MessagePad

"*By shutting it down, I freed up some good engineers who could work on new mobile devices. And eventually we got it right when we moved on to iPhones and the iPad*"
―Steve Jobs[src]

**MessagePad** was a line of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the first mobile hardware series and tablet computer developed by Apple Computer, Inc. for its Newton tablet platform. First announced in 1993 by former CEO John Sculley, it is often considered the predecessor to Apple's modern-day iPad.

The MessagePad has been widely regarded as one of Apple's biggest failures. Due to its low-quality hardware, Apple CEO Steve Jobs discontinued the platform on February 27, 1998 upon his return to Apple. It was succeeded by the multi-touch based iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010.

## Development

The development of the MessagePad began in 1984 after Apple's former senior vice president of research and development, Jean-Louis Gassée hired an engineer named Steve Sakoman to develop a pen-based mobile computing device that would later be known as the Newton MessagePad. The development of the MessagePad operated in secret until it was later revealed to The Board of Directors in 1990.

During the same year, Gassee had a significant disagreement with John Sculley in licensing Apple's Mac operating system to other companies. A frustrated Gassee resigned from his position after the Board sided with Sculley. Seeing how his employer was bullied,Sakoman quit engineering the MessagePad on March 2, 1990. Bill Atkinson, an Apple Executive responsible for the company's Lisa's graphical interface invited Steve Capps, John Sculley, and Andy Hertzfeld, Susan Kare, and Marc Porat to a meeting scheduled on March 11, 1990 to brainstorm a way of saying Newton. Sculley suggested adding features such as libraries, museums, databases, or institutional archives features that would allow customers to navigate through various window tabs or opened galleries/stacks. Sculley's recommendation was approved by the Board, he then gave Newton its official and full backing.

John Sculley announced the original Newton MessagePad on May 29, 1993 during a keynote presentation at the summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago,. Due to a hardware problem, the first MessagePad failed to function, so the whole presentation relied on a backup prototype instead. Even so, Sculley caved in to pressure too early because the Newton didn't officially ship for another 14 months on August 2, 1993.

Over 50,000 units were sold near late November 1993, starting at the price of $900 to $1,569.

## Formats

The Newton MessagePad is similar to the Scribble extension featured in iPadOS 14 and higher. It supports a stylus-based interface capable of translating handwriting text to digital text. However, its handwriting recognition wasn't as accurate as Apple had hoped, occasionally resulting in an indecipherable jumble of words.

## Models

* MessagePad (model H1000), alternatively titled as "Original MessagePad" or "OMP".
* MessageSlate (unreleased)
* MessagePad 100, same hardware as the OMP, but with a newer version of Newton OS.
* MessagePad 110
* MessagePad 120
* MessagePad 130
* MessagePad 2000
* MessagePad 2100
* eMate 300

### Third-party variants

Several third-party manufacturers also developed devices for Apple's Newton platform, or undertook manufacturing in foreign countries.

* Digital Ocean Tarpon
* Digital Ocean Seahorse
* Harris SuperTech 2000
* Motorola Marco
* Schlumberger Watson
* Sharp ExpertPad PI-7000
* Sharp ExpertPad PI-7100
* Siemens Note Phone
* Siemens Online Terminal (unreleased)

## References

1. ↑ Tom Hormby (2013-08-06). The Story Behind Apple’s Newton. Low End Mac. Archived from the original on 2021-03-25. Accessed 2021-5-03.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Newton launched August 2, 1993 setting the stage for what would become the iPad and iPhone. AppleInsider. Archived from the original on 2021-05-02. Accessed 2021-05-02.
3. ↑ Today in Apple history: Newton MessagePad inspires mobile revolution. Cult of Mac. Archived from the original on 2021-04-25. Accessed 2021-05-03.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Remembering the Newton MessagePad, 20 years later. Macworld. Archived from the original on 2021-05-03. Accessed 2021-05-03.
5. ↑ From MessagePad to iPad: 20 years on, the Newton's impact can still be felt.. iMore. Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Accessed 2021-05-03.
6. ↑ Newton Message Pad (OMP). Apple History. Archived from the original on 2021-03-25. Accessed 2021-05-03.
7. ↑ Remember these failed Apple products? They were some of the tech giant’s biggest flops. Cnbc. Archived from the original on 2021-05-02. Accessed 2021-05-03.

## External links

* Newton Products (archived 1997-07-07)
* MessagePad at Wikipedia
* MessagePad at the Apple Wiki