A little wonder, every day

The Newspad in 2001: A Space Odyssey

Arthur C. Clarke on the Discovery set in February 1965. Original: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur_C._Clarke_1965.jpg. ITU Pictures; CC BY 2.0; credit “ITU Pictures, CC BY 2.0”; no edits.

32 GB Wi-Fi first-generation iPad. Original: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPad-WiFi-1stGen.jpg. Photographer Evan-Amos released the image into the public domain; courtesy credit retained; no edits.

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Arthur C. Clarke on the Discovery set in February 1965. Original: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur_C._Clarke_1965.jpg. ITU Pictures; CC BY 2.0; credit “ITU Pictures, CC BY 2.0”; no edits.

Listen to fact0:00 / —

In the 1968 film *2001: A Space Odyssey*, astronauts watch news on thin portable screens while eating. In the novel developed alongside the film with Arthur C. Clarke, the device is called a Newspad: it lets the user read electronic newspapers and receive news from Earth. Apple introduced the iPad in 2010, 42 calendar years after the film. The resemblance is the form and use of a portable screen, but tablet computers existed before the iPad, so the work did not predict either the category itself or a specific modern device.