Apple's release of the iPad was the culmination of fans' long wait for a tablet. But in 1979, an earlier generation of Apple users used a different kind of Apple tablet. The Apple Graphics Tablet was designed by Summagraphics and sold by Apple Computer for the Apple II. This tablet was not a standalone computing device like the iPad, but was an input device for creating images on the Apple II, and predated the Apple II's mouse by six years.
Apple II fan Tony Diaz showed an Apple Graphics Tablet at the recent KansasFest annual convention for diehard Apple II users. He and Computerworld's Ken Gagne compared and contrasted Apple's tablet products.
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