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1979 Apple Graphics Tablet vs. the iPad

Posted by timothy on from the silly-comparisons-are-the-best-kind dept.

CWmike writes "When Apple launched the iPad earlier this year, it was the culmination of fans' long wait for the company to enter the tablet market. There's no doubt the iPad is a revolutionary device. But in 1979, an earlier generation of Apple users used a different kind of Apple tablet, back when the word meant something else entirely, writes Ken Gagne. The Apple Graphics Tablet was designed by Summagraphics and sold by Apple Computer for the Apple II personal microcomputer. (Summagraphics also marketed the device for other platforms as the BitPad.) To be clear, this tablet was not a stand-alone computing device like the iPad. Instead, it was an input device for creating images on the Apple II's screen, and it predated the Apple II's mouse by six years. Apple II fan Tony Diaz had an Apple Graphics Tablet on hand at last month's KansasFest, an annual convention for diehard Apple II users. He and Gagne, the event's marketing director, compared and contrasted Apple's original tablet with the iPad, snapping photos as they went." The contrived comparison is as silly as it sounds — but it's a fine excuse to look at some ahead-of-its-time gear, even in the form of an annoying slide show.

11 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Poor comparison by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why compare the AGT to the iPad? Pretty much the only things they have in common is a touch sensitive surface. It's closer in function to a Wacom.

    1. Re:Poor comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you read TFA, you would notice that they do not really compare the functionality, but rather design, packaging, interfacing, etc.

      That is probably a good choice. I have the feeling that Apple's customers value those things higher than functionality.

    2. Re:Poor comparison by lxs · · Score: 3, Funny

      You're right. That's like comparing a Canon 7D to a Barbie Video Girl.

    3. Re:Poor comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      From what I've heard, the latest iPhone fails at being phone, depending on how you hold it.

  2. Seeing these photos reminded me... by RyanFenton · · Score: 4, Funny

    The iPad(TM) is really boring.

    Boring like minimalist music. Boring like Gregorian chant. Beautiful, and fascinating for its exploration of something more distinct in a single tone - but boring like an appliance.

    But is it art? ;^)

    Ryan Fenton

  3. Ahead of its time? by Alien1024 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hardly. Digitizing tables date back to the 1950s.

  4. So let me get this straight... by Gordo_1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple had a crude input device made for them in 1979 that was called a "tablet" because its shape resembled... um, a tablet. Coincidentally, Apple recently introduced a mobile computing device that is also tablet-shaped.

    Slow news day, eh?

  5. Relation? by bart416 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And these two are related how?

  6. What? by FrostedWheat · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's no doubt the iPad is a revolutionary device

    Hi Steve!

  7. No, it means... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    No, what it means is that the Acolyte Tony Diaz has re-discovered a precious holy relic from the hallowed First Golden Era of the God-Emperor Steve Jobs, (May the Holy Kidney Protect Him). Such a relic proves the Divine authenticity of the Miracle of iPad and serves as a reminder of the omniscience of the God-Emperor Steve Jobs, (May the Holy Kidney Protect Him).

  8. so why don't they make them anymore? by apricotmuffins · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And yet, apple didnt expand on the graphics tablets and now another company (wacom) holds the industry standard and specialises in input devices for artists and graphic designers. I don't deny apple's innovation here, I just am curious as to how that came about.