GO Corporation was founded in 1987 to create portable computers, an
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
, and
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
with a pen-based user interface. It was famous not only for its pioneering work in
Pen-based computing
Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using a pen or stylus and tablet, over input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.
Pen computing is also used to refer to the usage of mobile devices such as tablet computers, PDAs and GPS recei ...
but as well as being one of the most well-funded
start-up
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...
companies of its time.
Its founders were
Jerry Kaplan
Samuel Jerrold "Jerry" Kaplan (born March 25, 1952) is an American computer scientist, author, futurist, and entrepreneur. He is best known as a pioneer in the field of pen computing and tablet computers. He is the founder of numerous companies ...
,
Robert Carr
Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley, (11 November 1916 – 17 February 2012) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Home Secretary from 1972 to 1974. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 26 years, and later ser ...
, and
Kevin Doren
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...
. Mr. Kaplan subsequently chronicled the history of the company in his book ''Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure''.
Omid Kordestani
Omid R. Kordestani ( fa, امید کردستانی; born 1963) is an Iranian-American businessman who was the Executive Chairman at Twitter from October 2015 to June 2020 and a board member of the company until October 2022. He was a Senior Vic ...
, former Senior VP of Global Business at
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
, began his startup career with GO Corporation. Other notable GO alumni include CEO
Bill Campbell (who later became chairman of
Intuit
Intuit Inc. is an American business software company that specializes in financial software. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and the CEO is Sasan Goodarzi. Intuit's products include the tax preparation application Tu ...
), VP Sales Stratton Sclavos (took
VeriSign
Verisign Inc. is an American company based in Reston, Virginia, United States that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the , , and gener ...
public as its CEO), CFO and VP of Business Operations
Randy Komisar
Randy Komisar is a technology attorney, executive, and author living in Silicon Valley, California. Komisar is the co-founder of Claris, former CEO of Lucas Arts Entertainment, Chief Financial Officer of GO Corp, and the "virtual CEO" of TiVo.
Ea ...
(became CEO of
LucasArts
Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game brand licensing, licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as ...
), and VP Marketing
Mike Homer
Michael J. Homer (February 24, 1958 – February 1, 2009) was an American electronics and computer industry executive who played major roles in the development of the personal computer, mobile devices and the Internet.
Life and career
Homer w ...
(was VP Marketing at time of
Netscape
Netscape Communications Corporation (originally Mosaic Communications Corporation) was an American independent computer services company with headquarters in Mountain View, California and then Dulles, Virginia. Its Netscape web browser was onc ...
's
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
in 1995).
History
Though the company enjoyed high levels of public awareness and generally positive attention from industry press, it ran into fierce competition, first from Microsoft (whose Pen Services for Windows were later the subject of an
FTC investigation and patent violation suits by GO), and later from Apple's
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
project, and others. The company lined up software development partners but struggled to deliver hardware and software on their intended schedule. In 1991, they spun off their hardware unit under the name
EO Inc., and in 1993 EO was acquired by
AT&T Corporation
AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...
, who hoped that its devices would showcase their
AT&T Hobbit
The AT&T Hobbit is a microprocessor design that AT&T Corporation developed in the early 1990s. It was based on the company's CRISP (C-language Reduced Instruction Set Processor) design, which in turn grew out of the C Machine design by Bell Labs o ...
microprocessors. This sale raised much-needed cash but introduced new problems, as EO then ceased to coordinate well with GO's management, even considering adopting competing operating systems. Facing a cash crisis, GO agreed to sell itself to AT&T as well, bringing the two halves of the company back under one roof as of January 1994.
GO's
PenPoint OS
The PenPoint OS was a product of GO Corporation and was one of the earliest operating systems written specifically for graphical tablets and personal digital assistants. It ran on AT&T Corporation's EO Personal Communicator as well as a number o ...
ran on AT&T's
EO Personal Communicator
The EO is an early commercial tablet computer that was created by Eo, Inc. (later acquired by AT&T Corporation), and released in April 1993. Eo (Latin for "I go") is the hardware spin-out of GO. Officially named the AT&T EO Personal Communicat ...
and computers from
IBM and others, but despite some success in
vertical markets
A vertical market is a market in which vendors offer goods and services ''specific'' to an industry, trade, profession, or other group of customers with specialized needs. A horizontal market is a market in which a product or service meets a nee ...
, consumers in the 1990s did not adopt
tablet computing as enthusiastically as GO management had expected. (GO produced a
286-based lightweight "Go Computer" specifically for developers and evaluators; the company emphasis was that end users would run PenPoint OS on third-party hardware.) In January 1994, only two weeks after acquiring GO, AT&T decided to cancel the Hobbit product line, leaving it no reason to continue to support EO or GO. They had by then ceased to develop for other chips, and sales on the other platforms were small anyway. Co-founder
Jerry Kaplan
Samuel Jerrold "Jerry" Kaplan (born March 25, 1952) is an American computer scientist, author, futurist, and entrepreneur. He is best known as a pioneer in the field of pen computing and tablet computers. He is the founder of numerous companies ...
says that in its lifetime, the company generated "no meaningful sales". The loss of AT&T's support left GO with little chance of future revenue and, after burning through $75 million of
venture funding
Venture capital financing is a type of funding by venture capital. It is private equity capital that can be provided at various stages or funding rounds. Common funding rounds include early-stage seed funding in high-potential, growth companies ( ...
, the company closed in July 1994.
Lawsuits
On 29 June 2005, Kaplan filed an
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
lawsuit against
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
, alleging that Microsoft technicians had stolen technology from GO that had been shown to them under a
non-disclosure agreement
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...
.
In a separate legal matter, in April 2008 certain features of the
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
's Windows/
Tablet PC
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...
operating system and hardware were found to infringe on a patent by GO Corporation concerning user interfaces for pen computers.
See also
*
Apple Newton
The Newton is a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed and marketed by Apple Computer, Inc. An early device in the PDA category (the Newton originated the term), it was the first to feature handwriting recognition. Apple started ...
*
PenPoint OS
The PenPoint OS was a product of GO Corporation and was one of the earliest operating systems written specifically for graphical tablets and personal digital assistants. It ran on AT&T Corporation's EO Personal Communicator as well as a number o ...
*
Pen computing
Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using a pen or stylus and tablet, over input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.
Pen computing is also used to refer to the usage of mobile devices such as tablet computers, PDAs and GPS recei ...
*
History of tablet computers
The history of tablet computers and the associated special operating software is an example of pen computing technology, and thus the development of tablets has deep historical roots.
The first patent for a system that recognized handwritten chara ...
Notes
References
* - Contains two chapters dealing with the GO story from a view inside Microsoft.
External links
IDEO- Company that helped develop the
EO Personal Communicator
The EO is an early commercial tablet computer that was created by Eo, Inc. (later acquired by AT&T Corporation), and released in April 1993. Eo (Latin for "I go") is the hardware spin-out of GO. Officially named the AT&T EO Personal Communicat ...
, based on the PenPoint operating system.
Annotated bibliography of references to handwriting recognition, gestures and pen computingNotes on the History of Pen-based Computing (YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Go Corp.
American companies established in 1987
American companies disestablished in 1994
Computer companies established in 1987
Computer companies disestablished in 1994
Defunct computer companies of the United States
Defunct software companies of the United States