The Wide, Wide World of Apple

[citizen k]

Apple dips into its past, brings back Newton developer

Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:27AM EDT

Back in the day, Michael Tchao was one of the brains behind Apple's ahead-of-its-time PDA, the Newton. Now, apparently, he's back in Cupertino as VP of "product marketing." Could Tchao's return have something to do with Apple's rumored touchscreen "iTablet"? Inquiring minds want to know.
The New York Times reports that Tchao, who originally left Apple about 15 years ago after the groundbreaking Newton MessagePads failed to take off, was back on campus Monday, where he presumably got a new ID badge and a new title: vice president of product marketing, reporting to Apple SVP Phil Schiller.

So, what exactly is Tchao, who helped shepherd the Newton to market in the early 90s, working on now? Well, Apple won't say (surprise, surprise!), but it seems logical that he'll be devoting at least some of his time to a hot new product that Apple has yet to even officially acknowledge: the rumored touchscreen Mac tablet, which is widely expected to be unveiled early next year.

First announced back in 1992, four years before Palm even existed, the Newton was (for all intents and purposes) the original PDA: a big, bulky handheld with a monochrome touchscreen LCD, a stylus, and handwriting recognition technology, allowing you to scribble (whoa!) and store your notes, to-dos, events, and contacts. The thing even had apps like a Calculator, a Currency Converter, and Time-Zone Maps.

Pretty cool for 1992, but the Newton MessagePad faced some serious obstacles: it was relatively big and heavy (weighing in at almost a pound), it was expensive ($699, or a whopping $1,044 adjusted for inflation), handwriting recognition was still a touch-and-go proposition, and—worst of all—early 1990s-era consumers weren't quite sure what to do with the thing. The Newton ultimately died with a whimper in 1998, leaving Palm to pick up the reins with the PalmPilot.

Apple will face similar hurdles with its upcoming iTablet (assuming, of course, that it actually exists). Rumor has it that it's bigger than an iPhone but smaller than laptop, lacks a physical keypad (so it's not exactly a netbook, either), and it could cost somewhere in the $800 range.

So ... what's an $800 touchscreen Mac tablet (sans keyboard) good for, then, if we can already check our e-mail, watch movies, and surf the Web on our iPhones? That's the question that Apple's marketing department will have to answer—presumably with help from Tchao, who bears both "the scars and the great ideas" about tablets from his experience with Newton, according to the Times story.

[MadBurgerMaker]

The wife's iPhone started doing the no sound thing again after about two weeks of working.  I wandered up to the AT&T Store to see wtf, and was told I had to make an appointment with some shithead called a "Genius," because they were so busy or some such, and they are pretty backed up blahblah.

Now, what I want to know is this:  If it just fucking works, why the hell are their tech support types so busy that they require appointments that apparently are weeks in advance?

Edit: AT&T store, not Apple Store.

Somebody canceled their appointment with THE GENIUS, so I absolutely must be at the "iPod Bar" ( ) at precisely 7:25pm.  I'm excited.

[Neil]

My god, Apple is pretentious.

[Barrister]

My god, Apple is pretentious.

[derspiess]

Got some iPhone Configuration Utility trying to install itself on my computer somehow.  No idea where this came from, don't own an iphone or ipod or have itunes installed.  Only apple software I can think of is quicktime, apparently the updater from that was trying to install more Apple programs.  Probably will delete that to ensure no more Apple shenanigans, no one uses quicktime anymore anyway.

In addition to that, they will try to sneak iTunes, Safari, and MobileMe in with your QT update.  Thanks, Apple-- didn't know I needed all that shit!

[Barrister]

Hey - this isn't about computer troubles.

This is an Apple thread. 

[DontSayBanana]

Apple is computer trouble, as the thread is a headache for us PC tech-guys.

[Ed Anger]

Hey - this isn't about computer troubles.

This is an Apple thread. 

Your fagg0try = exiled.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

bah. whatevs. hilarious. is this place getting KAPland-ized after all. endless subfora. when does the alt.history forum come back? How about "ivory Tower" I haven't spit on anyone from on high in ages. or "sandbox"... make Jaron the mod of that. :p

I'm kidding... but it's still funny.

and those people who demonize Mac as a company have a point... as a company is pretentious, a bit of a princess. But so are those who stand on some other platform deriding it. I've said this a million times here. It's just a computer. I like it because I find the interface pleasant, and I have never had any issues I couldn't fix or figure out much faster than I did as a PC user for over 10 years.

I have no froth for PC devotees however. and Mac people who do deserve whatever barbs you toss their way. It's just a computer. The reason you have it is because you chose it,( in most cases)... All computers are made by people and as such are inherently flawed. Film@11. planned obsolence & proprietary bullpuckerey? yeah MS, IBM, Sony etc have never been guilty of that hubris have they?

Apple=Microsoft=Sony=whatever evil ass corp sells you the stuff you need to live.

[garbon]

Many people fail to make informed decisions, B.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Many people fail to make informed decisions, B.

true dat. I'm living proof (in some areas)

[Neil]

So, apparently Snow Leopard doesn't work and is the worst thing ever.  PC is vindicated.  Maybe MS should start doing commercials about how unreliable the Mac is.

[Barrister]

So, apparently Snow Leopard doesn't work and is the worst thing ever.  PC is vindicated.  Maybe MS should start doing commercials about how unreliable the Mac is.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

he's trolling, beeb. Snow Leopard is small upgrade, that from all reports works fine.

[Neil]

he's trolling, beeb. Snow Leopard is small upgrade, that from all reports works fine.

I dunno.  I just saw some story on Google News about how there were some reports of problems and data loss, and figured that Mac has come to an end and all their little foot soldiers would have dogs eating their stomachs in the desert.