RAND Tablet - 1963
One of the first pen-driven computer interfaces, the RAND Tablet was developed by the RAND Corporation as part of an ARPA-sponsored project. It was described by researchers M. R. Davis and T. O. Ellis thus: |
DYNABOOK - 1972
The Dynabook, a concept educational computer described in a 1972 paper by Alan Kay (pictured with a prototype) while working at Xerox PARC, lies deep in the DNA of today's portable computers — particularly tablets and ebook readers. The Dynabook specification included a thin form factor weighing no more than a kilogram and a screen capable of displaying at least a million pixels. |
PenCept PenPad 200 -1982
The PenCept PenPad 200 was a handwriting-only computer terminal that was a direct replacement for the VT-100 and other standard ANSI 3.62 terminals, but with a digitizing tablet and electronic pen instead of a keyboard. |
GRiD Systems GRiDPad - 1989
GRiD Systems made a number of advances in mobile computing, including the GRID Compass, the first clamshell laptop. Another was the GRiDPad, the first commercially available pen-based computer, which ran MS-DOS on a 10MHz Intel 80C86 processor with 256KB or 512KB of RAM. The driving force behind the GRiDPad — and author of its character recognition engine— was Jeff Hawkins, who would go on to create the seminal Pilot and PalmPilot devices. |
DEC Lectrice -1996
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) started its Virtual Book project in 1994, with the aim of building an advanced platform for investigating aspects of online reading. The result was the Lectrice, a tablet featuring a high-resolution display, button, pen and audio input, plus wired and wireless connectivity. It ran a 25MHz LSI Logic LR33120 processor with 16MB of RAM, 1MB of video RAM and up to 8.5MB of flash memory. Wacom technology was used for pen input, and the system employed an early version of power-over-Ethernet when on a wired connection. Wireless networking was via a PCMCIA card (the Digital RoamAbout), a second slot being available for 20MB flash memory cards. A NiMH battery powered the tablet for about 1.5 hours. |
Microsoft Tablet PC prototype - 2000
During his keynote at Comdex/Fall in 2000, Bill Gates demonstrated a prototype Tablet Pc with a 600MHz CPU, 128MB of RAM, a 10GB hard disk and a pair of USB ports. It ran a beta version of Windows XP (codenamed Whistler) with pen computing extensions, and showcased 'rich digital ink' that captured on-screen handwriting and drawing for instant or deferred manipulation. |
Apple iPad
27 Jan 2010 Described by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at its unveiling as “a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price”, the iPad can certainly be credited with kickstarting the ‘modern’ era of tablet computing. The 9.7-inch (1,024 by 768) iOS 4 device, which shipped in the US in April 2010 and in May internationally, ran a 1GHz Apple A4 system-on-a-chip (SoC) with 256MB of RAM, had 16, 32 or 64GB of storage, 802.11a/b/g/n wi-fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and optional 3G (HSDPA) mobile broadband. Battery life (claimed) was an impressive 10 hours (web browsing). However, as CNET noted:“The iPad's lack of front or rear cameras, Flash support, and integrated HD video output already have us pining for next year's model”. |
Fusion Garage JooJoo
25 Mar 2010 JooJoo was a 12.1-inch (1,366 by 768) Linux-based tablet that arose from the ashes of a disastrous collaboration between the technology blog TechCrunch (in particular, its then-editor Michael Arrington) and Singapore development studio Fusion Garage (in particular, its then-CEO Chandrasekar Rathakrishnan). The 'Crunchpad' project descended into acrimonious litigation after Fusion Garage unilaterally announced that it would go it alone with the JooJoo, a 1.1kg (2lbs) device featuring a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor with 1GB of RAM, an Nvidia ION GPU, a 4GB solid-state drive, 802.11b/g wi-fi and Bluetooth 2.1. The JooJoo made it to market shortly before Apple’s first-generation iPad, giving Fusion Garage a brief spell in the media headlights. The company eventually went into liquidation in January 2012. |