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When you hear the word Newton, what comes to your mind? Sir Isaac Newton, the famous scientist and mathematician? Fig Newton, the fruit-filled soft cookie? A town or city? Or, the Newton MessagePad, the personal digital assistant created by Apple in the mid-to-late 90’s that was the precursor to today’s iPhone and iPad? For me, it’s the last one.

From zero to one

In 1993, I purchased the Original Newton MessagePad 100 (OMP). It was my introduction into mobile computing decades before it became mainstream. The OMP was my trusted companion for the next three years of college, which included my time as an exchange student in Paris, France [1].

In March, 1996, Apple launched Newton OS 2.0 along with the MessagePad 120 and 130 [2]. It had significant improvements to handwriting recognition, the user interface, and developer tools. The MessagePad 2000 [3] and 2100, released in 1997 marked both the zenith and twilight of the Newton product line.

Discontinued in early 1998, there was never a Newton OS 3.0 from Apple, but the legacy of the Newton lived on in products like the iMac, iPhone, and iPad. To this day, a small but dedicated group of Newton enthusiasts continue to keep the green flame alive on Discord, Facebook, and mailing lists.

What’s in a name?

As we saw at the beginning of this article, the Newton name can mean different things to different people. This month, I learned that the spirit of my Newton can live on in another way. I was browsing through the list of adoptable cats at the Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority, and I saw a listing for Newton, an adorable gray and white kitten about eleven weeks old.

I’ve never owned a cat, but I have liked them since I was a kid — especially if they act all loving like a dog. My wife has owned a cat before, and the kiddo also prefers them to dogs. So, after the family met Newton at the SVACA, it didn’t take too much convincing for us to decide to adopt him.

There’s so much to learn about having a kitten. Fortunately, there’s a wealth of resources available for a first-time kitten owner like myself. I’ve already started to repurpose materials around the house — cardboard boxes, poster tubes, rope, string, window blinds tilt rods, and little stuffies — into toys, shelters, and play structures for Newton.

Right now, we’re keeping him primarily in the outside bathroom. In a week or so, we’ll introduce him to the rest of the house. And our family will go from three to four.

Newton 1.0 lasted from 1993 to 1996. Newton 2.0 went from 1997 to 1998, though it’s still used and loved by the Newton community to this day. Our unique Newton 3.0 was born in 2024, and we hope to enjoy his cat computing company for the next decade plus.

Say hello to Newton in the comments section below!

1. Many people traveling on the Paris Métro in the mid-90’s read the newspaper or their livres de poche (pocket books). I wonder what they thought when they saw me tapping away on my Newton MessagePad. Did they think that it was a silly technological fad or were they intrigued? It was, after all, a glimpse of the future.
2. The MessagePad 120 originally shipped with Newton OS 1.3, but with the release of Newton OS 2.0, users could upgrade (at a cost) to the new operating system.
3. The paid upgrade from a MessagePad 2000 to 2100 required users to send in their 2000 to Apple so that a new daughterboard with more RAM could be installed.