in Cupertino at the time, and have a clear recollection of our collective gasp of surprise when Adam Osborne started touting the unavailable products that killed the Osborne 1 revenue.
