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flux@microsoft.com |
| Douglas Boling |
| R.I.P. Newton |
I own three computers that I plan on keeping for historical reasons. Each opened a market segment that didn't exist before. I have an original Commodore PET, which I ordered off the floor of the National Computer Conference in 1977. The PET was the first truly self-contained personal computer. It had a display, a keyboard, gobs of RAM (8KB), and a built-in mass storage device: a cassette tape. It was the first computer you could actually take home, plug in, and turn on. It predated the Apple II by a few months, and came with Microsoft® floating-point BASIC built in. Pretty cutting edge at the time. I also have an original 128KB "Thin" Mac: the
My third historical computer is an original Newton MessagePad 100. Five years after its introduction, the original Newton's list of features is still impressive: a small, power-efficient GUI operating system with built-in multimedia and networking, a readable screen, built-in audio, a PCMCIA slot, and a port to link to a Mac (and later a PC). It also came with a set of integrated applications that made the system usable right out of the box (even if it couldn't fully recognize your handwriting). The Newton hardware could have been developed along a number of lines, making it either larger or smaller. Instead, it was left in that dead zone of being too big and heavy for a pocket and too small to have a large, visible screen. The Newton could have been shrunk down to a size closer to the Palm Pilot. It would have been a chore since the Newton encompasses so much more functionality than the Pilot, but an attempt could have been made. Remember that the Newton predates the Pilot by years, and that Apple did little to dramatically change the Newton form factor until the late introduction of the MessagePad 2000 and the eMate 300. Apple could have applied the Newton technology to a sub-laptop market that is still waiting for a usable solution. The Newton eMate is a nonstarter in this market. Its off-putting case is a testament to the stupidity of some of today's industrial design studios. The eMate, even with its limited functionality, might have been adopted by trendsetting white collar workers just like the Apple II snuck into businesses in the late 70s. Instead, any worker that brought one of those huge, translucent cases into an office would have been laughed off the property. Just a simple, tasteful, micro-PowerBook case could have given a business version of the eMate a chance for success. A third option was to grow the tablet into—here's an idea—the size of a pad of paper! Why was the MessagePad 2000 left to rot without a full-page size display? Imagine the forms-based applications that could have really taken advantage of a full-page display on a mass-produced device. I don't believe it is a coincidence that two of my three historical computers come from Apple. It was almost, and many would argue it should be, three out of three. Originally, Apple must have had a combination of innovation, internal competition, and bold leadership that led to strong products being introduced into the marketplace. But what happened? The Apple II beat out the PET for the original PC market. Time, and of course IBM, then overtook the Apple II. Apple's response, the Mac, was amazing. But it was Apple's arrogance that killed the Mac. If Apple would have just priced the Mac to maximize market share and not for immediate profits, I believe they would be on top today. As for the Newton, perhaps it was a lack of attention, or perhaps all the innovators left the company and no one who was left knew what they had. It's sad to see Apple fade. The outside looks the same, but you are left to wonder if anything is left on the inside. I, for one, hope Apple finds a way to survive. The computer industry desperately needs Apple's innovations. Even if they can't follow up on their own ideas, they can at least show the way. Apple's admirers can forgive their incompetence and enjoy their innovation. It's too bad the marketplace doesn't forgive general incompetence. 
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