Graphing Calculator Started As a Demo for PenMac
Ernie Smith (via Ron Avitzur):
Called the PenLite, the tablet device was designed to work with a stylus, but Apple never fully followed through. It became an obscure example of a Mac prototype that never saw the light of day. More people know of Apple’s notorious Pippin video game console than the PenLite, despite the fact that it was clearly a more influential device on Apple’s trajectory.
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Back in January 2010, as the buzz around the iPad, which had yet to be announced, was just starting to reach a fever pitch, developer Arno Gourdol wrote a blog post pondering whether Apple had finally gotten things right this time. He knew what the prototype looked like, its weaknesses, along with its potential.
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While information on the PenLite is somewhat hard to come by online, there is information floating around. Perhaps the most obscure and intriguing is a 2012 YouTube clip, nearly an hour in length, that features early Apple engineer Thomas Gilley going through the paces of the PenLite as part of the long-running patent case involving Apple and Samsung.
