Apple Newton MessagePad 110

Abstract

Earlier models of the MessagePad were not well received due to the poor battery life and variable quality of the built-in hardwriting recognition. The Model 110, represented here, ran on 4 AA batteries, and included much improved software, not only for the handwriting recognition, but also inter device communications. Originally intended to "reinvent" personal computing, the hardware and Newton OS fell prey to fears that it would cut into Macintosh sales, so was "reinvented" as a PDA, or Personal Digital Assistant. It was then marketed as an accessory to the Macintosh, not a replacement for it. Although not the first device of this type (the Psion Organizer was marketed in 1984), the Apple President John Sculley. In a CNET interview, Sculley estimated that the Newton project cost US $100 million to develop and market.