[55] in bcs-newton
Newton the Concept Vs. Newton the Product
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jim Rinaldo)
Mon Mar 22 17:15:57 1993
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 93 17:35:15 EST
From: bcs_jim@MIT.EDU (Jim Rinaldo)
To: bcs-newton@world.std.com
Thanks for the update Al! Keep 'um coming...bi-weekly if possible!
This week's MacWeek has an article by JL Gassee on the Newton (p. 32,
3.22.93).
In it he asks the question will Newton the concept live up to Newton the
Product?
I don't think anyone on this list can disagree with the central concepts
of Newton: small, handheld technologies that make faxing, phoning,
voicemailing, appointments, address books and emailing easier and more
portable. The ability to customize it with forms for specific
businesses/tasks. Plug-in ability, via PCMCIA or other links.
The announcement of another partner, Siemens and Siemen's US subsidiary
ROLM, further strengthens the push towards making Newton the Post-It
Note of future communications. They announced Notephone, letting users
doc a Newton at a phone station and send faxes, configure
voicemail/phone options and do other PBX functions, including a possible
future wireless link/phone "doggie" collar.
Here is another core Newton idea: communications, in whatever form, that
doesn't take computer voodoo and network weenies to execute.
But, will 1st gen live up to these expectations? Already much of the
chatter has been saying "wait for the *real* Newton, the 2nd gen one
with multi-PCMCIA slots and cellular/wireless/sspectrum comm."
MacWeek speculated last week on these models; A 8x10 landscape notebook,
with mid-range and high end versions; the mid- and high-enders have more
slots, with a video out for the $1500 high-end. These may ship this
fall, or about the same time the smaller NotePad gets into quanity
volume.
There was also some talk of 1-2nd Q '94 having more new models, a la the
PowerBook model of quick generation changes.
Today's Macweek also had a bit on an upcoming Apple digital camera which
can record images on PCMCIA then plug into the Newton.
So how will Newton become a defining element our entrance into the
twenty-first century?
I throw this out to you, mail-list. Will the concept survive the
product's launch? What will make it a sucessful launch vs another "So
What" showing? Are *you* willing to pay $700 for 1st gen?
Jim Rinaldo
