Between 1989 and 1992, pen computers were seen as having a bright future. Some predicted they may challenge conventional keyboard-based computers and there was an inordinate amount of media hype. However, inadequate hardware and unrealistic expectations caused early pen slates to flop. As a result, vendors either failed (EO, GRiD, etc.), withdrew pen products from the market (NCR (model 3115 shown in picture), Samsung, NEC, Compaq, IBM), or concentrated on vertical markets (Fujitsu, TelePad, NEC). Note that the original IBM ThinkPad was just that, a pen computer slate. In fact, it was developed to run PenPoint, and even in later models such as thee ThinkPad 730T the documentation still referred to PenPoint as the primary operating system. It was only later that all IBM notebooks were also called ThinkPad.

After 1993, the very term "pen computing" became almost a dirty word. Everyone mocked and abandoned the concept and handwriting recognition, in particular, came to be viewed as a failed technology. Unfortunately for Apple, the Newton messagePad arrived at just that time, in the Fall of 1993. The spin at the time was that while pen computing apparently wasn't for notebooks, it would become a huge success in PDAs, Personal Digital Assistants. The original Newton was a brilliant product, albeit one with some rather serious flaws. While it included numerous innovations, it heavily relied on handwriting recognition which, at lest in its first iteration, didn't work very well. Industry pundits and even cartoonists mercilessly pounded the Newton as a result. For a full history of the Newton, read our Newton Notes archive and the story of its eventual demise.

When Windows 95 came out in the Fall of 1995, a much improved version 2.0 of the pen services was late and proved difficult to work with. Also, Microsoft didn't deliver as much as it had promised, leaving many pen computing developers frustrated. As a result, some vendors of pen computers turned to Communication Intelligence Corporation's PenX alternative, or provided only rudimentary pen functionality in the form of a digitizer control panel.

The primary reason why Windows was being used in mobile pen system despite the absence of many mobile features is the seamless integration into a company's corporate IT structure. There is no need for retraining of users or programmers. However, at the turn of the millennium, the future of mobile pen computing clearly seemed to be in smaller, more mobile operating environments such as Windows CE, the Palm OS, or EPOC/Symbian.

Another interesting development starting around 1999 was an emerging generation of "Webpads," which were essentially pen tablets with wireline/wireless internet connections. Almost all those Webpads were derivatives of the groundbreaking Zenith CruisePad (circa 1995) that met an untimely death when Zenith Data Systems was sold to Packard Bell (sigh!). National Semi was the primary champion of the Webpad effort for two or three years, but that changed when Microsoft was getting back into the picture with the Tablet PC. Webpads, as originally conceived, may continue in some form as thin clients, and also as Windows CE.Net/Mobile powered devices. Smart Displays, initially codenamed "Project Mira," were another short-lived Microsoft tablet initiative. The idea was to create lightweight tablets that would wirelessly communicate with a Windows XP host. The project seemed ill-conceived and quickly folded. See Pen Computing Magazine's features on those "smart displays," MIRA -- Microsoft's Home Tablet Initiative Redefines the Webpad and Microsoft Smart Display - an Update to the Project Formerly Known as MIRA.

Microsoft invents pen computing -- again

Pen Computing Magazine published a comprehensive first look at the Tablet PC project in the July 2001 issue. In it, Pen Computing contributing writer Geoff Walker analyzed and commented on every aspect of the project and the technology. At the time, interest in the proposed Tablet PC platform was heating up as shipment of traditional PCs and even notebooks was slowing down or leveling off. There were informal projections that of 45 million notebooks shipped in 2005, and a full half of those were expected to use the Tablet PC extensions. We figured that even if only one in five of those devices were an actual tablet or slate, that would be almost five million pen slates a year. Those projections turned out to be overly optimistic.

Ever since, Pen Computing has been covering the Tablet PC project very closely, running regular updates. We published features like How to Select a Tablet PC, What Can You Do With a Tablet PC?, primarily a look at enabling software, Running Linux on a Tablet PC? where we looked at X Servers on tablets, How to Select a Second Generation Tablet PC, and more. At some point we even a special 32-page insert dedicated entirely to the Tablet PC. We had hoped it would eventually evolve into a separate Tablet PC Magazine and even approachd Microsoft for sponsorship. No dice. So we continued to cover Tablet PCs in Pen Computing.

Those who expected the Tablet PC to be a truly revolutionary product, like the PenPoint machines were back in the early 1990s, are probably disappointed with the current Tablet PC. The platform has essentially split into Tablet PC slates made primarily by Fujitsu, Motion Computing and a few others, and Tablet PC notebook convertibles made by Acer, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, Toshiba, Averatec and others. The slates are primarily used in vertical markets, whereas the convertibles have been making modest inroads into consumer and business markets. The once vast price difference between standard and pen-enabled machines has come way down. HP even sells their notebook convertible at no price premium at all.