From: Ed Kummel (tech_ed_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Apr 18 2005 - 11:40:23 PDT
Well, yes...there's that, but saying "because he
canceled the Newton" is like saying an atom bomb is
"just an explosion". Sure, it's that, and much more!
When he canceled the Newt, he didn't just cancle a
computing platform, he canceled a potentially growing
and flourishing industry. Entire businesses were built
for the sole purpose of developing, enhancing and
promoting Newton technology. Thousands of jobs and
hundreds of millions of venture capitol funding were
lost when with just one might swoop of his "not
invented here" mindset, declared the Newton "persona
non grata" (sp). Burgeoning companies in the fledgling
industry of Newt received the death knell with the
same impact of "shock and awe". People to this day
look upon that decision with disbelief. I remember
talking to Conrad Blickensdorfer of Pen Computing
magazine the day after the announcement and his asking
what we're going to do now (about the company I was
working for at the time) We had placed several hundred
(It might have been as high as a thousand) Newton in
the hands of industry captains and had on hand at
least a hundred more on order to fill from inventory.
But once the announcement came, all the orders were
canceled, leaving us with tens of thousands of dollars
in a highly commoditized (at that time) handheld
computer. (don't worry, there are none left, they went
to a liquidator or something...I dont' know...I left
that company soon after)
So yeah...bitter? yup, but it goes much deeper in some
than just a "that b*stard" sentiment...
Ed
web/gadget guru
--- "David M. Ensteness" <denstene_at_mac.com> wrote:
> A related question to all this discussion of Steve
> Jobs:
>
> Why do Newton users hate Steve Jobs so much?
>
> Is it solely because he cancelled the Newton?
>
> Not that this is a terrible reason or anything. But
> this whole
> conversation has seemed a bit strange to me, for
> example, when was the
> last time that Jobs made any comment public or
> otherwise that we know
<snip>
"I'm not an expert, but I *did* stay at a Holiday Inn Express once..."
--Holiday Inn Commercial
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