---
title: Newton, Reconsidered
linkurl: http://techland.time.com/2012/06/01/newton-reconsidered/

date: 2012-07-04 01:19:17+00:00

tags:
  - design
  - apple
  - newton
---

Skeuomorphism on mobile devices has come a long way:

> Using a second unit, Steve Capps, one of Newton’s creators, showed how you could use it to order a pizza by moving topping icons onto a pie and then sending out a fax. In 1992, that was show-stopping stuff.

But instead of another Newton history article, this one is an interesting "hands-on assessment" of Apple's first PDA. Almost 20 years after its release, Harry McCracken got himself a fully working MessagePad H1000 over eBay and tested it.

Would be interesting to know if the same could be done with an iPhone 4S or Galaxy Nexus in 2032. I doubt it.