![]() ![]() Today’s touchscreen mobile devices have an almost endless supply ready-made software and content primed for consumption and delivered through ubiquitous wireless networking (both Wi-Fi and cellular) over a global computer network. With the success of the iPad, we can now see that the key to Newton’s lackluster performance lay in its disconnectedness. This almost magical feature captivated the media, which had no problem touting it as the future of computing. ![]() Chief among these capabilities was handwriting recognition, touted as almost flawless by Apple PR. Over a year prior to the MessagePad’s August 1993 launch date,Īpple CEO John Sculley gushed over Apple’s vision of PDA technology in several public appearances and in the Apple sold 1MB, 2MB, or 4MB PCMCIA flash cards (which plugged into the MessagePad’s single PCMCIA slot) for a more robust solution. User space was limited too: The MessagePad provided only about 140KB of user storage in battery-backed RAM. Users could also load up additional programs by linking the MessagePad to a Mac, although that functionality was limited at launch. Alex Pappajohn Newton MessagePad 2100įor application software, the MessagePad shipped with several basic organizer and productivity applications built into ROM. By writing on the screen, users could ask the Assistant to perform many systemwide functions with natural-language commands, including printing documents, sending faxes, and making appointments. Newton Assistant, which served as a text-based precursor to the iPhone’s Siri. In hindsight, one of the most prescient features of that OS was the This distinction makes sense when you consider that Apple licensed the Newton OS to other companies that produced their own hardware. It’s worth taking a moment to explain the difference in terminology between Newton, which was the broad name for touchscreen mobile technology (and the associated operating system), and the MessagePad, which was Apple’s hardware implementation of the Newton technology. ![]()
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