Former Newton developer rehired by Apple for marketing role

[AppleInsider]

Fifteen years after he left Apple, one of the original developers of the Newton touchscreen handheld device has returned to the company, as it is believed to be developing that product's spiritual successor.

The hiring of Michael Tchao was confirmed Monday evening by The New York Times. In his role, he will report directly to Phil Schiller, senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

From June 1990 to August 1994, his title with Apple was group manager, product planning & strategy, personal interactive electronics. Prior to that, starting in 1986, he held a few other managerial positions with the Mac maker.

Prior to his re-hiring, Tchao worked with iPods as the general manager for Nike Techlab and Nike+. He had been with the shoe maker since 2002.

Given Tchao's involvement with Apple's now-defunct Newton, as well as persistent reports of Apple's anticipated tablet, expected to arrive in early 2010, the Times hypothesizes that his role could be to market the new device. Reports suggest it will be a 10-inch, 3G-enabled touchscreen device much like a large iPod touch.

"It is not clear what his new duties at Apple will entail; Apple would not comment further on the matter, and Mr. Tchao did not immediately respond to a phone message," the report said. "But identifying a market for the much-rumored Apple tablet could certainly be among them. Mr. Tchao gets the credit (or perhaps the blame) for convincing John Sculley, Apple’s former chief executive, to integrate the company’s handwriting-recognition technology into a consumer device."

One anonymous source said that Tchao is a man with "great ideas" -- as well as his share of "scars" -- regarding tablet computing.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[alectheking]

interesting

[vinney57]

... that's exactly what I was going to say.

[NasserAE]

When I saw this video I though..man the Newton was really ahead and probably that's why it failed. No one was ready for it. Yes there were problems with it but the thing looks really amazing. The only thing missing was wireless internet access, which didn't exist then.

[jeffharris]

Originally Posted by NasserAE

When I saw this video I though..man the Newton was really ahead and probably that's why it failed. No one was ready for it. Yes there were problems with it but the thing looks really amazing. The only thing missing was wireless internet access, which didn't exist then.

That's what many of us have been saying about the Newton for YEARS!

It was a fantastic, forward thinking device that was WAY over-hyped and put on the market a generation too soon. had the handwriting recognition been better in version 1, the story would have been FAR different than it turned out.

[DaveGee]

He hired back John Scully?!?! Wow how big of him! I had no idea Jobs could be so forgiving.

...oh wait... just skimmed the article... never-mind!

Dave

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by jeffharris

That's what many of us have been saying about the Newton for YEARS!

It was a fantastic, forward thinking device that was WAY over-hyped and put on the market a generation too soon. had the handwriting recognition been better in version 1, the story would have been FAR different than it turned out.

I still remember when it was released years back (around 1994?), I was in high school then. I wanted to get one but it was too expensive. I used the money I saved to buy a desktop PC with 33 Mhz intel processor (there was a turbo switch to bring it up to 66 Mhz), CD player, and a printer. I can't remember the amount of RAM and the size of the HDD but they can't be more than few MB. I remember everyone was WOW this is fast machine
Now people complain that a device the size of your palm have a "slow" 600Mhz processor with 256MB RAM and 32GB storage space

[G-Dog]

I've met with him and this guy is brilliant.

[8CoreWhore]

Go mikey, go mikey, go mikey.

[nvidia2008]

While goodness all around, I thought the iPhone was the Newton's spiritual successor.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by NasserAE

I still remember when it was released years back (around 1994?), I was in high school then. I wanted to get one but it was too expensive. I used the money I saved to buy a desktop PC with 33 Mhz intel processor (there was a turbo switch to bring it up to 66 Mhz), CD player, and a printer. I can't remember the amount of RAM and the size of the HDD but they can't be more than few MB. I remember everyone was WOW this is fast machine
Now people complain that a device the size of your palm have a "slow" 600Mhz processor with 256MB RAM and 32GB storage space

I miss the Turbo switch from the 286/386 etc. days. It was like, "f** yeah lets get it on!!!" when you pressed it and the numbers (sometimes displayed prominently in digital form on the case) magically doubled.

[Rot'nApple]

Welcome Back, Tchao. Welcome back...

[CU10]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

I miss the Turbo switch from the 286/386 etc. days. It was like, "f** yeah lets get it on!!!" when you pressed it and the numbers (sometimes displayed prominently in digital form on the case) magically doubled.

Mine was pressed in all the time, you mean you actually used the "non-turbo" mode? LOL, maybe Windows ran too fast. NOT!

Originally Posted by G-Dog

I've met with him and this guy is brilliant.

Well, he better not f** this one up!

[gimpymw]

Originally Posted by CU10

Mine was pressed in all the time, you mean you actually used the "non-turbo" mode? LOL, maybe Windows ran too fast. NOT!



Well, he better not f** this one up!

Windows?

Don't you mean DOS?

[mpantone]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

While goodness all around, I thought the iPhone was the Newton's spiritual successor.

Nah, the iPhone/iPod touch can fit in a pocket and can be operated with one hand. There is no handwriting recognition.

The MessagePad pretty much always required two-handed operation. One to hold the thing, the other held the stylus. If you visit the Wikipedia entry for the Apple Newton, you can see a photo comparing an iPhone dwarfed by a MessagePad 2100.

[GregAlexander]

I really don't want a tablet which requires another phone contract.

Hell, I almost wish for a really simple looking phone that shares 3G data over wifi. I might have bought that plus an iPod Touch (which would then get wifi everywhere), instead of an iPhone.

Just one data service please

[Revolume]

Will he be working on the tablet or the iPhone?

[addabox]

The Newton was squarely business oriented and traded some ease of use for sophisticated functionality.

I wonder if the modern Apple would release a device that was either of those things.

[mrr]

Great news!

Maybe now we will finally get the EXTERNAL KEYBOARD and PEN INPUT that the Newton had back in 1997!

The iPhone has been dumbed down to be a "smart phone" instead of a "powerful portable computer and communication device."

I rather have something much more powerful like a Mac or a Newton than dumbed down iPhone or iTouch.

Try writing a few paragraphs or doing even the simplest of graphics on the iPhone and you will realize what a toy it is.

The iPhone can be, and should be much more powerful instead of having it's functionally arbitrarily limited.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by CU10

Mine was pressed in all the time, you mean you actually used the "non-turbo" mode? LOL, maybe Windows ran too fast. NOT!

Haha for some games you had to run with Turbo "off". Because the game would run too fast. All your bases would be belonged before you could even blink if you were playing games from few years ago.

Originally Posted by gimpymw

Windows?
Don't you mean DOS?

286/ 386 era there was the ol' Windows 3.x ... the fun experimental days before the craptacular Win95 and Win98/Me...

[jlebrech]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

I miss the Turbo switch from the 286/386 etc. days. It was like, "f** yeah lets get it on!!!" when you pressed it and the numbers (sometimes displayed prominently in digital form on the case) magically doubled.

As far as I know the TURBO button was to be used the other way round.

It was for compatibility mode, for playing 286 games/apps that were tied to a certain CPU speed.

So games would run too fast so you have to hit the turbo.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by mrr

Great news!

Maybe now we will finally get the EXTERNAL KEYBOARD and PEN INPUT that the Newton had back in 1997!

The iPhone has been dumbed down to be a "smart phone" instead of a "powerful portable computer and communication device."

I rather have something much more powerful like a Mac or a Newton than dumbed down iPhone or iTouch.

Try writing a few paragraphs or doing even the simplest of graphics on the iPhone and you will realize what a toy it is.

The iPhone can be, and should be much more powerful instead of having it's functionally arbitrarily limited.

Problem for Apple: iPhone: wildly popular. Mac: not as popular in market share.

Tablet: should be more like iPhone and phone-like or more like a Mac and computer-like.

Big dilemma.

[mr O]

I really hope they stick to the Newton name. It'll be a great statement as if they were continuing the legacy. This way the new product won't be perceived as a me too product.

On the other hand, the Newton name might trigger off the wrong expectations?

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by mr O

I really hope they stick to the Newton name. It'll be a great statement as if they were continuing the legacy. This way the new product won't be perceived as a me too product.

On the other hand, the Newton name might trigger off the wrong expectations?

They could never go back to using the name "Newton". Most people wouldn't even know the famous scientist reference, such is the youth of today (and I'm only 31)...

[emulator]

Originally Posted by NasserAE

Now people complain that a device the size of your palm have a "slow" 600Mhz processor with 256MB RAM and 32GB storage space

and then, programmers did not give us resource hog monsters that are 6x full of crap than necessary. the art of programing had gone with the new millennium.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by emulator

and then, programmers did not give us resource hog monsters that are 6x full of crap than necessary. the art of programing had gone with the new millennium.

Yes Mac OS 10.6 "Hardcore" should be completely written in Assembly. But it is true, I'm a programmer LOL just PHP script. It's in demand, OK.

[nvidia2008]

You guys remember the hacker "Demos" they used to make in the 80s and 90s? Like 3D stuff and a .mod music track, the 3D thing was all written in assembly, IIRC. http://www.roysac.com/roy_links.asp

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by emulator

and then, programmers did not give us resource hog monsters that are 6x full of crap than necessary. the art of programing had gone with the new millennium.

Yes, this is a big problem caused by MS when they said that they will develop their software and the hardware people need to catch up.

[star-fish]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

They could never go back to using the name "Newton". Most people wouldn't even know the famous scientist reference, such is the youth of today (and I'm only 31)...

I don't know what kind of education the kids get where you live, but here they know about the El Nino effect and atom splitting by 10 years old, not to mention a million other things I didn't learn until mid high school. Ask them about Newton and they'll tell you more than most adults know off the top of their heads.

[ie8mindtree1]

Thanks

[akf2000]

The Nike+ website is really unimpressive, very buggy and slow to implement fixes and new features, almost like they don't care about it unless they're selling the shoes. The Nike+ app is also very, very basic and even then it has problems such as saved workouts not working with playlists. This is hardly a stellar resume.

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by DaveGee

He hired back John Scully?!?! Wow how big of him! I had no idea Jobs could be so forgiving.

...oh wait... just skimmed the article... never-mind!

Dave

Oh you scared me there! I was reading the comments and had only read the headline.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by NasserAE

I still remember when it was released years back (around 1994?), I was in high school then. I wanted to get one but it was too expensive. I used the money I saved to buy a desktop PC with 33 Mhz intel processor (there was a turbo switch to bring it up to 66 Mhz), CD player, and a printer. I can't remember the amount of RAM and the size of the HDD but they can't be more than few MB. I remember everyone was WOW this is fast machine
Now people complain that a device the size of your palm have a "slow" 600Mhz processor with 256MB RAM and 32GB storage space

Yeah, that's progress for you. The more we advance, the more we whine.

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by GregAlexander

I really don't want a tablet which requires another phone contract.

Hell, I almost wish for a really simple looking phone that shares 3G data over wifi. I might have bought that plus an iPod Touch (which would then get wifi everywhere), instead of an iPhone.

Just one data service please

I agree,. Be nice if iPhone owners could piggy back the same account for a nominal fee. Even if only one could be used at the same time. I'd accept that limitation.

[Beauty of Bath]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

I miss the Turbo switch from the 286/386 etc. days. It was like, "f** yeah lets get it on!!!" when you pressed it and the numbers (sometimes displayed prominently in digital form on the case) magically doubled.

I've got a Power Computing tee-shirt from the clone daze (days), it says "we go to eleven", that's about the same shit

[Ireland]

Steve Jobs is worldwide marketing, for Apple - really. His presentations are as important as everything else.

[pondosinatra]

Anyone know where I can get a decent browser for my 2100?

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by star-fish

I don't know what kind of education the kids get where you live, but here they know about the El Nino effect and atom splitting by 10 years old, not to mention a million other things I didn't learn until mid high school. Ask them about Newton and they'll tell you more than most adults know off the top of their heads.

Obviously you're not living in the USA. Though those kids on that are-you-smarter-than-a-something-or-other-grader probably know who Newton is and seem pretty smart. They're not representative of the population, are they?

All that atom stuff you learn at any stage of high school is garbage anyway. Once you learn about the orbital stuff in college (1s 2p whatevers) and quantum mechanics, even basic 1st year college chemistry, you can forget about whatever was taught in high school.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Yeah, that's progress for you. The more we advance, the more we whine.

Quiet you, I'm angry ATI didn't price the 5870 1GB at $99 USD and have half the fan noise it does. Never mind it's the fastest single GPU card on the planet right now.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by akf2000

The Nike+ website is really unimpressive, very buggy and slow to implement fixes and new features, almost like they don't care about it unless they're selling the shoes. The Nike+ app is also very, very basic and even then it has problems such as saved workouts not working with playlists. This is hardly a stellar resume.

Yeah, Nike+, I haven't been feelin it for a few years now. I now just use Runkeeper app for my iPhone and it has made a world of difference. Just waiting for Runkeeper to integrate a pedometer into the app (coming soon apparently). Besides, I can mostly only wear New Balance because of the wider widths which are essential for any sort of comfort for me.