The PenPoint Technical Papers describes GO Corporation’s “unique approach to serving the needs of mobile computer users.”
The softcover, Xerox-printed document was targeted at members of the Software Entrepreneurs Forum, a Silicon Valley-based professional organization originally founded in 1983.
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GO Corporation was founded in 1987 to create portable computers, an operating system, and software with a pen-based user interface. It was famous not only for its pioneering work in pen-based computing, but also for being one of the most well-funded start-up companies of its time.
Its founders were Jerry Kaplan, Robert Carr, and Kevin Doren. Mr. Kaplan subsequently chronicled the history of the company in his book Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure.
(Source: Wikipedia)
(Note: This introduction appeared as the first page in “The PenPoint Technical Paper.”)
From mainframe to mini to workstation to PC, computers have gone from remote, mysterious objects of interest only to highly trained specialists behind glass walls, to personal productivity tools available to any reasonably handy person willing to invest some time and effort. The computer industry grows in waves, rather than through consistent, smooth expansion. Each wave exploits advances in component technologies to deliver new solutions in new formats to new users, making computers more accessible.
We are at the beginning of the next great wave of computing. Advances in hardware, software and communication make possible a new class of machine: the mobile, pen computer. These machines are operated with a pen rather than with a keyboard and a mouse.
Mobile pen computers combine the convenience of a notebook with the power of a computer. This new format – more akin to a paper notebook or clipboard than to today’s PCs will once again expand the computer industry by serving new users with new uses.
The pen itself promises simplicity to the new user. It is a single, familiar tool to enter data and issue commands. Good tools fit their function so well that they are transparent to their user. The user focuses only on the result; the tool becomes a natural extension of the individual The tennis racket, the violin, and the sewing needle merge with a skilled practitioner to the point of invisibility. Some tools are more extensions of the mind than of the body; the pen is a tool for manipulating information and ideas rather than physical objects.
Future computers must be better tools. They must become extensions of ourselves, processing information and communicating when and where the need arises. To meet this challenge, computer design must break with the past and derive from the pen, rather than the typewriter. Mobile pen computers can meet the needs business professionals, students, and even consumers, by combining the power of a computer with the convenience of a pen.
The PenPoint Technical Papers contained in this document describe GO’s unique approach to serving the needs of mobile computer users. We hope that you find them enlightening.
S. Jerrold Kaplan
Chairman
GO Corporation used this video to promote the developer release of the PenPoint OS in 1991. PenPoint was one of the first operating systems designed specifically to run on mobile devices. Featuring: Dr. Norm Vincent (State Farm), Terry Conner (EDS), Phillipe Kahn (Borland), Jack Blount (Novell), David Reed (Lotus), Alan Lefkof (Grid), Vern Raburn (Slate), Dan Bricklin (Slate), and Jim Cannavino (IBM).
GO Corporation’s 1991 promotional video about their pen-based operating system, aimed at software developers. Includes an extensive demo by Robert Carr, architect of the operating system, where he shows the notebook metaphor, their use of gestures, the embedded document architecture, and more.
