“This weekend in San Francisco, the second annual iPhoneDevCamp 2 [took place]. Whereas the first confab focused primarily on Web applications, this one has a definite native application flavor, thanks in large part to the fact that the iPhone software development kit (SDK) is out of beta and now available for developers,” Adam Tow reports for AllThingsD.
“At iPhoneDevCamp this year, there’s a greater and more palpable sense of excitement in the air than last year, and it’s reminding me of the time when I was writing applications for another Apple handheld product: the Newton,” Tow reports.
“While the green device from Apple was not a commercial success–it was surpassed in sales and popularity by the less-capable, yet smaller and more convenient Palm Pilot–the Newton nevertheless pioneered many features we now see perfected in the iPhone,” Tow reports.
“Fourteen years ago, the Newton could fax, send email and receive pages; the iPhone is a communications powerhouse with 3G/EDGE/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth,” Tow reports. “Newton’s handwriting recognition was dramatically improved with Newton OS 2.0 in 1995; the iPhone has fantastic Chinese and Japanese character recognition.”
“Finally, the Newton promised a day when everyone had their own personal digital assistant in their pocket; today, millions of people have chosen their phone to be an iPhone,” Tow reports. “Despite leading the Newton protest at Apple Computer in 1998, I admit that Jobs was right to cancel the Newton.”
Full article here.
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