The Apple iPhone as another Newton?

Fascinating… Philip Baker on the Huffington Post poses the above question. It is certainly possible that the iPhone could be absolutely dire. The keyboard could be a problem. The battery could be crap. The screen could be easily damaged…
Link: Philip G. Baker: Will the iPhone be Another Newton? – Business on The Huffington Post

All of the hype and anticipation of the iPhone reminds me of the introduction of the Apple Newton on August 3, 1993. At the time I was working at Apple managing the development of the second version of Newton, the MP110. It was to become the successor to the model that was just being released, the MP100. Many of us knew that this first model had numerous flaws, although few anticipated they were as fatal as they turned out to be.

I had a Newton. Yes, when I was at University, I used the Newton to take notes in lectures, much to the surprise and perhaps general annoyance of my colleagues. I could touch type much faster than write to it made a load of sense. I got the extra keyboard to plug-in, you see.

It was a cool concept, the Newton. Just… well, the handwriting recognition… hmmm. Wasn’t quite that useful. But technology has come on a little bit.

I’m sure the iPhone’s going to be at least half decent.