Re: [NTLK] Voice of reason

From: adam baker (adam_at_merges.net)
Date: Wed Nov 27 2002 - 14:49:32 EST


On Wednesday, November 27, 2002, at 08:57 AM, JBrock_at_eqt.com wrote:
> think that most of us would rather see or hope that there could be a
> possibility of reviving the platform on Apple's part.

I don't believe Newton can ever be "revived" per se. Few of the staff
who worked on Newton remained at Apple, and it is/was an expensive
technology to work with (partly because it's very proprietary). Certain
core OS elements, like the handwriting recognition software that found
its way into Mac OS X 10.2, might spring up again in a product, but
many of the qualities that make a Newton a Newton are probably a little
on the "long gone" side.

Furthermore, and this is the more pressing issue, Apple has clearly
stated many times that it's focused on certain strategies, and no
Apple-developed PDA (PDA in the sense that Newton is a PDA, not in the
sense that iPod can be used to hold phone numbers), much less a Newton,
seems to fit in with those strategies--partly due to financial reasons.
Developing a Newton-like device, or developing Newton again, or
remanufacturing Newtons, or even somehow officially recognizing and
supporting Newtons in some way further to what Apple is doing now, are
all expensive propositions that wouldn't pay off in terms of Apple's
apparent core strategies.

It's sad to say, for me particularly because I think Newton has the
best user experience of any technology I've ever used, but I think
Newton is a museum technology! Cool things (like HWR) will come out of
Newton--hopefully Newton Intelligence too--but Newton, as a platform,
as a kind of product, is probably a piece of technology history.

adam

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