05-24-2005, 04:00 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Apple Scrapped the PDA Because...
"When Steve Jobs was installed as Apple's interim CEO, among the products he axed was the Newton, the world's first practical PDA. It was released prematurely but had a promising future... In 2001, Jobs explained: "You can't imagine how many people think we're crazy for not doing a Palm. I won't lie; we thought about it a lot. But I started asking myself, how useful are they, really? How many people at a given meeting show up with one? I don't think early cultures had organisers, but I do know they had music. It's in our DNA.""
If you've ever wondered why Apple chose to walk the iPod path instead of the PDA path, then this Sydney Morning Herald article is certainly worth a read. Jobs says PDAs aren't all that useful, but I believe anyone could put his claim to the test by looking at the raging success of Windows Mobile devices. Besides, if Apple wanted to take a swipe at the PDA market, all they would need to do is make their PDA white, bundle it with some iconic earphones, and in this day and age, it'll probably sell like hot cakes! But hey, if you Apple fans don't get your wish anytime soon, then consider the iPoc the next best thing. :lol:
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05-24-2005, 04:22 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 429
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The ipod is selling very well, that's for sure.
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Current devices: iPhone 3G. Previous devices: Samsung Epix and 1st gen 32GB iPod Touch BlackJack II, iPaq 6945, iPaq hx4705, Dell Axim x30 high, iPaq 3765.
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05-24-2005, 04:36 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,389
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HAHAHAHA.. i thought palm had a crazy marketing strategy. "Simple devices for simple people."
But this? Apple is marketing towards homo habilis??? eeh?
"Early modern humans didn't need pdas so neither do we."
Let me guess, Steve doesn't have a car or a microwave either....
"Early modern humans didn't need electricity so neither do we."
8O :roll:
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05-24-2005, 04:43 PM
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Editorial Contributor
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,411
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I don't think he is that far from the mark. Look at the forum entries here and compare the How can I play, real, divx, ogg, avi, doom, etc, to how can I organize my life, outline a project, graph a spreadsheet questions.
A large percentage of PPC owners are very interested in turning their units into entertainment machines. We are lacking storage and battery life at this point, but not much else. The rest can be fixed with software.
I don't know if Apple slapped a half decent PIM feature into iPODs, that they would sell more, but I think it would cut into PPC sales. Many that have both might opt for just one. I think they would have to have a good MS compatibility story though. Fact is that MS is pervasive. People use Outlook in business and those are the contacts, tasks, calendar, etc you need to make portable. I think Steve would probably retch if he was confronted with having to license and include ActiveSync with his iPodPDA to sync Outlook. (Wouldn't blame him)
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Sometimes you are the anteater, sometimes you are the ant.
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05-24-2005, 04:49 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,887
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This reminds me of Scott McNeally (of SUN) pooh-poohing MS WORD as pure bloat because "the only features a word processor needs are cut and paste".
Still jobs is right, PDAs aren't very useful...if you have a dozen flunkies constantly hovering around you, keeping track of your schedule and carrying all your relevant documents.
Its all a matter of who the target customer is.
And what your inhouse capabilities are.
(Funny how the iPod has vestigial PDA features even though cavemen don't need them...)
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05-24-2005, 05:12 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 359
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Quote:
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But I started asking myself, how useful are they, really?
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Let me make a note of his remarks on my PDA while I am listening to an MP3 and surfing the web.
Oh and an FYI I do take my PDA into my mettings with one. Not to say I would ever take an IPod into a meeting.
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05-24-2005, 05:16 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 469
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I think his logic is off a bit. Take the comment about us not needing organizers because early humans didn't need them. I think that since our lives have changed so much and since we now live and die by the calendar and time, we need all the help we can get. Music definitely is part of who we are, but being organized is who we have become. A pocket pc (or workable variant) is definitely a tool that we need to keep up with modern life. Just my two cents.
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05-24-2005, 05:21 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 469
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Oh yeah and if you really want to start throwing around catchy words like "DNA" Mr. Jobs, being organized and following a schedule (seasons, moons, tides) is part of ours and every other successful organisms DNA. Without a schedule we would simply be wandering around aimlessly getting lucky some times and unlucky others. While hunting and gathering, we would have babies in the winter with a very little survival rate while trying to plant crops in the the frozen soil. There is a meaningful time and place for everything we do.
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05-24-2005, 05:22 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,329
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Actually for all intents and purposes I consider my 4705 the offspring of the Newton 2100 series.
-Bigger screen then anything else on the market. (Pocket PC wise)
-Both running ARM CPU's.
-Both have\had the best screens.
-Both have flip over covers (Admittedly Apple's is better but you do get some genetic variation from generation to generation.)
-Both have multiple expansion slots.
-Both are the largest device on the market. (OK technically the rugged Pocket PC's out there take that claim but those are really specialized devices.)
-Both have a loyal following Newton\iPaq.
That being said I can only imagine what we would have now if the Newton hadn't been axed. I think the specs would be VERY similar to what the 4705 currently has with a more think outside of the box form factor, a better method of syncing, and a better GUI. I've talked to several people who were on the Newton team. Jobs had a vendetta against anything that wasn't his baby. This BS about him thinking long and hard about it? Maybe now. But back then he was all about slash and burn. Which to a point I understand what with Apple being very close to being DOA. Steve cutting out some of the fodder helped save Apple but I'm sorry if the man really had any idea of what people wanted he would have seen that the PDA is an integral part of a person and their ever increasing agenda. There simply is no way for everyone to remember all the various passwords, all the various e-mails, all the various appointments, notes, PDF files, etc, etc, etc. This is a brain extension plain and simple.
Jobs as always is a psychopathic nut job who doesn�t HAVE a superiority complex.
The guy IS a superiority complex. But what do you expect when you could put out the iToilet and there would be certain people who would claim that it�s the greatest thing EVAR. IMHO both Steve and Bill have superiority complexes. Bill's is based on the tangible, an insane market share. Steve's is based on his followers, hype, and the notion that his stuff is better then everyone else�s which is relative to the person you talk to. I�d love to see psychological workup on him. Any which way you cut it, it would be a fascinating read. Sorry I took a frontage road off topic for a second.  ops:
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PDA History: Palm Pilot 5000 -> Apple Newton 2100 -> Casio E-11 -> iPaq 3650 (64MB Upgrade) -> iPaq 3700 -> Casio EM-500 -> HP Jornada 568 -> HP iPaq hx4705 www.spreadfirefox.com |
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05-24-2005, 05:24 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
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I don't know if this is a Canadian colloquialism or universal English but... what it comes down to is Steve Jobs being a frickin' knob. What a hoser. After all the chortling over Palm's now-withering policy of 'we don't add features because customers don't need features' - utter horse-puckey, and even they now tacitly admit it by supplying feature-rich devices - Jobs has the cajones to spout this drivel? How bizarre is the mind of the rich white man.
I've never had a car nor a microwave in my 43 years. I don't have nor want a Mac, either. I don't use cable TV, nor satellite. But I do use a PDA. Bought my first 5 years ago to better organize my life, help prevent embarrassing moments of forgotten meetings and deadlines, replace an over-filled and much-corrected addressbook, and lots of other things which a poor and servant-less person might need these days. The duties performed by my PDA have grown by vast leaps. Music, primitive or not, is just one little part of that functionality in my daily life.
Of course if Steve's referring to using a Newton today... he may have a point. But pulling his head out of his pampered butt and having a look at less lofty people's lives might just reveal the ever-increasing prevalence and utility of PDAs in meetings and elsewhere. It's hard to believe he's even living on.the same planet. Maybe he doesn't. That might explain why the Mac is still relatively marginal. A little more respect for the users would go a long way in market building.
Ah, but Steve and Bill don't need PDAs, so they're not really useful... I wonder if the sultan of Brunai needs a PDA? You know, to keep track of which of his 1000+ entertainment women hasn't had a turn at karaoke lately...
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Gerard Ivan Samija
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