How the Concept of Tablet PCs Was Perfected

Up to 80 tablets market was simply absent: since the RAND Tablet no new product was developed in this area.
The situation was changed a little with the appearance of PenPad 200in 1982, which was a terminal for large non-personal computers, in which a digitizer (touchpad) was used instead of a keyboard.

In 1985, a model PenPad 320 was developed, which, in contrast to the 200-model, was not a terminal, but a full IBM PC-compatible computer with a conventional system MS-DOS, but with a digitizer instead of a keyboard. Programmers could alter the system MS-DOS, designed to control the keyboard, so that it could be controlled using the touch panel. It noticeably lightened the work in CAD-applications, moreover, the compatibility with all the programs already accumulated by the time for "dos" has been retained.

In addition, in the 1960s, another important step was made, namely, the concept of modern Tablet PC - with a touch screen, larger in size, but thin and light. It is worth noting that it wasn't developed by engineers, it was designed by fantasts. The first Tablet PC, which saw the mass, we can call the PADD, a fantastic device, first appeared in 1966 in the cult series Star Trek.

Also in the legendary Stanley Kubrick's film "Space Odyssey: 2001" in 1968, viewers can see the device Newspad, which is a prototype of today's tablet PCs and electronic readers (especially considering that the term "electronic paper" was first used to describe the tablet .)

The tablet of the Kubrick's film was certainly a great concept of the modern plate, but in 1972 an engineer brought it to perfection. This brilliant engineer developed his concept of the computer for children, which was easy to manage, it was called Dynabook, since 1968, and eventually the Dynabook became similar to the tablet. Since 1972, the general idea of the tablet has not changed in general, and all the efforts of engineers were directed to the fact that as soon as possible and as closely as possible to translate the concept into reality.