Pen-Based Computing History Museum
2026 / Saturday 16 May
01Featured Exhibition

GO Corporation and the Vision of Pen-Based
Computing.

Five decades of innovation that transformed how we write, draw, and interact with the digital world — drawn from 142 catalogued artifacts in the museum's permanent collection.

Now on view
Permanent gallery
Artifacts
30,000
Catalogued
142
Timeline span
1987 — 2002
Recorded events
462 milestones

Exhibitions
now on view.

One Special Exhibition Drawn directly from the museum's collection of artifacts, magazines, and primary documents.
01 / 01 Featured Exhibition
GO Corporation and the Vision of Pen-Based Computing

GO Corporation and the Vision of Pen-Based Computing

Explore →

Featured artifacts.

From the collection 18 recently catalogued objects, drawn from 142 in the permanent collection.
Apple 1994

Notion: The Newton List Manager User Manual

Apple
Case 1996

Metrowerks CodeWarrior for Pilot (Package)

Case
General Magic 1996

General Magic Visitor’s Badge (John Jerney, 10/25/1996)

General Magic
Disk 1997

ParaGraph International, Inc. – CalliGrapher 5.0 for Windows CE (Disk)

Disk
Brochure 1992

GO Corporation – GO Fax Brochure

Brochure
Apple

Apple eWorld (Stickers)

Apple
Brochure 1995

Texas Micro – The Soldier’s Computer (Brochure)

Brochure
In Collection 1994

Microwave Journal – January 1994

In Collection
Apple 1994

Apple Newton MessagePad Getting Through the Day … (Brochure)

Apple
Avail Technology 1994

Avail Technology – TapWorks (Newton)

Avail Technology
Avail Technology 1994

Avail Technology Free TapWorks Software (Coupon)

Avail Technology
In Collection 1987

Portable 100 – September 1987

In Collection
Brochure 1995

Mobile Insights ’95 Conference (Brochure)

Brochure
In Collection 1995

Microprocessor Report – February 16, 1995

In Collection
In Collection 1997

Pen Computing Magazine – December 1997

In Collection
In Collection 2000

Pen Computing Magazine – November 2000

In Collection
In Collection 1999

Pen Computing Magazine Fall 1999 Buyers Guide

In Collection
In Collection 1998

Pen Computing Magazine – April 1998

In Collection

A chronology.

1989 — 2002 Selected from the museum's 462 catalogued timeline events.
1989Hardware
GRiD Systems Corp. introduced GRiDPad, a computer so light it can be held in one hand and used while standing or walking.
1991Software
Slate Corp. announced support for Microsoft Windows for Pen Computing, the upcoming pen-based operating system from Microsoft Corp.
1992Hardware
Unit will develop semiconductor products, development tools and software based on the Hobbit microprocessor.
1998Software
Sybase, Inc. and 3Com Corporation announce a strategic relationship to bring the industry's leading mobile database, Adaptive Server Anywhere, to the Palm…
2000Publication
Mobile Insights, Inc. announces the WirelessTrax continuous information service, complementing the firm's MobileTrax offering.
2001Communications
Companies working together to equip personal electronic devices and printers with Bluetooth technology.
2002Event
Unique one-day event next month in San Jose will provide networking forum for top entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

The collection.

Browse 142 artifacts Indexed by category from the collection.
01

Portable Design Magazine

2 items →
02

GO Corporation

21 items →
03

Letter

1 item →
04

Internal Document

1 item →
05

Brochure

7 items →
06

Newton

15 items →
07

Journal

6 items →
08

Avail Technology

2 items →
09

Windows for Pen Computing

5 items →
10

Maquette

4 items →
11

Handwriting Recognition

7 items →
12

Sony

1 item →
13

Zoomer

2 items →
14

Event Collateral

2 items →

Pen-Based Computing,
the newsletter.

Eight volumes · Sixty five issues The original newsletter — every issue digitized in full.
Pen-Based Computing – August, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 4

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

16 pp
Pen-Based Computing – June 20, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 3

Volume 1 · Issue 03 Pen-Based Computing – June 20, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 3

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
04 · Donate

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artifact.

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

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