So, it has been a long while since I went diving into the attic for items to post about, but here is one gem that has come up of late. It has been sitting on my workbench for over a year now, after I brought it (and it’s Newtonian brethren inside). The Newton Notepad! Model H1000!
Behold! This little beauty that is a pre-release unit that was Beta seeded almost a year prior to the release of the Newton MessagePad. Essentially very similar in guts to the commercial release, these units were seeded to developers and other interested parties alike, to crank up the hype engine and secure a pipeline of software and hardware for the Newton’s release.
This rare specimen functions perfectly, except that there is no sound. Perhaps old age got it, or the inevitable leaking caps – who knows. One thing I do know is that it is not really serviceable, at least by me, to try to fix it.
How else is this a pre-release, you ask? It is running the 1.0b1 software and is noted as a development system. Also, it has the good ‘ol sticker on the back. Check out the rest of the images of this little gem.
Update:
In late Summer 2022 I tried to sell this through the Bonham’s auction house in their Science and Technology auction. However, despite signing the paperwork, circumstances out of my control caused so may delays that Bonham’s could not receive the Newton in time for the auction. Who knows, maybe next time, maybe not, because…..
This rare piece of PDA history has found a new home. At the time of writing this update, it is on its way to its new owner and home to be with the rest of its Newton family in a very extensive and impressive collection in Florida.
