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History of the Apple Newton

Posted by Zonk on from the bonk-ow! dept.

Sabah Arif writes "We've all heard of Apple's Newton, the portable handheld device under John Sculley's rule at Apple that debuted to big media attention and much fanfare but never managed to take a strong footing in the marketplace. The same handhel that went on to be 'Steve'd' when Mr. RDF killed the project after taking control of Apple. That's the extent of knowledge most of us have with regard to Apple's first handheld device. OS Opinion sheds light on the early days of the pocket Apple." From the article: "Apple in the late eighties had become stagnant. The Macintosh had become Apple's cash cow like the Apple II that had preceded it. To protect the Mac, Apple was hesitant to start or pursue any project that might compromise the company's revenues. Several people in the corporation were weary of this approach, and began to look at the future of computing. One of those people was Steve Sakoman."

13 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Beat up Martin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Eat up Martha

    1. Re:Beat up Martin by xCepheus · · Score: 3, Informative

      For those of you who are not a fan of the Simpsons or don't have all 350+ episodes memorized by heart this is a reference where the school bullies (Jimbo, Nelson and others) make a note on their Newton to "Beat up Martin" (Martin Prince one of the nerdiest and smartest kids in school) using the Newton Stylus. After writing in the phrase... the Newton interprets the Stylus input as "Eat up Martha." In frustration, the bullies throw the Newton at Martin which hits him in the head.

      God, I'm such a nerd.

  2. Way ahead of its time by MoonFacedAssassin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Newton was way ahead of its time in many aspects: versatility, portability, object-oriented based language (at first), etc. If the Newton had flourished as well as our current Palm devices and Pocket PC devices, we might all be using Newtons, or a derivative, instead.

    Of course, we can all thank the Newton for paving the way to a lot of our mobile device concepts. Well, the Newton, and Star Trek.

    --
    I am a meat popsicle.
    1. Re:Way ahead of its time by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I had the chance to use one of these things about five years ago. As part of a class, one thing we did was to take light intensity and temperature data. The really nice thing about the Newton was that, well before any of the Palm devices, you were able to take data, and then manipulate it right on the spot.

      AFAIK, the Newton got discontinued because there was no demand for it. They weren't selling well, so Apple decided that it wouldn't make them anymore. Had it come around several years later, just as Palms, etc, were exploding into the market, the current tablet PC market would be a lot different.

      I have an MP100, and it was ahead of it's time. It did a lot of things well (except HWR), and with a better processor HWR would've come along (and IAR Graffiti was available for the Newt).

      Later I had a 2K with keyboard and modem for a review I was writing. It truly was a very usuable laptop replacement, I carried it to class in grad school. Unfortunately, the price killed it - I also had a PalmPilot, as an organizer it's size and lower cost made it a far better machine than the Newton. For whatever reason, Apple decided not to develop the Newt to it's true potential while Palm created a new market.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
  3. Defying Gravity by tsangc · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's a fantastic book called Defying Gravity about the development of Newton. It's worth the read.

    Sure wish I got one while they were around--a local store was giving away a copy free with every Newton 2100 back in the day.

  4. RDF by mavpion · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Reality Distortion Field The "power" of Steve Jobs to convince those around him of any truth he wishes them to see.

    Though, the Newton really was a failure. It did many things right, but it was too bulky and costly: the Palm Pilot was less sophisticated, but it really matched what consumers needed.

    1. Re:RDF by ch-chuck · · Score: 3, Funny

      The "power" of Steve Jobs to convince those around him of any truth he wishes them to see.

      So Jobs is a Jedi?

      <waves hand>You will pay too much for this music player</waves hand>

      I will pay too much for that music player.

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  5. Re:I no know by Mage66 · · Score: 5, Informative

    RDF = "Reality Distortion Field"

  6. Still waiting for a successor . . . by myawn · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I'm not able to read the article, as apparently the site was slashdotted after the second reader.

    I had several Newtons - an MP 100, an MP 120, and finally an MP 2000 (that was later upgraded to an MP 2100). The technology improved dramatically over those generations, and I really would love to see what would have emerged had development continued.

    Since the Newton, I've used Palm, PocketPC, and Sharp Zaurus PDAs, and have yet to find anything I consider a worthy successor to the Newton. The integration of all the applications was seamless, and the software was truly designed to be used on a PDA, not just scaled down from some desktop application.

    The form factor was a little clunky - either a smaller pocket-sized device, or a full-size tablet would have been better in my opinion - but I'm still looking for an overall user experience that's comparable, and haven't found it.

    --
    Subscribers can see articles in the future? So what? Everyone gets to see them in the future.
  7. The caption is wrong. by hawk · · Score: 3, Funny
    Thisis zketh the new ton with handwriting skjkl35. To be accurate, no sksk article can possibly de free of garbled tect.

    :)

    hawk

  8. Replacement for keyboards by yardbird · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He was intrigued with the idea of scrapping the keyboard. The fact that most computers used a QWERTY keyboard was a mere fluke, he thought. Steve thought that a more natural method of input would take hold, like handwriting or speech.

    Handwriting: vastly slower than typing, even for crummy typists like me.

    Speech: unusable except in private.

    Does anyone see anything replacing keyboards anytime soon?

    --
    Free, legal music for iTunes users.
    1. Re:Replacement for keyboards by NeoSkandranon · · Score: 3, Funny

      Does anyone see anything replacing keyboards anytime soon?

      Datajack. :)

      --
      If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
  9. Why the Apple Newton Failed by bani · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why the Apple Newton Failed - written by Larry Tesler, Newton Development lead for two years.