Photos of Early iPad Mockup Surface in Samsung Lawsuit Documents

[alent1234]

And Apple R&D was working on a lot of products that never see the light of day. This 'tablet' idea could have been a 'thought experiment' at the time of inception that caught the eye of Steve and started him and others thinking 'what if...'

I had read somewhere that Apple does a whole lot of research and prototype design for different devices and different markets. I had even heard that Apple was working, at one time, on a car stereo head unit with built-in iPod capabilities. Something involving wireless synching and downloading, and potentially using a satellite link for live news and other content delivery. I think that would be too cool and dominate the market, but apparently no one at Apple was interested in fighting the entrenched car audio market.

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Hey, if it works...

the idea of tablets goes back to the 1960's. by the middle of the last decade most had given up on it, until apple made a workable product around a SoC instead of a full CPU and a touch screen. otherwise MS was selling tablets when this mockup came out

 

[bharatgupta]

I think that'd be way too awesome to play with.... just to see what someone was thinking of way back then. I'd put my bets on a g3, since it's got the white enclosure like the late iBook G3s received.. or the iBook g4...

I hope those units are in some Apple hall of fame or Ive's private collection...

...and I was wondering the same thing... looks like ketchup cups .. back then the money was going into the design team... materials not necessary were out of the budget

dude its apple, anti info sharing

 

[fredf]

Gotta love the commentary about how is looks like the iPad today.

My god, guys. It's rectangular and has a dock connector on the bottom (where it world else would it go?). No home button.

It looks like virtually every other tablet on the market.

Leave us alone with all this b.s.

 

[myrtlebee]

Sometimes I miss that iconic white plastic... but the cracks, not so much.

 

[Allenbf]

It does make you realize the "Hey, us too!" mentality of Android. Just saying.

And yes, I realize Microsoft had their thing in the past, but let's be realistic...it wasn't like this.

Side note, does Ballmer remind anyone else of Uncle Fester on The Addams Family?

 

[bharatgupta]

personally i believe this could have easily been a hotseller like the ipods back then.

this looks really elegant, well designed, not at all bulky as per those day's laptop's standards

but internet usage was not that strong back then like it is today, which solely has made ipad what it is today, its how we use and what we use it for!

apple indeed has a great design and development lab. love

 

[Schizoid]

...just thought, that was probably the Intel version of the proto-pad...imagine what the G5 one looked like!

 

[children]

Maybe thicker, but personally I still find something really appealing to it's design... I think the proportion of the black bezel to the white sides maybe...

I really really would like to know what was Steve Job's first reaction holding it in his hands...

"that's *****!" Steve Jobs

 

[bharatgupta]

It does make you realize the "Hey, us too!" mentality of Android. Just saying.

And yes, I realize Microsoft had their thing in the past, but let's be realistic...it wasn't like this.

Side note, does Ballmer remind anyone else of Uncle Fester on The Addams Family?

lol @ the unlce fester yeah i always crowned him tihs title..

btw trully agree with u, i was in Graphic design back then in 2005-2006 and i was looking for a touch computer, they were horrible, heat machines that were very costly atleast in my country and so i had to settle for a regular laptop,

there was no true tablet in the market back then and i ve used the windows ones they were pathetic heat machines nothing more or less

 

[davidwarren]

Why do the photos look like they're from the 1940's? I'm pretty sure digital cameras were around 10 years ago.

Instagram. Duh.

 

[bharatgupta]

Instagram. Duh.

they were shared via myspace as GIFs

 

[MadGoat]

It's the thickest white thing I've seen since showering earlier this morning.

But seriously, thank goodness Apple strives for thinner, sleeker.

Ahh, I see you opened a new bar of soap...? Yeah Ivory is pretty thick.

 

[Krazy Bill]

So Apple says they own the patent on all rectangles with a screen?

Note to Samsung and Apple: Just "compete" already... We'll decide.

 

[Allenbf]

Ahh, I see you opened a new bar of soap...? Yeah Ivory is pretty thick.

Nice one, I commend you

 

[peejay3]

In a decade or two, our iPads 2 and "the new" iPads will seem exactly that much thicker than the future products.

How do you knowthat?

 

[HarryKeogh]

Awesome. I knew it was an old prototype when it boasted it's "monocle display".

 

[Frobozz]

Wow, that really is amazing to think that Apple had an iPad in their proverbial back pocket for so long. Imagine the other treasures around living room TV simplification that could be hidden for years. Amazing.

 

[bharatgupta]

Wow, that really is amazing to think that Apple had an iPad in their proverbial back pocket for so long. Imagine the other treasures around living room TV simplification that could be hidden for years. Amazing.

inception was the product of apple labs

 

[Piggie]

No nasty clicky home button popper switch
No nasty thick bezel around the screen

Just shave the thickness down and bring this out for the iPad4 please.

 

[gloss]

Gotta love the commentary about how is looks like the iPad today.

My god, guys. It's rectangular and has a dock connector on the bottom (where it world else would it go?). No home button.

It looks like virtually every other tablet on the market.

Leave us alone with all this b.s.

It looks like virtually every other tablet on the market post-iPad. Look up a few from 2002 and tell me what you see.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

A good fight.

 

[damir00]

Sounds like Ives wasn't responsible for the iPad design.

 

[iWaldo]

Huh. Someone should make a big fat polycarbonate protective case for the current iPad so we can recreate this at home.

 

[Waxhead138]

Potential Proof

I agree that the ongoing patent disputes are arguably very frivolous, what would made a huge difference is whether or not Apple can prove Samsung ever saw one of these prototypes prior to the IPad release. These protos more resemble some of the current Samsung models even more so than the current Ipad.

 

[Rogifan]

Sounds like Ives wasn't responsible for the iPad design.

Well according to Walter Isaacson's book when Apple execs were discussing doing a netbook Ive was the one who suggested it have a virtual keyboard because he felt physical keyboards were bulky and expensive.

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It looks like virtually every other tablet on the market post-iPad. Look up a few from 2002 and tell me what you see.

I'm surprised we've gone 74 or so posts without a picture of that Samsung picture frame.