[24] in bcs-newton
Re: Newton?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Albert Willis)
Sat Oct 3 22:25:17 1992
Date: Sat, 03 Oct 92 22:19:26
From: awillis@MIT.EDU (Albert Willis)
To: bcs-newton@world.std.com
> From: Bob_Frankston@frankston.com
> To: bcs-newton@world.std.com
> Subject: Newton?
> Date: Thu 1 Oct 1992 15:19 -0400
>
> I've got to admit that I got onto this list because of the confusion between
> the Newton -- something that gets annoying. Nonetheless, I am interested in
> the Apple device. Sculley gave a talk on PDA's at Agenda '93 and claimed
> that he never promised the Newton as a product for noncommercial users (i.e.,
> consumers) despite the announcement taking place at CES. Instead it will be
> aimed at corporate users who can afford it and, implicitly, its capabilities
> would be tuned towards that audience.
This sounds like the original Macintosh strategy. I think the same thing will
happen: sure, businesses will be focused initially, but consumers and students
will make up some of the early adopters.
> On the other handle, he also used the term PDA (Personal Digital Assitant)
> for a wide range of possible products they are considering. Implicit in this
> was the implication that Newton itself was more research than product.
Yes, Apple has made it fairly clear that Newton is both a technology and a
product. The Newton white paper mentions consumer products (a device on the
family refrigerator with Newton intelligence, for example). I'm sure that
Newton technology will trickle down to Macintosh, especially when they are
powered by faster 040's and RISC chips.
> If there is a more general interest than just the Newton, perhaps this list
> should be bcs-pda or some more generic name.
Perhaps you are correct. I've talked to BCS staff and activists about a PDA
group vs. a Newton group. The issue for me was focus: I'd rather focus on one
product right now than a category, especially one as nebulous as "PDAs". Of
course, as this category develops, there's nothing stopping us from supporting
other PDAs from Apple and other companies. As quickly as technology changes, it
makes sense to keep our options open.
-- Al
