Eric,
Don't get me wrong, I own a Message Pad 2000 and love the Newton, but I think producing PC laptops with Apple's trademark of industrial design would have done wonders to Apple's pocket book.
I think the handling of the Newton represents an excellent example of previous Apple management having no sense of the importance of introducing a product properly. The story I've heard is that Sculley was so excited about the Newton, that he forced it to the shelf before the engineers felt the product was ready. If you ever messed with a Newton 100, I don't think you would have a hard time believing this. The first impression seemed to stick. It became a negative cultural icon. I remember seeing a couple of Simpsons episodes that poked fun at the crappy handwriting recognition.
If they had been able to push the development time, and released it at the 120/130 stage, then followed up with the 2000/2100, it could have made a world of difference. Ah, but this is hindsight.
I thought the 2100 was exceptional, and I only hope they have something better in the works.
Regards,
Scott |
