Too_Many_Tools wrote:

The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years ....do you agree?

Any that you think they overlooked?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/2005...E0BHNlYwN0bWE-

They list the Apple Newton at #28 and indicate that it "paved the way
for smaller, simpler devices like the PalmPilot", but in fact like many
of the things that are hyped as being invented by Apple, the Newton was
once again a rehash of someone else's product.

The Casio Databank PF8000 predated the Newton by nearly a decade, I got
mine in about 1985, had handwriting recognition remarkably similar to
the "graffiti" that showed up in the PalmPilot much much later and a
whopping 4K of memory with the extra 2K expansion pack.

For those who never saw the PF8000, it is/was about 5" wide, 3" high and
1/4" thick with a 2" square or so touch pad area at the right which
functioned both for handwritten text input without the need for a
stylus, and also doubled as a calculator touch pad. The Databank watches
came quite a bit later.

For those who think the somewhat ill fated Apple Newton was a technology
leader way ahead of it's time, Casio beat Apple both by a decade and
with better functionality, usability and ergonomics.

Pete C.