Newton May Me Mack on May 1st...?

Not likely

I think you will see Apple putting a lot of effort into OS X, and continuing to develop existing products such as the iBook. I don't think there is any chance of Apple releasing a PDA.

If they ever did, I wouldn't expect it to be cutting edge. I think we saw what cutting edge did to the Newton. I've had two newtons in my life time, and both were way too expensive.

I must admit though, it will be nice if my opinion is wrong.

JVB

What is Newton?????

Okay, I'm pretty young and I'm a new mac user. And I know this is a dumb question, but what the hell is a Newton?

Newton

The Newton is an ahead-of-it's-time PDA that Apple released a long while back. It was too expensive and consumers were not going to buy something so advanced.

think Cube...

From Win to Mac

Even though I have always been a big fan of the Newton, I think the Newton as we knew it is dead. I honestly don't see any reason why Apple would commit to reviving a platform that was discontinued for like three years when there is still so much work left to be done in OS X. A much more likely scenario in my opinion would be an Apple branded Palm OS based handheld. I could see Apple designing something along the lines of the Visor edge, but adding some cool innovations, like expanded memory (perhaps memory sticks?), 16 bit color display, wireless connectivity (Airport?), higher screen resolution, cool form factor, and lastly publishing some cool desktop apps to sync with. Maybe replacing Palm Desktop with something of their own. Bundle this with some killer handheld apps, like iTunes for Palm, digital photo album, etc... You can see how this fits into the digital hub scenario right? This way Apple isn't exactly reinventing the wheel when it comes to the handheld OS, and would enjoy much greater market acceptance since there are already tons of Palm users out there. In any event, I think Mac fans will rejoice if apple gets back into the handheld game, as long as the price is right!

Originally posted by Mark Mc
Even though I have always been a big fan of the Newton, I think the Newton as we knew it is dead.

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I'm sure of it. Darned pity. Since Newton there has been NO innovation in the handheld. Like they got it right.

I honestly don't see any reason why Apple would commit to reviving a platform that was discontinued for like three years when there is still so much work left to be done in OS X.

Click to expand...

Even if they did revive it there would be no developer support for it which is as good as a death sentence. Look at all the software and hardware for PocketPC and Palm right now.

A much more likely scenario in my opinion would be an Apple branded Palm OS based handheld.

Click to expand...

I actually hope not. I hope they go with a WebPad rather than a palmtop. If they bring out a Palmtop I'll be forced to buy it and I'm actually planning to buy a PocketPC. I feel no loyalty to Palm and as long as I'm not ignoring Apple's PDA I feel no guilt about buying from the Dark Side.

I could see Apple designing something along the lines of the Visor edge, but adding some cool innovations

Click to expand...

I don't see any innovation in the Visors. The new HandEra has managed to duplicate a Newton 120 but in a Palm form factor (and size). And frankly the Palms bite in terms of functionality and performance. I've got a Palm Vx and compared to the similarly priced Casio EM500 - it is pretty featureless. Comparing Dreadling to Doom or PocketQuake on the PocketPC is not funny any more.

I sincerely hope we don't see an Apple-branded PalmOS device.

newton.com

If I remember correctly Apple let newton.com lapse a few years ago, shortly after Jobs killed it. Today newton.com points to apple.com.

Is my recollection correct or have I taken too much acid?

Newton Buh-bye

The newton is gone. Dead. Why on God's green earth would Apple be billing a Visor as an add-on on one of their sites (see MacNN today) if they had a competing product in the works?

I have to say, though....how cool would it be to carry the combination of the Visor Edge and a TiBook? <drool>

I agree. Apple already has some bundles with TiBook and Visor Edge in a few European countries. Check out Apple's Czech Republic homepage. http://www.apple.cz

iPad?

http://www.fishrocket.org/pictures/ipad.jpg

not Newton, iPad

Believe me, nothing would please me more than to see the return of the Newton. Apple was on the cutting edge of PDAs 3 years ago. I have heard from very reliable sources that Apple was supposed to release their new PDA code name "iPad" in Tokyo, but held back. This iPad is not a revist of Newton. It unfortunately will not truly compete even with Palm because what it is, is a sub $1000 iBook without the features that would make it a full laptop.

No Apple PDAs

Well, Steve Jobs was on a live interview on CNBC yesterday evening talking about the new iBook. A viewer sent in two questions: Is Apple planning to release a PDA? and Will there be Apple Stores? A far as the PDA is concerned Steve Jobs said NO (without any hesitation whatsoever, and sounded quite convincing). Apple has no plans of releasing any PDAs. As far as the Apple Stores are concerned, he said he could not comment on that. So that is basically a YES! So can we please now let the Newton Rest in Peace unless there is some credible evidence that Apple has plans for another PDA. In the meantime, pick up a Visor, works great with Macs right out of the box. Its actually much friendlier to my Mac than my Newton ever was, and USB support is great!

PDA

I was wanting a PDA!!! Oh well, I guess that I will be picking up a Palm to hook up to the Palm Desktop Viewer on my iMac, G4 and hopefully my new iBook!

MacBoy