The history of Apple is filled with greatest hits—but even its rare misses are worthy of retrospective examination. Take the Apple Newton, which received its first public demo on May 29, 1992, in Chicago at the Consumer Electronics Show.
By any measure, the Newton was a debacle. The first device then-Apple CEO John Sculley used for the demonstration had dead batteries. (The Newton ran on four AAA batteries.) Apple’s marketing of the Newton as “pocket-size” was questionable. It was over 4 inches tall. Things did begin looking up when one of Newton’s creators, Steve Capps, used the device’s drag-and-drop capabilities to order pizza by fax.
(A bit of Apple trivia: Sculley coined the term “personal digital assistant,” or PDA, during a previous CES speech earlier in 1992, teasing the Newton.)
In August 1993, the Newton became available for purchase—after Apple had spent an estimated $100 million on its development. It soon became the butt of jokes, even inspiring a week of content for the satirical comic strip “Doonesbury” by Garry Trudeau. In 1997, upon his return to Apple, Steve Jobs axed the project.
A design ahead of its time
It would be foolish, however, not to give the Newton credit where it’s due. In addition to the term “PDA,” the Newton exposed computer users to the concept of handwriting recognition, even if its rendition was ineffective. And this instructional video reviews three technologies that were precursors to modern functionality that’s ubiquitous today: Newton Intelligence, or the ability to “learn” about the device’s user and predict behavior; an add-on Newton Messenger Card, allowing data use on the go; and “Beaming,” which seems a lot like AirDrop.
What lesson can we take from the Newton? Don’t laugh too hard at technology flops. They may just be ahead of their time.
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