06-21-2004, 02:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,350
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Competition That Will Not Be
Recently Steve Jobs at Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital again dismissed the ever returning rumour that Apple is about to release a PDA. But this time, he added some spice to his statement: apparently Apple had actually developed a new handheld device, but in the end they decided against bringing it to market.
Especially now innovating Sony is dropping out of the US market, I would personally have loved to see what Apple could do with the handheld device concept. The Apple products I personally use (iBook, iPod, Airport Express Base Station) all are very well designed both from a hardware and software point of view. Next to that the integration of hardware and software usually provides a great user interface. And when Apple comes to a market they undeniably have a few innovative ideas embedded in their projects. The price (and sometimes Rev A quality) of their products isn't always competitive, but people put up with that since they feel they get a lot in return. And if for instance you look at the current trends in notebooks (clean design, widescreen), you can see that Apple has influenced their competion in a big way.
And now, that competition will not be in the handheld device market. What do you think? Would you personally have liked to use an Apple PDA? Is the fact that Apple is not coming to the handheld market something that we should be sorry for? Or do you think the Apple touch is overrated anyhow, and should we be fine with the current players on this market?
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06-21-2004, 02:19 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10
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Newton anyone??
I think all we have to do is to look back at the Apple Newton in comparison to everything else that was on the market at the time to know that a new Apple PDA would have been the best thing out there. Too bad Apple is not coming to market, as there is really a lack of true innovation in the PDA market.
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06-21-2004, 02:35 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 13
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I would have liked to see just what Apple could have brought to the table. I had the original Newton messagepad, and limited as it was, it was still easy and fun to use.
You know there has to be a back room someplace out there in Cupertino which is just full of apple prototypes that have never seen the light of day.
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06-21-2004, 03:12 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 468
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Re: Newton anyone??
Quote:
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Originally Posted by digitalh2o
I think all we have to do is to look back at the Apple Newton in comparison to everything else that was on the market at the time to know that a new Apple PDA would have been the best thing out there. Too bad Apple is not coming to market, as there is really a lack of true innovation in the PDA market.
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I agree completely. To this day, despite its age, the Newton still does some things better than any other device I've seen. The UI is certainly showing its age, but it has held up very well.
I think given that Newton history and their more recent history with the iPod, etc., a PDA from Apple would be a very nice device with a lot of really nifty features... and a very high price.
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06-21-2004, 03:40 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 65
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I've always admired Apple's strong will toward technology. I missed out on the Newton but I sure wouldn't miss out on any other handheld they'd have to offer.
PLEASE APPLE - IF YOU'RE READING THIS - MAKE A HANDHELD!!!
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06-21-2004, 03:42 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 14
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I have to say after two bad iBooks - one of which went through four repairs and two replacements, both treated like absolute gods - I've been skeptical of Apple's quality control and their support. After the 4th repair on the 2nd iBook's 2nd replacement, two months of voice mails to an Apple Executive Relations person I was dealing with resulted in my call returned the day AFTER my warranty expired. She wouldn't do anything for me since the warranty had expired.
Then, I sold my iBook and bought an iPod a few months ago. The thing won't even hold a decent battery charge and keeps randomly turning on even with the button lock on! Thank goodness I don't have to go through Apple's "support" with that since I got it at Best Buy with their Performance Service Plan.
With all the issues I've had with multiple Apple products and their terrible support, I'd never buy a PDA from them, and I'd hope that no other companies follow their terrible model.
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06-21-2004, 03:44 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 164
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I've had three Newtons (lost the last one = "stolen") and loved every one of 'em. Excellent devices, and yes, still do things better in many cases than today's PDAs.
*Phil
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06-21-2004, 03:56 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 434
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The Newtons are still so capable they can be regularly found on eBay.
__________________
James Kendrick* ...using mobile devices since they weighed 30 lbs
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06-21-2004, 03:58 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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I would have liked to see what Apple could have brought to the table. Competition certainly focuses MS's mind........
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06-21-2004, 04:05 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 276
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by antipex
I have to say after two bad iBooks - one of which went through four repairs and two replacements, both treated like absolute gods - I've been skeptical of Apple's quality control and their support. After the 4th repair on the 2nd iBook's 2nd replacement, two months of voice mails to an Apple Executive Relations person I was dealing with resulted in my call returned the day AFTER my warranty expired. She wouldn't do anything for me since the warranty had expired.
Then, I sold my iBook and bought an iPod a few months ago. The thing won't even hold a decent battery charge and keeps randomly turning on even with the button lock on! Thank goodness I don't have to go through Apple's "support" with that since I got it at Best Buy with their Performance Service Plan.
With all the issues I've had with multiple Apple products and their terrible support, I'd never buy a PDA from them, and I'd hope that no other companies follow their terrible model.
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Apple has recently extended its warranty and reimbursement program to cover a lot of faults with the iBook. As the serial range for this program cover the majority of IBook G3 models they will provide free of charge a replacement model, or as the paragraph at the bottom of the page states, will reimburse your for your cost in fixing the model even from outside vendors.
Here is the information:
http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/
I am sorry you had a bad experience. I would go ahead and convey the name of the representitive who handled your case to her superviser as from a few readings of other message boards your experience doesn't seem to be on par with Apple's usual help desk and support. Hope that helps.
Apple has had great if not stellar support servicefor all my needs. On the rare occassion that I had hardware issues a trip to the local Apple store and they fixed the issue on the spot, free of charge. My wife who had suffered from a faulty motherboard on her laptop had it sent out from the store and a turn around of four days before it was back. Can you post the name of the store that did your Apple work?
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