5 ms·

I was also curious about that. In other stories I've read, I've heard it referred to as a big ugly box with a touch screen embedded on top of it, which is what

I was also curious about that. In other stories I've read, I've heard it referred to as a big ugly box with a touch screen embedded on top of it, which is what I imagined most people worked on. But this just looks like a normal iPhone with a large breadboard connected.

ianhowson 8y ago
I always imagined that the iPad came about because some engineer had a Retina iPhone prototype on a standard 72dpi screen and figured it might work to replace a laptop. Take the old eMac software, and bam, iPad. (100% speculation)
- saagarjha 8y ago
  I believe “iPad” was actually being developed prior to iPhone and was put on pause while multitouch and other technology was lifted from the project to support iPhone.
  - sjwright 8y ago
    That's how Steve Jobs tells it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps&t=2233 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps&t=2233
- rvense 8y ago
  The iPad was actually conceptualized before the desktop workstation was common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook
  - ddalex 8y ago
    The iPad was conceptualized as a thin touch screen no-keyboard slate since at least 1992 in Star Trek TNG [0] [0] https://i1.wp.com/www.techdigest.tv/star-trek-tablet.jpg?resize=468%2C285 https://i1.wp.com/www.techdigest.tv/star-trek-tablet.jpg?res...
    - mercutio2 8y ago
      DynaBook was long, long before STtNG.
    - monocasa 8y ago
      How about 1960s, with 2001: A Space Odyssey. https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/did-stanley-kubrick-invent-ipad https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/did-st...
    - joezydeco 8y ago
      The iPad was also conceptualized in 1988 as "Tablet", the winning entry in the Apple Computer "Design the Computer of the Year 2000" contest. https://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/academic/tablet-personal-computer-year-2000.pdf https://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/academic/tablet-... One of the members of the winning team was Stephen Wolfram.
95014_refugee 8y ago
Since the iPad display is much larger than the phone display, sitting it on the board like this wasn’t practical. There was an iPad dev board that looked a lot like this, but there were also ‘acrylics’ - chassis made from cnc’d Acrylic sheeting - that supported the screen connected to the board by a flex. Most engineers wanted nothing to do with the display units; they were bulky and relatively fragile and desk space is always at a premium.
joezydeco 8y ago
That’s this (earlier) development system. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/exclusive-super-early-iphone-prototype-had-5x7-screen-serial-port/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/exclusive-super-earl...

ianhowson 8y ago

I always imagined that the iPad came about because some engineer had a Retina iPhone prototype on a standard 72dpi screen and figured it might work to replace a laptop. Take the old eMac software, and bam, iPad. (100% speculation)

saagarjha 8y ago
I believe “iPad” was actually being developed prior to iPhone and was put on pause while multitouch and other technology was lifted from the project to support iPhone.
- sjwright 8y ago
  That's how Steve Jobs tells it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps&t=2233 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps&t=2233
rvense 8y ago
The iPad was actually conceptualized before the desktop workstation was common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook
- ddalex 8y ago
  The iPad was conceptualized as a thin touch screen no-keyboard slate since at least 1992 in Star Trek TNG [0] [0] https://i1.wp.com/www.techdigest.tv/star-trek-tablet.jpg?resize=468%2C285 https://i1.wp.com/www.techdigest.tv/star-trek-tablet.jpg?res...
  - mercutio2 8y ago
    DynaBook was long, long before STtNG.
  - monocasa 8y ago
    How about 1960s, with 2001: A Space Odyssey. https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/did-stanley-kubrick-invent-ipad https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/did-st...
  - joezydeco 8y ago
    The iPad was also conceptualized in 1988 as "Tablet", the winning entry in the Apple Computer "Design the Computer of the Year 2000" contest. https://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/academic/tablet-personal-computer-year-2000.pdf https://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/academic/tablet-... One of the members of the winning team was Stephen Wolfram.

95014_refugee 8y ago

Since the iPad display is much larger than the phone display, sitting it on the board like this wasn’t practical. There was an iPad dev board that looked a lot like this, but there were also ‘acrylics’ - chassis made from cnc’d Acrylic sheeting - that supported the screen connected to the board by a flex. Most engineers wanted nothing to do with the display units; they were bulky and relatively fragile and desk space is always at a premium.

joezydeco 8y ago

That’s this (earlier) development system. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/exclusive-super-early-iphone-prototype-had-5x7-screen-serial-port/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/exclusive-super-earl...