CUPERTINO, California--Feb. 27, 1998--Apple
Computer, Inc. today announced it will discontinue further development of the Newton operating system and Newton OS-based products, including the MessagePad 2100 and eMate 300.
"This decision
is consistent with our strategy to focus all of our software development resources on extending the Macintosh operating system," said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO. "To realize our ambitious
plans we must focus all of our efforts in one direction."
So read that final nail in the coffin of Apple's troubled baby - Newton. Looking back on it now, it's hard to believe that my first
introduction to the Newton was six years earlier. In the summer of 1992, while browsing through the shelves of WH Smiths bookstore in London's Liverpool Street station, I came across a copy of the July
edition of Byte magazine that contained a very interesting article about a new technology that Apple was developing. Called Newton, this technology was to be the basis of a radically new type of handheld
computer that relied on handwriting recognition and pen gestures as a means of input. This smart little computer didn't need a keyboard because it could actually read your scrawl and turn it into proper
text. In addition, Newton technology gave the device 'intelligence'. From that moment on, I was hooked. And so the journey began…
Over the next few months, numerous computer magazines ran stories giving
more and more details of this revolutionary machine and how it was destined to change our lives forever. The Newton concept was a total break from the 'norm'. Makers such as Psion, Sharp and, to a lesser
extent, Casio, dominated the handheld organiser market of the day. These machines were typically 'list makers' - good for storing telephone numbers and addresses but limited in other areas. The Newton was a
breath of fresh air - introducing new concepts such as a 'data-centric' operating system, (as opposed to an application-centric OS that was used on other handhelds and desktop PCs). Apple's then CEO John
Sculley took every opportunity to hype the 'next big thing' that he had created. His term for the device was the PDA - or Personal Digital Assistant and, in his own words, the PDA market was to become
"the mother of all markets".
As we drew into 1993, Apple's plans for the Newton were beginning to fall into place. Still more magazine articles were published and the interest in the Newton
continued to increase. In August 1993, to great expectation, Apple finally launched the first Newton based device, the Apple MessagePad, at the MacWorld Expo. A cousin called the ExpertPad accompanied this
machine at launch. (The ExpertPad was produced by Sharp who held the manufacturing contract for the MessagePad - this contract enabled them to build their own version of the MessagePad that was basically the
same operating system, but in a different casing).
Bad Press!
Initially, the reviews were good - everyone, it seemed, wanted Newton to succeed. However, after the initial euphoria had
died down, the tone of those magazine articles took a turn for the worse. Newton's handwriting recognition was badly implemented and, while still impressive, frequently came up with weird, and sometimes
amusing, translations of what the user really intended to enter. This bad press culminated in the Newton being mocked in the popular Doonesbury cartoon strip. In addition, an appearance in an episode of cult
American TV show 'The Simpsons' also showed how comical the device's handwriting recognition had become. Then there was the cost: £699 UK Pounds was a lot of money to spend on what was increasingly being
looked at as an expensive, executive toy. This price was also too much for me to pay - and so I resigned myself to reading the articles and playing with the MessagePads that were on display in various Dixons
stores around London.
Apple's conviction in the Newton technology was strong, however, and the company revised and updated the Newton as time went on - first came the MessagePad 110, then the 120 and 130
which were a larger format than the original. As well as hardware changes, these revisions were also in the form of increased memory and updates to the operating system, making MessagePad faster and less
prone to crashing. The early heat and disappointing Newton sales were too much for CEO John Sculley to take, though, and he was replaced by Michael Spindler as CEO of Apple.
Unfortunately for Spindler,
major inventory problems and spectacularly bad management decisions made Apple look as though it had lost it edge - and it's way. After only a short spell at the helm, Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio who
promised to make radical changes to the business to enable Apple to pull itself out of the hole into which it had dug itself.
Throughout this time, Newton sales had slowed to a trickle. It's extravagant
pricing meant it was out of reach of many potential purchasers who subsequently bought the much cheaper Palm Pilots that had recently been introduced. It didn't matter that the Palm's operating system and
applications were basic - the machine itself was cheap and easy to use.
Windows CE was also just around the corner - and people wanted to see what that would bring.
Amelio liked the Newton! In early
1997, under his stewardship we were treated to the groundbreaking Apple MessagePad 2000 - a seriously cool and meaningful-looking device which had a 161.9Mhz Strongarm processor and version 2.1 of the Newton
operating system. (This machine still manages to stand head and shouders above some of today's handheld offerings). Credit card in hand, off to Tottenham Court Road I went to purchase my very first Newton -
nearly four years after the first MessagePad shipped.
Under Amelio's reign, the Apple eMate also surfaced. This robust machine was targeted specifically at the educational market - and was basically a
MessagePad 2000 in a new case that also had a keyboard and built in handle.
While Amelio worked hard to get the company back on course, he realised that he didn't have the charisma that was necessary to
lead a company such as Apple. A series of disastrous press conferences and keynote speeches where Amelio seemed to lose direction and ramble aimlessly caused him to bring the flamboyant Steve Jobs back into
the fold.
Bad Move!
Steve Jobs, together with key executives that he brought in with him, started another management change-around and, very soon afterwards, Gil Amelio was out of the
door.
Steve was never fond of Newton technology - he famously called the MessagePad a 'scribble pad' in public and berated the machine's lack of keyboard. Steve was also not very fond of his former Apple
business partner - John Sculley as it was Sculley who ousted Jobs to become Apple CEO years before.
As Newton was Sculley's 'baby' it's chances of surviving under Jobs, then, were limited. In the summer of
'97, Apple announced that the Newton Technology Group was to be spun off as an independent company. Then, weeks later this plan was canned. As a result, many Newton developers, programmers and technicians,
defected to other companies - the vast majority going to Palm Computing. They knew that Jobs was not behind the Newton project and decided to jump ship.
With most of the Newton team disbanded, and the
knowledge that made the Newton gone with them, Apple had no choice but to shut down the entire project. On February 27th, 1998 Apple released a press release announcing the end of the Newton
project. The press release also stated that Apple would re-enter the PDA market in 1999 with a MacOS based device.
Two years after the Newton project was canned, we're still waiting for a new Apple
PDA. Two years later, the Newton following is still strong - with websites still active and downloads still available although, little new stuff is being produced. That this following is still strong
is testimony to the designers, engineers, programmers and many, many other talented Apple employees who worked on the original Newton project when it first started way back in 1988. It took a full five years
from those first ideas to when the first product shipped back in 1993.
Bringing Steve Jobs back into Apple may have been bad news for Newton - but not for Apple itself. Jobs has managed to revitalise the
company - increasing profits while producing groundbreaking products such as the multi-flavoured iMacs and iBooks. Oh... and he's managed to drive the share price up, too. From this evidence, Jobs certainly
knows what he's doing with Apple.
