The iPad wasn’t Apple’s first tablet. Nor is the iPad Pro the first Apple tablet to have a stylus (ahem Apple Pencil). Before there was the iPad, iPad Air, iPad Mini or the iPad Pro…there was the Newton MessagePad.

Introduced in 1993, it paved the way for device like the Palm PDA, Pocket PC, and more than a decade later the Apple’s own iPhone. Unfortunately, the Newton was Ridiculed for poor performance, it didn’t last long in the marketplace, but its influence lingers on today.

In 2008, TechRepublic got our hands on an Apple Newton H1000, also known as an OMP (Original Message Pad). This was the first Newton on the market. We just couldn’t resist taking it apart. Here’s a look at the technology inside the Apple iPad’s early ancestor.

Update 9/10/2015: Removed broken page breaks and added information about the iPad Pro.