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
220
Timeline span
1987 — 2007
Recorded events
1982 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 objects selected at random, drawn from 220 in the permanent collection.
View all artifacts
GeoWorks Corporation 1992
GeoWorks, Inc. - GEOS Software Development Kit Routines, Release 0.8 (Cover)

GeoWorks, Inc. – GEOS Software Development Kit Routines, Release 0.8 (Documentation)
Metrowerks, Inc. 1997
Metrowerks, Inc. - CodeWarrior for Windows CE Brochure (Front)

Metrowerks, Inc. – Metrowerks CodeWarrior for Windows CE (Brochure)
Stylus Publishing 1993
Pen-Based Computing: Volume 3, Number 5 (Cover)

Pen-Based Computing – October/November, 1993 – Volume 3, Number 5
Palm Computing, Inc. 1994

Palm Graffiti (for Zoomer) Package
Volksware, Inc. 1995
Pen-Based Computing: Volume 5, Number 2 (Cover)

Pen-Based Computing – February, 1995 – Volume 5, Number 2
Watcom International Corporation 1991

WATCOM C Library Reference for PenPoint
Creative Digital, Inc. 1996

PDA Developers – Volume 4.6 – Nov/Dec 1996
Creative Digital, Inc. 1996

PDA Developers – Volume 4.5 – Sept/Oct 1996
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1992
PenPoint Programming (Cover)

PenPoint Programming (Book)
aha! software corporation 1994
aha! InkWriter 2.0 Windows Yellow Maquette (Front)

aha! InkWriter 2.0 for Windows (Yellow Maquette)
Stylus Publishing 1991
Pen-Based Computing: Volume 1, Number 5 (Cover)

Pen-Based Computing – November, 1991 – Volume 1, Number 5
Pen Computing Magazine 1994

Pen Computing Magazine, August 1994 – Premier Issue
GO Corporation 1992
GO Corporation - PenPoint Development Tools (Cover)

GO Corporation – PenPoint Development Tools
Horizon House Publications, Inc. 1994
Microwave Journal – January 1994 (Cover)

Microwave Journal – January 1994
Eidetic, Inc. 1994
Eidetic, Inc. Notion: The Newton List Manager User Manual

Notion: The Newton List Manager User Manual
Creative Digital, Inc. 1995

PDA Developers East ’95 Conference Details (Pamphlet)
Palmtop Publications 2000
Palmtop Journal – Issue 30 (Cover)

Palmtop – Issue 30
Palmtop Publications 1998
Palmtop Journal – Issue 20 (Cover)

Palmtop Journal – Issue 20

A chronology.

1987 — 2007 Selected from the museum's 1982 catalogued timeline events.
View full timeline
1990Software
Slate Developing Set of Applications for GO Operating Environment
Slate Corp., the first company founded expressly to develop software for pen-based computers, announces that it will publish a set of applications…
1991Software
PenSoft Demonstrates Personal Information Manager for Mobile Pen-Based Computers
PenSoft Corp. demonstrated a prototype of its Personal Information Manager (PIM) that runs under PenPoint, an operating system optimized for mobile pen-based…
1995Event
IBM, Dell, Motorola, BellSouth, US West Cellular and Metricom to Cover Key Issues at the Mobile Outlook Conference and Exposition
Exhibitors at the three-day exposition, which will be held in tandem with the conference, include all major players in wireless and mobile…
2001Organization
Xilinx, Handspring, And Portable Design Magazine Announce Winner Of The “Cool Module” Design Contest
The winning "Cool Trak" design measures statistics for bicycle enthusiasts.
2004Organization
Survey: Psychiatrists Using Handheld Computers to Improve Quality of Patient Care
Skyscape survey finds key psychiatric reference use on PDAs helps reduce medical errors.
2006Software
Hypercom and Communications Intelligence Corp. Team to Combat Fraud and Identity Theft
Under the terms of the agreement, CIC will license its complete SignatureOne suite of biometric and electronic signature products to Hypercom.
2007Hardware
Apple Reinvents the Phone With iPhone
Apple introduces iPhone, combining three products-a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with…

The collection.

Browse 220 artifacts Indexed by category from the collection.
    NE

    Newton

    14 items →
    BO

    Book

    13 items →
    CO

    Coupon

    1 item →
    YI

    Young Ideas

    3 items →
    SP

    Stylus Publishing

    18 items →
    KE

    Keyboard

    1 item →
    RD

    Royal daVinci

    1 item →
    AL

    AllPen

    3 items →
    PI

    ParaGraph International

    2 items →
    HR

    Handwriting Recognition

    7 items →
    VO

    Volksware

    34 items →
    WP

    Word Processor

    11 items →
    UN

    University

    1 item →
    GE

    GeoWorks

    9 items →

    Pen-Based Computing,
    the newsletter.

    Eight volumes · Sixty five issues The original newsletter — every issue digitized in full (soon).
    Pen-Based Computing – May, 1994 – Volume 4, Number 4

    Volume 4 · Issue 04 Pen-Based Computing – May, 1994 – Volume 4, Number 4

    16 pp
    Pen-Based Computing – February, 1995 – Volume 5, Number 2

    Volume 5 · Issue 02 Pen-Based Computing – February, 1995 – Volume 5, Number 2

    16 pp
    Pen-Based Computing – February/March, 1994 – Volume 4, Number 2

    Volume 4 · Issue 02 Pen-Based Computing – February/March, 1994 – Volume 4, Number 2

    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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