[NTLK] Einstein running on iPhone

[Lord Groundhog]

~~~ On 2010/09/16 00:28, Riccardo Mori at rick at newted.org wrote ~~~

> 
> quoth James Fraser:
> 
>> Anyway, from my own bitter and jaded perspective, it seems fairly obvious
>> that the new, jumbo-sized Apple of the 21st Century is damned unlikely ever
>> to build anything truly outstanding like the Newton again, not when they've
>> proven that it's possible to make a metric diaperload of cash by cleverly
>> packaging mediocrity.
> 
> While I very much agree with you on everything you said about the Newton, I
> think you're being unjust towards the iPad. Let's don't forget that the iPad
> is a first version of a device which is only 5 months old. iPad has
> interesting potential, in my opinion, and there's still a lot of room for
> improvements and for making it -- if not a game-changing personal computing
> device -- at least a more powerful, versatile machine.
> 
> The Newton itself has achieved greatness in later stages of development, both
> hardware and software. The first Newton model, after 5 months since its
> introduction, wasn't something really memorable, was it? (In context, I mean,
> not in hindsight.)
> 

I too find I agree down the line with James on this.   The philosophy behind
the Newton's design is different from that of the new products.  That
doesn't mean "old Mac good, new Mac bad" or anything like that, but it seems
undeniable that the goals that drove the Newton team to keep refining and
improving the OMP and its descendants (right up to the moment their project
was killed off) not only don't drive the developers of the
iPad/iPodTouch/iPhone, they would get in the way of what does drive them.

I agree with you that the iPad is new, and should be compared with the OMP
rather than the 2x00, but even so the iPad loses against the Newton,
IMH(or-not-so-H)O.  Here's how I see it:  if you and I stand back-to-back
and I take 5 paces, and then I stop, and then you start walking, you'll move
further from me, not closer, unless at some point you turn around.   The
Newton was "facing" and "moving" 5 months into its journey, compared to the
way the iPad is "facing" and "moving" now, aren't exactly back-to-back, but
they are far from parallel in some important ways.

So I reckon that whatever "greatness" may lie ahead for the iPad, I see no
sign that Apple will move it any closer to all the functions that the MP2x00
now has, unless the iPad "gets lost" or Apple makes a U-turn.  The iPad will
have to reach it's own brand of greatness, and those of us who love the
Newton will have to keep finding ways to save its "Newton-ness".

And yes, that probably was a metaphor-too-far, but it's late and I'm tired.
Sorry!     :-)  


 
Shalom. 
Christian 

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

³Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a Newton.²
            -- what Arthur C. Clarke meant

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1ZzpdPJ7Zr4
(With thanks to Chod Lang)
http://tinyurl.com/29y2dl
http://www.diyplanner.com/node/3942


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