Many regard Apple’s Newton PDA from 1993 as the company’s first foray into touchscreen computing. It turns out that the company had even greater ambitions — but the project met an unfortunate fate just at the last minute.
Sources:
Cupertino aerial footage by The Bureau (www.thebureau.co).”Apple Delivers a True Mac With Its Pricey Portable,” InfoWorld, October 23, 1989.Apple office photos courtesy Tom Gilley and Tom Erickson.”Apple, Toshiba plan multimedia PDAs,” InfoWorld, June 29, 1992.Compaq LTE 286 photo: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Laptop_Compaq.JPGToshiba J3100 photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toshiba_J-3100GT.jpgPair of Toshiba laptops photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toshiba_T1000SE_and_Toshiba_DynaBook_J-3100SS_20191208.jpgWilliam Shepherd with Mac Portable on Space Shuttle photo: images.nasa.gov/details/s41-04-035Apple Valley Green 6 photo: pwaec.com/commercial/apple-computer-valley-green-6Japan aerial footage courtesy Hosiden.”Getting to the point,” Computerworld, October 28, 1991.Alan Kay photo courtesy Viewpoints Research Institute.”A New Approach to Linear Filtering and Prediction Problems,” R. E. Kalman, courses.cs.duke.edu/compsci527/cps274/fall11/papers/Kalman60.pdfALCM footage courtesy the United States Air Force.Marc Porat and John Sculley photo: commoncog.com/c/cases/general-magic/“PDA Players Partner Up,” PC Magazine, March 30, 1993.Apple Newton “Cadillac” prototype photos: “Iconic” by Jonathan Zufi and www.flickr.com/photos/abeles/41532814601“Apple drops into electronics field with nebulous Newton,” InfoWorld, June 1, 1992.”Apple makes moves to squash Newton’s bugs,” Computerworld, September 13, 1993.”Newton: A Step toward the Future,” Macworld, August 1992.”The Macintosh Computer,” Computer Chronicles, season 2, episode 10.Larry Tesler photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Larry_Tesler_Smiles_at_Whisper.jpeg“The Future of the PC,” Fortune, August 26, 1991.”Price wars will hurt Apple’s ’94 revenue,” InfoWorld, June 14, 1993.”Restless Sculley steps down as CEO of Apple,” InfoWorld, June 21, 1993.”Apple cuts could sidetrack focus,” Computerworld, July 12, 1993.”MacWorld San Francisco,” Computer Chronicles, season 11, episode 19.”Apple stock plunge prompts lawsuits,” The Wisconsin State Journal, July 29, 1993.”Apple cuts jobs, rethinks Enterprise Systems division,” Network World, July 12, 1993.Photos from World PC Expo 1996: nerd.jp/events/19xx/E960907/index.htmlPC Watch Japan article about PenLite prototype at World PC Expo in 1996: web.archive.org/web/19990822181440/http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/article/960907/apple.htm“Apple upgrades Newton OS, MessagePad,” InfoWorld, January 23, 1995.”Would you know my name?,” Computerworld, November 1, 1993.
00:00 – Introduction
02:04 – A Mac in your pocket
04:10 – A new user interface paradigm
12:24 – Touchscreen development
16:48 – A cool idea not fit for sale
20:36 – The birth of PenLite
25:36 – Chasing bugs
28:30 – Reading your writing
30:54 – Competition from colleagues
33:36 – Ready to launch until it wasn’t
38:03 – A lasting legacy
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Music by Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com) and Lakey Inspired (soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (freemusicarchive.org/music/BoxCat_Games).