Apple debuted revolutionary Newton MessagePad twenty-six years ago

Apple iPhone 4 (left) next to Newton MessagePad (photo: Harry McCracken / TIME.com)
Luke Dormehl for Cult of Mac:August 2, 1993: Apple debuts the MessagePad, the first product in its Newton line of handheld personal digital assistants.
The most unfairly maligned product in Apple history, the Newton is a revolutionary device. It predates Apple’s push toward app-based mobile devices 14 years later. Often dismissed as a failure, the Newton ranks near the top of the list of Apple’s most