Visualized: the iPad that never was, complete with camera and wireless
If you're an Apple lover, you've probably heard of the Newton PDA, and there are probably even PenLite enthusiasts among the hardcore, but this is a tablet we've never seen: the Apple Vademecum. Marcin Wichary of the Computer History Museum (and Google Pac-Man fame) somehow got a hold of two piecemeal prototypes to take some fantastic shots, showing off their transparent construction, ribbon cables, and in this case an ancient webcam and integrated Ricochet wireless modem. Wichary claims the project was started in 1994 at Apple's Advanced Technology Group with touchscreen -- not pen-based -- computing in mind, and would have used a special MacOS designed for tablets rather than an extension of Newton. May it rest in piece.
[Thanks, Nikolai]
