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
245
Timeline span
1987 — 2007
Recorded events
2001 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 245 in the permanent collection.
View all artifacts
Watcom International Corporation 1991

WATCOM C Library Reference for PenPoint
Stylus Publishing 1992
Pen-Based Computing: Volume 2, Number 1 (Cover)

Pen-Based Computing – February, 1992 – Volume 2, Number 1
aha! software corporation 1993

aha! InkWriter (Maquette)
Psion, Inc. 1996

PSION Press Package (November 18, 1996)
Apple Computer, Inc. 1997

Apple Newton Connection Utilities User’s Manual (for the Macintosh Operating System)
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)
Microsoft Corporation 1992
GRiD Microsoft Windows for Pen Computing 1.0 User’s Guide (Cover)

GRiD Microsoft Windows for Pen Computing 1.0 User’s Guide
GO Corporation 1991

GO Corporation – The PenPoint Technical Papers
Stylus Publishing 1993
Pen-Based Computing: Volume 3, Number 2 (Cover)

Pen-Based Computing – April, 1993 – Volume 3, Number 2
GO Corporation 1991

GO Corporation – Installing PenPoint Demo Release, Beta Phase 2
EO, Incorporated 1993
EO, Inc. - Pen Expo Attendee Letter (August 26, 1993)

EO, Inc. – Pen Expo Attendee Letter (August 26, 1993)
Creative Digital, Inc. 1994

PIE Developers – Volume 2.2 – March, 1994
GeoWorks Corporation 1992
GeoWorks, Inc. - GEOS Software Development Kit Concepts - Volume 1, Release 0.8 (Cover)

GeoWorks, Inc. – GEOS Software Development Kit Concepts, Volume 1, Release 0.8 (Documentation)
Creative Digital, Inc. 1996

PDA Developers – Volume 4.4 – July/August 1996
PenMagic Software Inc. 1993
PenMagic Numero 2.0 Product Fact Sheet (Front)

PenMagic Numero 2.0 (Product Fact Sheet)
GO Corporation 1992

GO Corporation – Getting Started with PenPoint (Version 1.0)
EO, Incorporated 1993
EO, Inc. - Personal Communicator 440/880 Brochure - Photocopy (Front)

EO, Inc. – Personal Communicator 440/880 Brochure (Photocopy)
GeoWorks Corporation 1992
GeoWorks, Inc. - GEOS Software Development Kit Objects - Volume 1, Release 0.8 (Cover)

GeoWorks, Inc. – GEOS Software Development Kit Objects, Volume 1, Release 0.8 (Documentation)

A chronology.

1987 — 2007 Selected from the museum's 2001 catalogued timeline events.
View full timeline
1989Hardware
Software Companies Writing Programs for GRiDPad
GRiD Systems Corp. announces that numerous software vendors are building applications for the handwriting and electronic pen interface capabilities of GRiDPad, its…
1991Software
Major Computer Companies Join to Promote Worldwide Standard Character Encoding
A consortium of major computer companies have formally affiliated as Unicode Inc. to maintain and promote Unicode, a newly developed multilingual text…
1992Communications
Poqet Sees Accelerated Market Growth through Motorola’s Opening of ARDIS Protocols
Poqet Computer Corp. says that the opening of the ARDIS network access protocols and formation of Motorola's new Cellular Data Systems group…
1995Software
Metrowerks Launches New Low-Priced Codewarrior Programming Starter Kit
The CodeWarrior Programming Starter Kit, which will retail for US$79, is intended for use by entry-level programmers who want to learn how…
1999Hardware
New Accessory Provides Portable Fingerprint Recognition and Security For Palm Handheld Computers at CES 2000
Applied Biometrics Products, Inc. announces that they would demonstrate their Kryptic Pilot fingerprint identification product for Palm Computing platform devices at the…
2002Software
Handmark Takes Two Awards for SCRABBLE Game on PDAs
Both Palm, Inc. and Handheld Computing magazine have selected the Handmark, Inc. version of the classic SCRABBLE crossword game from Hasbro, Inc.…
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 245 artifacts Indexed by category from the collection.
    KE

    Keyboard

    1 item →
    DO

    Documentation

    17 items →
    MC

    Magic Cap

    2 items →
    VB

    Visitor's Badge

    1 item →
    JA

    Japan

    1 item →
    LE

    Letter

    5 items →
    AL

    AllPen

    3 items →
    ZO

    Zoomer

    2 items →
    PM

    Portable 100 Magazine

    2 items →
    ST

    Sticker

    1 item →
    YI

    Young Ideas

    3 items →
    GS

    GRiD Systems

    1 item →
    BR

    Brochure

    12 items →
    HO

    Hobbit

    2 items →

    Pen-Based Computing,
    the newsletter.

    Eight volumes · Sixty five issues The original newsletter — every issue digitized in full (soon).
    View all issues
    Pen-Based Computing – December, 1993 – Volume 3, Number 6

    Volume 3 · Issue 06 Pen-Based Computing – December, 1993 – Volume 3, Number 6

    16 pp
    Pen-Based Computing – September, 1995 – Volume 5, Number 9

    Volume 5 · Issue 09 Pen-Based Computing – September, 1995 – Volume 5, Number 9

    16 pp
    Pen-Based Computing – July, 1994 – Volume 4, Number 6

    Volume 4 · Issue 06 Pen-Based Computing – July, 1994 – Volume 4, Number 6

    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

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    Monthly.

    Learn about new acquisitions, recovered manuals, oral histories, and unearthed discoveries.

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