Had Apple (AAPL) not managed to radically revise its early tablet designs before finally launching the iPad in early 2010, the tablet market would likely be in a much different place right now. As uncovered by Network World, this horribly thick vision of what an Apple tablet might have looked like utilizing decade-old technology was created by the Cupertino, California-based company some time between 2002 and 2004 according to testimony from design boss Jonathan Ive. “My recollection of first seeing it is very hazy, but it was, I’m guessing, some time between 2002 and 2004,” Ive testified. “I remember seeing this and perhaps models similar to this when we were first exploring tablet designs that ultimately became the iPad.” The images of the prototype tablet were shown during an ongoing patent trial between Apple and South Korean rival Samsung (005930KS).
Images of 10-year-old iPad prototype surface during patent trial
Updated Dec 19th, 2018 8:30PM EST
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Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.
His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.
