“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.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
If Steve had a nickle for everytime someone said, “You were right…”
he’d be a rich… erm, nvm.
@Nutcracker:
Maybe he should give _us_ a nickel for every time someone said that to him!
and i’m sure Steve Jobs knew exactly 14 years ago that he would build the iPhone when he pulled the plug on the Newton… yeaaaahhhh riiiiight.
Steve did say he will make a mobile device based on Mac OS X or Apple’s next generation OS after killing the Newton.
Regardless of what you think about the Newton, the fact there is still discussion as to whether or not it’s cancellation was correct says much about the device. Love it or hate it, like most of Apple’s products, the Newton certainly had (and still has) an impact.
Peace.
I loved my Newton. I wish my iPhone had the To-Do capability that the Newton did. What made it great was that as you checked an item “done” on your list, the item moved to the bottom of the list, so all your open items were collected at the top. Any uncompleted To-Do items automatically carried over to the next day, positioned at the top of the list, and those that you checked as done stayed on the associated calendar day page. You could always flip back through your calendar to know when you completed a task. I’ve never had, to this day, a To-Do list that was so simple, useful and effective as the one built into the Newton.
With all due respect to Adam Tow, I have to disagree.
It’s been ten years since the Newton was cancelled. Whilst I love my iPhone and recognise that it has certain advantages over the Newton in many ways it is an inferior device. The OS on the Newton had coherent OS-wide services (which drove email, print, and fax), which are lacking on the iPhone. These services were extensible too, meaning that when a new service was added it would appear in pre-existing applications. It had copy & paste from the beginning, which is also lacking on the iPhone. The Newton’s calendar and address books were superior to the iPhone’s version, and Newton’s notepad makes the iPhone’s one look like a complete joke.
Before I forget, whilst the Newton didn’t have an accelerometer to recognise when you’d rotated it, it did have software controls to rotate the screen, and *all* applications worked rotated, not just a select few.
As I see it, the edges that the iPhone has over the Newton are size of device, colour, and multimedia support. Had the Newton not been cancelled (by pulling back in a spun-out company, Newton Inc., that was starting to make a profit) it would surely have gained these features.
It’s not hard to imagine what Newton would have turned into after 10 years. It’d look much like an iPhone (in it’s small format) and it’d probably even do multi-touch too.
I agree with Xan. As a previous owner of several models of Newton, although I do love my iPhone it simply makes me miss my Newton more than I already did. I hope Apple takes a look back at the Newton OS as they move forward with the iPhone.
@Spark – I never had a Newton, but your description of the ToDo List sounds like a great app. With a Context Field and a Project Field and a way to view by Context or Project, plus the functionality you describe, it would be a very attractive capability. With an iPhone and a Mac (aka the developers suite), sure looks like easy money for a software developer. Makes me wish my last software writing wasn’t 25 years ago in FORTRAN!
As is usual for MDN they report on such events only AFTER they occur. A bit of heads up would have been great.
@lurker
I’ve got to tell you that I’ve been sorely tempted to drop everything and learn how to program for the iPhone. This is going to be huge. Let’s hope someone duplicates the Newton capabilities on the iPhone.
The iPhone is not really a Newton replacement. I’ve never even touched a Newton but I wish my iPhone could to handwriting recognition, or even have a doodle pad. My 6 year old Palm Pilot has a more cohesive environment for to-do’s, notes, apps, etc. I really wish I could have all my Palm apps on my iPhone today. I hope software v2.1 fixes copy paste at least, and Apple lifts the NDA on developers. I want some better apps!
@spark, @lurker,
Either of you guys downloaded “Things” from Cultured Code yet? It is amazing and will eventually have even more functionality. It’s cheap right now as they still need to add features but the upgrades will be free as they add those features. There is a Mac desktop version already which is awesome and they will sync in a week or so once the syncing has been integrated.
Try them. Things for the Mac is a pre-release so it’s currently free to download and use.
I Agree with all the pro Newton comments. I have, and still use my Newton 2000 & 2001 units, I also have an iPhone gen1, & several Mac Books … the latest being the Mac Book Pro 2.6 duo core 2, 17 incher with l.e.d. screen, on which I am writng this. The Newton is still the “wonder machine” of the bunch! I do spreadsheets, project management, budgeting, db apps, not to mention the beautiful contact management programs, games, rotate the screen any time I want…, ah btw it also recognizes my script handwriting with an accuracy rate of better than 99.9 %, non-script writing is usually 100%, connect to the internet web pages, make phone calls, take voice notes, etc. all this and more on a device discontinued more than 10 years ago. I am researching a company that has experience in making cables so I can connect to my current macs, they also will replace the aging green screen with a much brighter and contrastier b&w;screen. Actually the size of the Newton is one of its greatest strengths … small enough to be extremely portable, yet large enough to get real work done.
SJ pulled the plug ‘cos he knew apple could do better down the road, why waste resources on Newton when he needed to build the 1st iMac.
Why simply not enable the InkWell handwriting recognition already a part of OS X, and with the capabilities of the iPhone / iPod touch, include handwriting recognition on the device? Made available from the app store, this could be an elegant and useful function that could readily be acquired. A Mini Newton that everyone would love to add on to their existing devices. What is the barrier preventing the immediate launching of this brilliant idea?
I agree with all of the pro Newton comments here too. Apple didn’t have to roll Newton, Inc. back into Apple. My office partner has had an iPhone for over a year so I have had plenty of time to check it out but it just doesn’t do what I need it to do. I don’t want to lug around a laptop either, so until Apple comes out with a device bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a MacBook I still use a Newton 2100 everyday in my work which works great – to-do, contacts, faxing, email, etc but especially Point Of Sale invoicing for customers and inventory count as I walk from room to room. Then I beam (infrared) it to a printer for a receipt. Newt would also scan barcodes if I could find the old barcode reader. I’m always looking for something similar but also with the ability to swipe credit cards. Haven’t found it yet. Newton’s size is perfect too – any smaller and it would be difficult to work on. Apple could use such a device in their stores! Instead they use some other thang……
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=2064
Let’s not mention how great iPhone’s Bluetooth is…
My 2100 has a fresh set of batteries, periodically I go back and visit my Newton. Although I hope the Touch2 calls my name.
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