A brief look at what tablets used to be back in the day

Dec 20, 2014 11:59 GMT  ·  By

Today, the tablet landscape is dominated by iPads and Android tablets, and even Microsoft’s Windows-based slates have started to avidly populate this product niche. But have you ever wondered where the idea of a tablet computer came from in the first place?

Devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S or Surface 3 Pro didn’t just spring out of nowhere. The development of tablets has deep historical roots, because tablet computing and their designated operating systems are actually an example of pen computing technology.

The first patent for a system that recognized handwritten characters by virtue of analyzing handwriting motions was granted back in 1915.

Moving a little forward towards the current era, 1956 was the year when the first publicly-demonstrated system using a tablet and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard was shown.

And in what follows, I’m going to tell you about three machines from the past that played a big part in the creation of what we currently refer to as tablets. They weren’t light and thin and did not boast beautifully colored displays, but they started a revolution. Let’s meet these predecessors.

The Dynabook from 1968

No, we’re not talking about the Dynabook series created by Toshiba, although the company might have drawn inspiration from the story I’m about to tell you.

In 1968, Alan Key, a man who was also partly responsible for the development of GUI and object-oriented programming, created a very interesting project, which he ended up calling the Dynabook.

The idea was to make a personal computer for children of all ages that was supposed to be portable, dynamic, and light.

The Dynabook came with a graphical user interface (GUI) and practically described what is now known as a tablet product. It also offered a long battery life and gave kids access to media content.

However, the Dynabook had to wait more than 20 years for a working prototype of it to actually be built. Even so, it ended up inspiring the future developments of personal computers.

The device was supposed to have a spacious screen and a keyboard which would have allowed children to interact with the system.

Key was a member of the now defunct One Laptop Per Child initiative, which proved he kept believing tablets served educational purposes best.

GRiD Systems GRiDPad

Now, let’s fast forward to 1988, a year that saw the advent of a device called the GRiDPad. As you can see, the device already bears a close resemblance to what we know and love today, albeit being a lot chunkier.

The Pad was partly designed by Jeff Hawkins, who also developed a handwriting-recognition software interface for it, called “PalmPrint.” It enabled the computer to recognize and interpret human printing and writing.

This early tablet prototype had no floppy drives, but enjoyed two memory card slots which supported removable 256K and 512K flash memory cards.

Files were transferred to a MS-DOS computer via the RS-232 serial port and the embedded LapLink software or via the optional internal modem.

The Pad ran Microsoft’s MS-DOS 3.3 OS and came with a stylus, which was the default method of interaction. As you can see, there is no keyboard here.

Eventually, Hawkins left GRiD and founded his own company called Palm.

AT&T EO Personal Communicator

The EO Personal Communicator is an early tablet computer created by EO Inc., which was later purchased by one of the US’s biggest carriers, AT&T.

Even if EO was around in the 80s, AT&T got to launch this early tablet prototype in 1993.

The Personal Communicator was actually some sort of personal digital assistant and came bundling Wireless communication abilities.

It also arrived outfitted with a cell phone, modem, fax, microphone, calendar, data base program, and word processor, so it was basically a productivity tool.

The device had a 4.3 x 6-inch monochrome LCD display with 7.5-inch diagonal and 480 x 640 graphics. It was powered by an AT&T Hobbit clocked at 2MHz and bundled several ports and a PS/2 keyboard.

Yes, looking at these machines, you can't help feeling they are big, heavy and uncomfortable, but they are responsible for inspiring tablet manufacturers and making the tablet form factor mainstream.

If 20 years ago tablet usage was restricted to a select few, today, thanks to the advancement achieved in the field, almost everybody can own a tablet computer.

Devices that shaped the tablets of today (10 Images)

Dynabook prototype
Dynabook was build for kidsThe Dynabook had a screen and keyboard
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