© Mark Ollig
Over the years, there has been an ongoing debate about who originally came up with the concept of an electronic computing tablet.
The most popular tablet is Apple Computer’s iPad, which became available in April 2010.
Recently, I discovered 48-year-old diagrams and descriptions of an electronic device that strongly resembles today’s modern computing tablet.
In 1972, Alan C. Kay envisioned a futuristic computing tablet. He called it the DynaBook.
During August 1972, while working at the Xerox research center in Palo Alto, CA, Kay completed an 11-page description of the DynaBook.
Kay envisioned the DynaBook being used primarily as an educational tool for children.
In addition to his detailed explanation of the many educational features on the DynaBook, Kay attempted to explain how to build one using the electronic components and software technology available in 1972.
I noted on page 4, LSI (large-scale integration) microprocessors are mentioned. There, he handwrote, “Intel 4004,” which was a 4-bit central processor unit (CPU) initially available in March 1971.
The Intel 4004 was the first electronic CPU on a single component chip.
Kay explained how the DynaBook’s keyboard should be “as thin as possible . . . it may have no moving parts at all – but be sensitive to pressure. . .” in other words, a touchscreen.
“Once one has gotten used to the idea of no moving parts, he is ready for the idea of no keyboard at all,” Kay described in his document on the DynaBook.
Alan C. Kay’s document, “A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages,” can be seen in PDF form using this link: https://bit.ly/2yEQbCK.
The television series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” showed crew members using a handheld computing interface device with a touch screen called a PADD, or Personal Access Display Device.
The PADD closely resembled a slightly larger smartphone. It could be used in a variety of applications as defined by its software.
In 1994, Roger Fidler, a journalist, newspaper designer, and director of new media for Knight-Ridder Inc., created a video called “The Tablet Newspaper: A Vision for the Future.”
He recorded this video demonstrating how a person would use a portable computing device to read, interact with, and share news and information from a digital tablet newspaper’s video display.
The video showed the newspaper contents artificially added over a non-working model.
The prototype tablet was a rectangular, 3⁄4-inch-thick, black-bordered case (about the size of a magazine), with a large flat-screen and no physical keyboard. It looked very much like today’s Apple iPad.
Two people in the video demonstrated how to use the “futuristic” digital tablet newspaper.
“Tablets will be a whole new class of computers. They will weigh under 2 pounds. They will be totally portable. They will have a clarity of screen display comparable to ink on paper. They will be able to blend text, video, audio, and graphics together, and they will be part of our daily lives around the turn of the century. We may still use computers to create information, but we will use the tablet to interact with information,” the narrator in the 1994 video accurately predicted.
“It may be difficult to conceptualize the idea of digital paper, but, in fact, we believe that’s what’s going to happen,” Fidler said 26 years ago.
In 1994, there was no Wi-Fi, and using a web-browser type of graphical user interface when accessing information from the internet was still in its infancy.
Fidler’s video was uploaded to YouTube in May 2007.
Apple Computer released its iPad three years later.
The debate of whether Apple got the idea for its iPad from Roger Fidler’s prototype tablet continues to this day.
Watch the 13-minute 1994, “The Tablet Newspaper: A Vision for the Future,” on YouTube at https://bit.ly/2RdmCyj and judge for yourself.
Have a good week, and be safe out there.
Over the years, there has been an ongoing debate about who originally came up with the concept of an electronic computing tablet.
The most popular tablet is Apple Computer’s iPad, which became available in April 2010.
Recently, I discovered 48-year-old diagrams and descriptions of an electronic device that strongly resembles today’s modern computing tablet.
In 1972, Alan C. Kay envisioned a futuristic computing tablet. He called it the DynaBook.
During August 1972, while working at the Xerox research center in Palo Alto, CA, Kay completed an 11-page description of the DynaBook.
Kay envisioned the DynaBook being used primarily as an educational tool for children.
In addition to his detailed explanation of the many educational features on the DynaBook, Kay attempted to explain how to build one using the electronic components and software technology available in 1972.
I noted on page 4, LSI (large-scale integration) microprocessors are mentioned. There, he handwrote, “Intel 4004,” which was a 4-bit central processor unit (CPU) initially available in March 1971.
The Intel 4004 was the first electronic CPU on a single component chip.
Kay explained how the DynaBook’s keyboard should be “as thin as possible . . . it may have no moving parts at all – but be sensitive to pressure. . .” in other words, a touchscreen.
“Once one has gotten used to the idea of no moving parts, he is ready for the idea of no keyboard at all,” Kay described in his document on the DynaBook.
Alan C. Kay’s document, “A Personal Computer for Children of All Ages,” can be seen in PDF form using this link: https://bit.ly/2yEQbCK.
The television series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” showed crew members using a handheld computing interface device with a touch screen called a PADD, or Personal Access Display Device.
The PADD closely resembled a slightly larger smartphone. It could be used in a variety of applications as defined by its software.
In 1994, Roger Fidler, a journalist, newspaper designer, and director of new media for Knight-Ridder Inc., created a video called “The Tablet Newspaper: A Vision for the Future.”
He recorded this video demonstrating how a person would use a portable computing device to read, interact with, and share news and information from a digital tablet newspaper’s video display.
The video showed the newspaper contents artificially added over a non-working model.
The prototype tablet was a rectangular, 3⁄4-inch-thick, black-bordered case (about the size of a magazine), with a large flat-screen and no physical keyboard. It looked very much like today’s Apple iPad.
Two people in the video demonstrated how to use the “futuristic” digital tablet newspaper.
“Tablets will be a whole new class of computers. They will weigh under 2 pounds. They will be totally portable. They will have a clarity of screen display comparable to ink on paper. They will be able to blend text, video, audio, and graphics together, and they will be part of our daily lives around the turn of the century. We may still use computers to create information, but we will use the tablet to interact with information,” the narrator in the 1994 video accurately predicted.
“It may be difficult to conceptualize the idea of digital paper, but, in fact, we believe that’s what’s going to happen,” Fidler said 26 years ago.
In 1994, there was no Wi-Fi, and using a web-browser type of graphical user interface when accessing information from the internet was still in its infancy.
Fidler’s video was uploaded to YouTube in May 2007.
Apple Computer released its iPad three years later.
The debate of whether Apple got the idea for its iPad from Roger Fidler’s prototype tablet continues to this day.
Watch the 13-minute 1994, “The Tablet Newspaper: A Vision for the Future,” on YouTube at https://bit.ly/2RdmCyj and judge for yourself.
Have a good week, and be safe out there.
