Distinguishing characteristics: 10-inch monochrome screen, tethered pen; 1MB of RAM, two memory card slots, and a proprietary network interface. Ran MS-DOS with proprietary pen extensions.
Original price (including software): about $3,000
The critics speak: "I was quite impressed by the pen interface and how easy it is to learn." --Rod Chapin, InfoWorld
What happened: By tablet standards, the GRiDPAD -- which was designed for businessy applications such as data collection in the field -- was well reviewed and seems to have sold reasonably well. But AST (which bought GRiD Systems from Tandy, which had acquired it in 1988) ran into trouble in the mid-1990s. When it collapsed, the GRiDPAD disappeared.
Relevant factoid: The GRiDPAD was an early creation of Jeff Hawkins, who went on to sell more pen-based devices than anybody else when he founded Palm and invented the PalmPilot.
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