Apple Newton MessagePad Getting Through the Day … (Brochure)
This is an original brochure showcasing the new Apple Newton MessagePad, describing how the device might have fit into your business life.
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Artifact Details
Apple Computer, Inc.
United States
English
1994
Saddled-stitched, color printed paper brochure.
Approx. 11" x 3.75"
264d5f6c5e9b5919
1994
Acquired from manufacturer
2020-07-31
Organizations
People
History
This Apple Computer brochure, headlined Getting through the day is a business in itself, presented the Newton MessagePad as a pocket-sized business manager for the working day.1 The Newton MessagePad was the first product built on Apple's Newton technology — a handheld communications assistant that the company launched on August 2, 1993 at the Macworld Expo in Boston as the first in a new class of personal digital assistant.2 Apple expected it to sell from $699 to $949 depending on configuration.2
The brochure showcased a growing MessagePad family: the MessagePad 100, supplied with a carrying case, and the slimmer MessagePad 110, fitted with a protective flip lid.1 Apple had announced both devices on March 4, 1994, pricing the MessagePad 110 at $599 and the MessagePad 100 at $499, and folding deferred and letter-by-letter handwriting recognition into the line.3
At the heart of the brochure was the Newton Solution — a software package bundling four Newton applications with room to store additional information.1 Three were offered: the Mobile Sales Manager (Money Magazine Business Forms, GeoAssist, Notion: The Newton List Manager, and the JigSaw Strategy Game), the Professional Idea Manager (Dyno NotePad, MobileMath, Notion, and JigSaw), and the Executive Productivity Manager (PresenterPad, The Economist World in Figures, Notion, and JigSaw).1 These titles were drawn from the software library published by Apple's StarCore group, which by mid-1994 had grown to nearly forty-five Newton titles.4
The brochure also highlighted the Newton Connection Kit, which let owners exchange and synchronize information with a personal computer running Windows or a Macintosh.1 It pitched the MessagePad as a business tool at a moment when corporations including Coca-Cola and American Express were already folding Newton technology into their information-systems plans.5 Every Newton MessagePad kit carried free 800-number telephone support.1
AI generated using primary sources referenced in the footnotes
Footnotes
- Apple Computer, Inc., Apple Newton MessagePad “Getting Through the Day” Brochure (image scan), 1994
- Apple Computer, Inc., First Newton--the MessagePad--Hits the Market, July 30, 1993
- Apple Computer, Inc., Apple Expands the Newton Product Family, March 4, 1994
- Apple Computer, Inc., New Starcore Applications for Newton Extend Mobile Professionals' Business and Personal Use of MessagePad, July 26, 1994
- Apple Computer, Inc., Large Corporations Line Up Behind Newton, August 2, 1993
Oral History
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