Eat up Martha/the iPad's grandfather.

[Tupin]

No, the iPhone/iPad is not Apple's first venture into the world of handheld PDA type devices, as one came out in the early 90's, under the name Newton.



The original MessagePad was not well received. The main complaint, besides the battery life, was the handwriting recognition. The early versions of NewtonOS used a very unique type of handwriting recognition software that actually adapted to a user's handwriting, and it actually could understand cursive. Sometimes it didn't work, as evidenced in several Doonesbury comics and this infamous clip from The Simpsons, which inspired this thread title:

Later versions of the MessagePad had better handwriting recognition, and especially NewtonOS 2.0. Apple's PR however, could not recover. Late in the Newton's life, they put it in what looks like a prototype for the iBook G3 case and added a keyboard before selling it to educational markets as the eMate:



Released in 1997, it was short-lived and when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, the Newton was one of the first things he cut.

The Newton was quite ahead of its time. It could send and receive email and faxes, connect wirelessly to computers and other Newtons, connect to the Internet, and dial phone numbers.

I got a MessagePad 110 today, in the box and everything. The handwriting recognition is very good, and I actually think I'll be able to get real use out of this, even though it's the size of a VHS tape. I also may get an eMate just because it looks cool and runs a higher OS, plus they are even cheaper than my MessagePad.

But yes, this is what Apple did without Steve Jobs. A great concept, ruined by a horribly run company.

[SkyMyl]

And once again, Tuppy enlightens NSF on Apple's rather untapped past. Without him, how many of us would know about such a device similar, yet distant to the iPad.

[Dog Food]

That is actually... really, really interesting.

Just think about the different technology we would have nowadays had they done things differently. Instead of the iPod, we'd be having upgraded versions of the Newton.

[Tupin]

That is actually... really, really interesting.

Just think about the different technology we would have nowadays had they done things differently. Instead of the iPod, we'd be having upgraded versions of the Newton.

Most of these problems came from the absolute complete dominance of 486 and later Wintel machines. Didn't help that the MacOS was used by other companies who cloned the Macs, and that they invested in products not ready for the marketplace, such as the Newton and Pippin.

Speaking of the Pippin. Very rare beast, but essentially a consolized PowerPC G3. Apple barely ended up being involved, would have killed them for sure, it almost bankrupted Bandai. Had a few Macintosh ports, but at $600, even saying it was a cheap PC was too much. Hard to find, did not sell well, but sold better in Japan. One on eBay right now for $200 complete, but over $100 shipping. Check out the awesome controller, I had a chance to use one of them, it's not as bad as it looks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bandai-Pippin-atmark-box-Japan-Good-cond-/220636326418?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335ef32a12

What was Steve Jobs doing at this time? Running his own awesome computer company that made workstations, developed one of the first Internet browsers, and created an operating system that would eventually be used as a springboard to make OSX. Yep, saying Apple made a mistake in 1986 is an understatement.

[Tupin]

Okay, I got an eMate. Pretty cool little device that I think I'll be able to get real use out of, it's a good word processor. Only thing that's bad about it is the lack of USB or even DB9 serial.

[Rayquarian]

That's interesting.  How come it was well-known enough to be referenced in the Simpsons, yet I've never heard of it?