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5 Gadgets that were Ahead of their Time

Written By Val Jose Mendoza
Published • May 10th, 2023
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Throughout history, many gadgets have been far advanced from what was available back in the day, offering features and capabilities that were ahead of their time.

Unfortunately, despite their potential, they failed to catch on and find a significant audience.

So we’ll check out five gadgets that were way ahead of their time and that paved the way for the devices we use today.

Table of Contents

Apple Newton MessagePad

The Apple Newton MessagePad was essentially the iPhone or iPad 25 years ago before we come to know the iPhones and iPads we have today.

It was Apple’s first attempt to put a handheld computer in your pocket and was one of the first lines of devices called “Personal Digital Assistants”.

Apple Newton

The Apple Newton featured a built-in stylus and its main purpose being able to send emails and messages, write notes, store contacts, and even send a fax. It even used handwriting recognition as its main way to interact, although it wasn’t all that great at it with the entire package being pretty buggy.

It was also pretty pricey considering that it was USD 900 when it launched, which considering inflation is now about USD 1800. So yeah, it wasn’t cheap.

Apple Newton (2)

Looking back at the Newton, we see its influence on iPhones with apps and even iPads while using the Apple Pencil, most especially due to the fact that Apple had actually used an ARM processor underneath, which all smartphones today now use.

It was also launched at a time when Steve Jobs was booted as CEO and by the time he came back in 1997, it was decided that the Newton be discontinued just two years later it was originally launched.

Nokia E90 Communicator

In the last 3 years, we’ve seen phones that fold into smaller phones, phones that unfold into a tablet, and even laptops with foldable screens.

Released in 2007, the Nokia E90 communicator could be considered the granddad of foldables we see today from the likes of Samsung, Huawei, OPPO, and even now Google.

Nokia E90 (2)

The phone featured a standard 2-inch display, keypad, and a single camera found on most phones at the time.

But the standout feature of the Nokia E90 was its full QWERTY keyboard and larger 4-inch display inside when unfolded, this made it easier to type out messages and emails than on other smartphones at the time.

Nokia E90

Despite its impressive feature set, the Nokia E90 communicator didn’t catch on as well as Nokia had hoped.

One reason was its high price tag, which started at around USD 1,000. Additionally, the phone was bulky and heavy, which made it less portable than other smartphones on the market.

MacBook 12-inch

The MacBook 12-inch was released back in 2015 and was really the start of the thin and light laptops we see today.

Back then, everyone had scrutinized Apple for only having a single USB-C port but it was the first ever device that introduced us to USB-C ports we now find on every smartphone, laptop, and tablet.

Macbook 12 Inch

So why did Apple decide to kill it off? Well other than the early 2015 models having so many issues from failing displays, motherboards, and not to mention the shallow butterfly keyboard.

It was also very unpowered with only an Intel Core m3 at launch, which wasn’t enough for any heavy workloads. And no, this isn’t the same type of Apple silicon M2 chip we see in today’s MacBooks.

Macbook 12 Inch (2)

The MacBook 12-inch was so thin and light that it weighed less than 1kg and measured only 0.14 inches at its thinnest point. Anyone who has ever had a chance to use one would know how easy it was to carry around and use.

So if ever Apple decides to revive the 12-inch MacBook with its own M2 chip, thinner bezels, a few more ports, and an improved keyboard. We’d say that could be one of the best thin and light laptops made.

Motorola Atrix

Nowadays the world is full of this idea of “Ecosystem” with Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and many more having their own ways of connecting your phones, tablets, and laptops.

But what if I told you that Motorola had a similar idea just way back in 2011 with the Motorola Atrix as one of the first phones with a dual-core processor, a high-resolution display, and a fingerprint scanner, which was still a relatively new technology at the time.

Motorola Atrix (2)

One of the unique features of the Motorola Atrix was its docking station, which was designed to turn the phone into a fully-fledged laptop. This was a novel concept at the time and showcased the potential of smartphones to serve as the main computing device for many people.

Despite its impressive feature set, the Motorola Atrix didn’t catch on as well as Motorola had hoped due to the fact that its dual-core processor wasn’t anywhere near powerful enough to run a laptop and that the actual experience was rather limited and clunky.

Motorola Atrix

It also didn’t help that the phone cost USD 200 but the laptop dock was an additional USD 500.

Despite its shortcomings, the Motorola Atrix represented an important step forward in the development of smartphones with features such as Apple’s Airdrop, Samsung Dex, and Huawei Share.

Google Glass

With all the hype about Virtual Reality and the Metaverse, companies have now hopped on the mixed reality headset race with players such as Facebook, Sony PlayStation, and even Apple now rumored to release their own soon.

Then you may have unlocked a core memory when reminded about the Google Glass way back in 2013.

Google Glass (2)

It wasn’t as robust as Mixed Reality headsets we have nowadays, but it had pretty much all the functions of a smartphone such as being able to show directions right in front of you, show your notifications, calls, and messages, and it even had a camera to capture photos and videos.

Especially in 2023 when we have products such as the Meta Quest, Snapchat Spectacles, and even Ray Ban sunglasses with cameras on them. The Google Glass was way ahead of its time.

Google Glass

So why didn’t it catch on? Well for starters, it didn’t help that it was priced at USD 1,500 but there was also much concern about privacy, as it had the potential to record and transmit video and audio without the user’s knowledge or consent.

This led to reports of Google Glass being banned in movie theaters over concerns of piracy and police pulling people over for the concern of watching a movie whilst driving.

What other devices can you think of that were ahead of their time? Let us know!

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Val Jose Mendoza

Hi! I'm VJ Mendoza! Although I just finished my Bachelor's in Nursing, I've always loved tech and to just to get an idea of me, some things I like are anime, video games, sports such as basketball, volleyball and fencing.