I've never owned a Newton, although I've played with plenty. So it's probably not surprising that I don't share the anguish that some Newton users are expressing over Apple's announcement recently that they were halting development of the NewtonOS.
In fact, I'll come right out and say it : IT'S ABOUT TIME, APPLE!
Make no mistake - I've always thought that the Newton, together with its little sister the eMate, represents some of the coolest technology to come out of Cupertino. But in recent weeks it had become almost an open secret that the Newton was on its deathbed. Rather than leave Newton users (many of whom had resigned themselves to the eventual death of the platform anyway) on tenterhooks, Apple had to make the official announcement. In fact, they should've made it sooner.
However, beyond the need for a clear statement as to the Newton's fate, Apple's announcement was, in my opinion, also the inevitable recognition of a sad fact : that the Newton had long ago gone down the route that far too many of Apple's 'cool technologies' have gone : too far ahead of its time when first released, hence introduced at too high a price, with lousy marketing...sound familiar?
Fact is, the NewtonOS is only one of a clutch of 'would've-could've-should've been great' Apple technologies. Remember PlainTalk? Or Project X (3D websurfing)? Or Quickdraw GX? All these could've changed the way we use our computers today. Hell, the MacOS could've changed the lives of the other 94% or whatever of computer users in the world today!
If only..
But we're not living in a perfect world where the coolest technology prevails. Which is why Apple HAD to make the decision to, as one commentator as put it, 'euthanise' the NewtonOS. It was a business decision, plain and simple. It was, like so many of the painful decisions issuing forth from Cupertino recently, ultimately about the survival of Apple.
I personally feel that the worst may be over for Apple. But that doesn't mean that Apple can afford to come out fighting on all fronts again, trying to be all things to all people - the trap it fell into during John Sculley's reign.
If Apple is to recover fully, what it needs is discipline. Focus.
I know that there are those who feel that these attributes are lacking from Apple right now, and they'll quote the apparent limbo that Rhapsody has been thrown into, or Apple's lacksadaisical approach towards entering the sub-US$1000 consumer market. There are those who feel that Apple still hasn't got a coherent strategy - after all, if they do have one, why don't they tell the whole world what it is?
Well, let's look at Apple - they have two bona fide hits at the moment : MacOS 8.x and the G3 machines. Those two products alone were largely what propelled Apple to that US$45m profit. And Steve Jobs has indicated that he sees those two products as being the key to Apple's maintaining its profitability for the next couple of quarters. Of course, Apple will be releasing the long-awaited, supposedly-supercool Wall Street and Main Street Powerbooks before the middle of the year, but at the heart of Apple's business for the next year or so remains the MacOS (the next release, Allegro, sounds promising and will be out in July - look for it to bust the records set by MacOS 8.0!) and desktops based on the G3s.
And that is where, quite simply, the NewtonOS simply DOESN'T fit in. It's a whole different business, one that Apple simply can't afford to stay involved in at this time. Not when the PalmPilot - an excellent PDA - is available for less than half the price!
Many Newton users have lamented that 'if only Apple had dropped the price to like that of the PalmPilot long ago, we'd ALL be using Newtons today'. Perhaps - but COULD Apple really drop the price that much? Considering how much more the Newton does? Like actual handwriting recognition rather than specialsquigglelanguage (tm)? Like webbrowsing, email and word-processing on a screen actually big enough to work with?
The Newton, unfortunately, existed at a pricepoint not many people were interested in, in a product category that not many people really wanted - too big to be a convenient PDA, too small to be a laptop substitute for most people (particularly when Wintel laptops are so damn cheap nowadays!).
Perhaps Newton could have been rehabilitated. But it would've taken an incredible effort, and Apple simply can't spare that effort at the moment. If Apple were to do everything that various critics have prescribed, they'd be doing so much - selling G3s, selling the MacOS, selling UNIX servers, selling sub-$1000 computers, selling Newtons, selling NCs, selling sub-notebooks...sounds great, until you realise that they probably wouldn't be 'selling' much of anything for long with that sort of strategy.
Apple is like an athlete recovering from an injury - you don't go from your hospital bed to full-contact sports in one step. No, you work on your rehab a bit at a time, isolating various muscle groups, working on simple movements. One step at a time...that's the only way back.
Then if not Apple, why not someone else, you ask? Couldn't Apple have sold the Newton to someone who really cared? Why did Apple announce the creation of a seperate Newton subsidiary, then suddenly yank it back into the fold - only to kill it?
I'm not going to comment on whether Apple made any efforts to do so, or whether any buyer could've been found. Only the Apple Board knows what went on there. But strangely, these questions really bring us what I see as the 'silver lining' to this particular dark cloud.
Read the press release carefully. Apple announced that they were ceasing development of the Newton OPERATING SYSTEM. In the teleconference accompanying the announcement, Apple made it clear that the mobile computing technologies pioneered with the Newton - and particular the eMate form factor - would make a comeback, 'beginning in early 1999'.
Coupled with recent rumors about a MacOS 'lite' similar to Windows CE - and, of course, the constant MacNC rumors - it's not hard to imagine what Apple might be planning...
Which, of course, explains why Apple can't and won't sell off the Newton - they need to hold on to the technology for pen-based computers and things like that, in order to carry out their plans.
Yes, I agree that early 1999 is rather late. It would be ideal if Apple could move faster. But then again, with the little time they've bought by 'returning to profitability' as of the last quarter - and particularly if they sustain that profitability this quarter (which they should) - it might be better if Apple (and Mac users) exercised a little patience.
Indeed, that is clearly the approach that, right or wrong, Apple has adopted since Jobs took over : don't announce anything that isn't yet ready for primetime. In an industry where there sometimes appears to be more vaporware than real software and hardware available, I find this approach rather refreshing (but that's a subject for another time).
The Newton did nothing wrong. But it had to pay for the sins of previous generations of Apple (non)leadership. It was mercilessly sacrificed, but I believe that sacrifice was ultimately for the 'greater good'. And if Apple does carry out its strategy successfully, the spirt of the Newton will live on in whatever Apple have planned for early 1999.
Till then, may the Newton rest - for just a little while - in peace.
P.S. If you're still feeling skeptical or just plain depressed (referring to you Newton users out there), check out this editorial for one Newton developer's speculation for the 'MacMessagePad'. If Apple ever released one of these devices, I'd be first in line to buy one. The article also gives a brief, very sobering rundown of what was wrong with the NewtonOS - and this from someone who made his money developing for the platform! You might also want to check out this other editorial - from another Newton developer - at this page, which voices similar sentiments.
