Under Construction
2026 / SUMMER EXHIBITION
GCFeatured Exhibition

GO Corporation
and the Vision of
Pen-Based Computing

GO Corporation's PenPoint, released in 1991, was the first operating system designed from the ground up for pen input rather than keyboard — pioneering gesture commands, embedded handwriting recognition, and a notebook metaphor that would echo through every stylus and touch system that followed.

GO Corporation and the Vision of Pen-Based Computing
Now on view
Permanent collection
Artifacts
Approx. 30,000
Catalogued
168
Timeline span
1987 — 2007
Recorded events
1762 milestones

Exhibitions
now on view.

One Special Exhibition Drawn directly from the museum's collection of artifacts, magazines, and primary documents.
GC Featured Exhibition
Under Construction GO Corporation and the Vision of Pen-Based Computing

GO Corporation and the Vision of Pen-Based Computing

GO Corporation's PenPoint, released in 1991, was the first operating system designed from the ground up for pen input rather than keyboard — pioneering gesture commands, embedded handwriting recognition, and a notebook metaphor that would echo through every stylus and touch system that followed.

Featured artifacts.

From the collection 18 recently catalogued objects, drawn from 168 in the permanent collection.
View all artifacts
Metrowerks, Inc. 1997
Metrowerks, Inc. - Metrowerks to Support Windows CE 2.0 Press Release (Page 1)

Metrowerks, Inc. – Metrowerks to Support Windows CE 2.0 (Press Release)
PenMagic Software Inc. 1993
PenMagic Numero 2.0 Product Fact Sheet (Front)

PenMagic Numero 2.0 (Product Fact Sheet)
Creative Digital, Inc. 1997
Creative Digital - The Handheld Computer Almanac (Cover)

The Handheld Computer Almanac
Software Partners, Inc. 1994
Software Partners, Inc. - FreeStyle Version 1.0 Package (Front)

Software Partners, Inc. – FreeStyle Version 1.0 (Magic Cap)
PenWorld, Incorporated 1994
Personal Electronics News - Issue 16 - March/April 1994 (Cover)

Personal Electronics News, Issue 16, March/April 1994
aha! software corporation 1994
aha! InkWriter for Windows 2.0 Quick Reference (Cover)

aha! InkWriter 2.0 for Windows Quick Reference
Palmtop Publications 1997
Palmtop Journal - Issue 12 (Cover)

Palmtop – Issue 12
GO Corporation 1994
Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure - Jerry Kaplan (Cover)

Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure Story
aha! software corporation 1993
aha! InkWriter Handbook - PenPoint (Cover)

aha InkWriter Handbook (PenPoint)
GO Corporation 1992
GO Corporation - Using PenPoint (Cover)

GO Corporation – Using PenPoint
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1992
GO Corporation - PenPoint Architectural Reference Volume II (Cover)

GO Corporation – PenPoint Architectural Reference – Volume II
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1992
GO Corporation - PenPoint User Interface Design Reference (Cover)

GO Corporation – PenPoint User Interface Design Reference
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1992
GO Corporation - PenPoint Application Writing Guide (Cover)

GO Corporation – PenPoint Application Writing Guide
GO Corporation 1992
GO Corporation - PenPoint Development Tools (Cover)

GO Corporation – PenPoint Development Tools
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1992
GO Corporation - PenPoint Architectural Reference - Volume I (Cover)

GO Corporation – PenPoint Architectural Reference – Volume I
EO, Incorporated 1993
EO, Inc. - Personal Communicator 440 Order Form Letter (John Jerney)

EO, Inc. – Personal Communicator 440 Letter and Order Form (John Jerney)
EO, Incorporated 1993
EO Inc - Personal Communicator 440 Order Form Letter (March, 1993)

EO, Inc. – Personal Communicator 440 Letter and Order Form
EO, Incorporated 1993
EO, Inc. - Personal Communicator 440/880 Brochure - Photocopy (Front)

EO, Inc. – Personal Communicator 440/880 Brochure (Photocopy)

A chronology.

1987 — 2007 Selected from the museum's 1762 catalogued timeline events.
View full timeline
1989Hardware
Software Companies Writing Programs for GRiDPad
GRiD Systems Corp. announces that numerous software vendors are building applications for the handwriting and electronic pen interface capabilities of GRiDPad, its…
1991Communications
TOPS Announced for GO’s PenPoint Operating System
Sitka Corp. ports the TOPS networking technology to GO Corp.’s new PenPoint operating system.
1994Hardware
Local Police use State-Of-The-Art Wireless, Emergency Response System Developed by Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Students
Using the Newton and a wireless modem, police in the field can access a variety of databases containing information -- on hazardous…
1995Organization
Totally Wireless Launches Nation’s First Wireless Catalog
The Totally Wireless catalog offers a wide array of wireless products ranging from pagers, wireless E-mail, and cellular modems to wireless communicators,…
1996Software
Microsoft Announces Windows CE
The newest member of the Windows family offers a compact, portable, and scalable platform suitable for a broad range of communications, entertainment…
1999Hardware
Fujitsu’s New Point 1600 Pen Tablet Delivers Outstanding Value and Performance
With a 166 MHz Pentium MMX processor and a shock-mounted 4.1 GB Ultra ATA hard drive, the Point 1600 more than doubles…
2003Hardware
Wolfson Becomes Mixed-Signal Supplier of Choice for PDA Vendors
Wolfson Microelectronics plc receives endorsement for its high-performance audio CODECs from two leading players in the consumer electronics field. Both Toshiba and…

The collection.

Browse 168 artifacts Indexed by category from the collection.
    AT

    Avail Technologies

    3 items →
    IB

    IBM

    1 item →
    TC

    Thaddeus Computing

    2 items →
    GC

    GO Corporation

    34 items →
    CO

    3Com

    4 items →
    ZO

    Zoomer

    2 items →
    RO

    Royal

    1 item →
    CO

    Coupon

    1 item →
    WO

    Worldwide PenPoint Developers Organization

    11 items →
    BO

    Book

    13 items →
    FT

    France Telecom

    3 items →
    EC

    Event Collateral

    2 items →
    HE

    Hewlett-Packard

    3 items →
    UD

    User Documentation

    12 items →

    Pen-Based Computing,
    the newsletter.

    Eight volumes · Sixty five issues The original newsletter — every issue digitized in full (soon).
    Pen-Based Computing – November 11, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 6

    Volume 1 · Issue 06 Pen-Based Computing – November 11, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 6

    16 pp
    Pen-Based Computing – January 22, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 1

    Volume 1 · Issue 01 Pen-Based Computing – January 22, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 1

    16 pp
    Pen-Based Computing – August, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 4

    Volume 1 · Issue 04 Pen-Based Computing – August, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 4

    16 pp
    04 · Donate

    Donate an
    artifact.

    The museum collects hardware, software, manuals, photographs, marketing collateral, oral histories, and ephemera related to the early history of stylus-based computing.

    Learn how to donate →
    05 · Subscribe Coming Soon

    PBCHM
    Monthly.

    Learn about new acquisitions, recovered manuals, oral histories, and unearthed discoveries.

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