Will we see the return of Newton?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
With every company coming out with a PDA now, it only seems logical that Apple would come out with their own. The Newton line was not as successful as it could have been because it was so far ahead of its time. The iPod seems like the begining. Will Apple move back into this market?



Your thoughts...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    Not inconceivable.



    But having seen the x86 tablets (which ARE cool...by the way...) I think Apple will wait and see if there is a market for them.



    If there is. Apple pounces because cpus will be able to power them quite easily in another years time. G4/Io. Yup.



    OR. Having seen Toshiba's(?) fold over design, a combi-laptop/tablet design even better.



    Tell me you wouldn't like that on a 17 inch Goliath book? I would







    Lemon Bon Bon
  • Reply 2 of 12
    I really just dont like the tablets that much. I want something I can carry in my pocket.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    "I really just dont like the tablets that much. I want something I can carry in my pocket."



    What about the iPod then?







    LEmon Bon Bon
  • Reply 4 of 12
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Convertablet only makes sense on the very smallest laptop, if you like that sorta thing. Now I got this used Newton (a few months ago) and a PB 12 on the way; I'll probably sell the Newton. I used it more like a laptop anyway, with the keboard, and I just don't trust data to it, syncing is a pain and if something happens to it, I'm fooked. So while I make notes on it, I don't really "work" on it as much as I thought I might. For 100 bucks I tried it, and they had some extremely good ideas, but it's a dead platform now. I don't want to have to worry about it when something goes wrong.



    I would expect a rational tablet to be Netwonesque. About A5 size, think DVD jewel case or trade paperback, in that range. Thin, with a fold over keyboard cut down to 55-60 keys and a touch screen with F "keys" silk screened into the border. Light like a PDA, sealed and ruggedized with full I/O airport, bluetooth, firewire "charge/sync/dock" and USB for the odd periph. A mic for voice recording.



    Some say no OSX, I think OSX might be a useful thng to include, but not so that you can run any real OSX apps on it per se, just for compatibilities sake. Apps would be custom tailored to suit a slim theme, maximizing screen area. Still, such an approach would put the device a couple of years out, at least -- unless you wanted to do a sub sub note, give it a super squinty screen and an external optical and say here ya go, you've got full OSX, have fun. I think there might be problems with that approach for all the reasons most subnotes aren't very good already.



    If people are willing to have a OSX friendly device running a truely "light" OS like Palm, or Pixo, Symbian etc etc, then you could do such a device tommorow. A PDA with a rational screen and I/O to let you "see" other machines on your network.



    Or, the easiest yet, double hinge the Little Al's screen an put a digitizer on it. Instant OSX convertablet.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    Agree with the last line of your post.



    For me, I love the control you can get with art programs and a tablet. If the 17 incher had 'tablet' screen draw capability, I'd put the 'smack down' and bye right now.



    You're getting the PB12? Congratulations. I hope you enjoy it. It looks like a cracker of a laptop.



    Let me know what it's like when it arrives, Matsu...



    Lemon Bon Bon



    <a href="http://www.macgamer.com/features/?id=1396"; target="_blank">http://www.macgamer.com/features/?id=1396</a>;



    Nice pics of Macworld.



    [ 01-12-2003: Message edited by: Lemon Bon Bon ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 12
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Now you bring up a very interesting point, Lemon.



    Typical tablet rant:





    Most of the people ranting about tablets (or against them, hehe) come at it from the persepective that, "wouldn't it just be the perfect go anywhere device for students or consumers." Then you point out all the ergonomic problems of a big tablet, like how do you hold it with one hand and navigate with the other while standing/moving. Ever try it with a large clipboard and pen? Ok for a few seconds, but you still have to perch yourself or sit somewhere for any extended notetaking. So what does a big tablet gain you there? Nada, since typing, even for slow-pokes, is just plain faster. Writing is only more convenient if the device is small enough to operate while standing/moving for extended periods. But make it too small and you get a PDA, not useful for exactly the opposite reason, too squinty/cramped for extended work.





    Lemon inspired twist:



    BUT, you do suggest a useful twist right up Apple's core market alley: A Digital easel. THAT could/should be huge!



    Rather than double hinge the screen at the back/spine like we might with a tablet proposal, we hinge it via arms on the side like a vadem clio. Your book opens up normally (as if rear hinged) and you can use it to type, surf, game, typical stuff. Rather than fipping over, or twisting around it's vertical axis, it pivots through a mid line horizontal axis -- the bottom edge moves towards you and the LCD hunkers down, either all the way flat, or at a numger of angles along the way, just like a drafting table!



    Muhahaha, Oh yes, a multitude of ergo problems solved right there (though there would be some engineering difficulties developing it, mostly around the right amount of resitance in the mechanism and getting to an acceptable strength in the case/hinges. But thhink about it.



    You sit when designing and tilt your work surface to draw/sketch/paint. Works whether you're at a table, or even if you just plunk the thing in your lap while curled in a big stuffy chair. For designers it would be a boon.



    Now also think, that the iMac has taught Apple some very important armature/pivot lessons, and a cintiq tablet costs quite a bit of cash. If my laptop doubled as a digital easle, and I were one in the market for a cintiq, I would very well be tempted to put down a slightly obscene amount for such a device.



    You heard it here first, "digital easel."



    Apple ought to at least give me a free machine for the amount of unsolicited design consulting I do for them.



    [ 01-12-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
  • Reply 7 of 12
    "You heard it here first, "digital easel."



    That's m'boy!



    Yer right, Matsu. Some people seem to forget that artists are a core market. How many would flip for a flipping Powerbook easel? I would! Hard cash.



    Why take the risk of 'just' doing a tablet when you could combine both to make the laptop even more desirable? If it was expensive, it could just be on special Powerbook models. And as Matsu now knows, Apple CAN do special Powerbook models.



    (Bring on the 19 incher desktop replacement )



    Any company that can throw together an ambient light detector and a glow in the dark keyboard should be able to do touch screen cintiq AND a hinge that can fold back into a tablet, hinge like an easel... After seeing the 17 incher, I wouldn't rule out anything.



    Lemon Bon Bon



  • Reply 8 of 12
    [quote] "You heard it here first, "digital easel." <hr></blockquote>



    I think Adobe beat you to it, albeit differently <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />



  • Reply 9 of 12
    Heh. But, really, why do artists have to put up with the 'kak-handed' 2nd rate tablet experience. You don't make marks on real paper by drawing on a wall and it somehow magically transferring it to your paper.



    It's really un-natural drawing by proxy...



    The tablets are good for what they are. But we're really waiting for the next evolution in Tablets. The Cintiq are nearly it.



    Too pricy and not quite good enough...yet.



    Lemon Bon Bon
  • Reply 10 of 12
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Tablet arguments are predicated on ease of use issues which, upon analysis, prove ill concieved. The easel, iThink, looks to an established pattern of use. You know it would work as intended, because people already work that way, albeit not electronically. It's the same reason, apart from speculations about what 'might' happen, that I ALWAYS advocate the A5 size when "tablet" discussions turn up, A5 is the size that we've been using for a 100 years to do the kinds of things tablet proponents typically espouse.



    Could an easel/powerbook go to 19" ? When the AIO dies out and is replaced by the portable computer, mebbe. Looking at the 17'ers size weight, you see it's still a real portable/laptop. 6.9lbs??? simply amazing, and the dimensions are really no bigger than most affordable wintel 15" models. Full credit on that design. 19" ??? pushing it probably into mobile-desktop territory. Who knows?
  • Reply 11 of 12
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    i guess if there is a market for a PDA it would be good, but i definatly can't imagine tablets going anywhere, why would you want to write directly on ur screen when you could type?



    i wouldn't even want to use this type of thing to replace a graphic tablet like wacom makes, i mean i like that i dont have my hand or anything physically in the way for me to see a picture while i retouch photo's (i work at a photography studio in the summer, u know its high quality when ONE 8x10 is $80) haha



    I can't imagine wanting a PDA if Apple could lower the iBook just a little more, but i would probably buy one, but it would be nice if they just made the iBook CHEAPER, though they can only make it so cheap
  • Reply 12 of 12
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    [quote]Originally posted by walrusjb:

    <strong>



    I think Adobe beat you to it, albeit differently <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />



    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    haha, all the great artists from 4 A.D. have used one
Sign In or Register to comment.