The Newton was Apple’s attempt to create a revolutionary new device. A feature of the PDA (Private Digital Assistant) was handwriting recognition software; the device also came with a stylus which was supposed to make entering text child’s play. The touch-sensitive screen would detect characters and words automatically as they were written.
However, this feature never really worked properly at market launch, something which gave rise to less than glowing reviews in the press.
The project was halted in 1998 when company founder Steve Jobs re-joined the company. Photo: Jan Braun, HNF