An Apple Newton? Full OS X Please

September 27th, 2007

AppleI’ll make this post brief. First off, the whole PDA thing as we know it IMHO has been killed off with the iPhone. So initially, I’m inclined to paint this whole rumor of reviving the Apple Newton as totally bats. Steve Job’s chair doesn’t need another leg, and iPhone is about as good as a PDA could ever be.

But still, the description of a slate device that’s 1.5 iPhones large has some appeal to me, but only on one condition: it runs OS X as we know and love on the Mac.

Meaning, no iPhone GUI - basically a handheld minicomputer that runs all the applications - meaning developers could go wild on it.

Could this be a reason why OS X has Cover Flow-like elements incorporated into it - say with Quick Look for browsing files?

Might this be the mythical “tablet Mac“? Will we get to play Star Trek nerd with our own “PADD”s?

Ah, I think I’ll just go back to patiently waiting for Leopard.

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Viewing 6 Comments

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    as much as I am inclined to agree with you about this idea being totally bats the fact is if anyone could pull off a true Start Trek like PDA it will be Apple and I think it would be really cool to boot.
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    • v
    Why should it be a mere PDA, as the Palm/Newton defined it? Why not equip it with a capable camera that could also double (via software) as a scanner, for taking snippets of printed text and bar codes? Why not add infrared output, so it could act as a remote control on steroids? (Flipping to Channel 38? A program guide to what's currently playing appears. Or use it to set your TIVO.) Stick a GPS device in it (it's big enough) and a satellite antenna. Voila - instant walking tours. Make it more or less the size of an iPhone (that's important - but it can be thicker), but have it flip open to double the screen size (major feature). Add handwriting recognition, cut and paste. This is a device to do work, but it could control games on your big-screen TV as well (it has a motion sensor, just like the iPhone... but enhanced. Wiiiii!). WiFi included, of course. Audio recording. Handwriting recognition, all the usual stuff. Option to have it work as a cell phone, if you want an all-in-one (why carry both?).

    When you think about all the things it COULD do, which no other PDA ever did, it gets really interesting.
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    The device you describe, or the insane one that Mister Snitch describes, I would line up to buy.
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    Well, if this tablet had an iSight camera that would take care of some of what you describe - that can be set up to be a barcode scanner. Handwriting recognition is also built in to OS X as Inkwell.

    This device sounds cool but honestly - Macworld 2008? I think this is too similar to the "Knowledge Navigator" and this is farther in the future.
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    "Well, if this tablet had an iSight camera that would take care of some of what you describe - that can be set up to be a barcode scanner. Handwriting recognition is also built in to OS X as Inkwell."

    Exactly. All the "stuff" the device needs already exists. It's about making it all work together intuitively. For example, the iPhone has a proximity sensor. So, you put one in this device as well. If the subject if more than one inch away, it's a camera. If less than an inch, it's a scanner. If it sees a bar code, it's a bar code reader. If it sees text, it recognizes the text. It's as if it knows what you want.

    Then, the touch screen. You put a finger on it, it works in Multitouch mode, just like an iPhone. But touch it with the built-in stylus (or a fancy third-party stylus if you like), and it switches to close-in work mode, with handwriting recognition, drop-down menus, options for drawing tools, and cut-and-paste.
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    Um, can't quite stop there, I guess. What about the infrared output? Autorecognizes your devices, just point and it adapts. Now, say you want to remote-control your TV. Looking for sports? You can bring up the programming guide ON THE DEVICE, and you can train it for what you want. So it can bring up all the sports now on, or all the baseball games now on, or all the teams in all sports you give a damn about. It's sort of a killer app, like the way you can go straight to only the voicemails you care about on the iPhone.

    You can view chat rooms or web sites, which come up on the thing automatically when your show comes on. Chat (verbally or in text) about it from the couch, without a laptop, via WiFi. Virtual communities built around watching the same show at the same time. Sure, you can do it now, but you need a computer near the TV, and it's not automatic.

    You don't want to chat while watching TV? Fine, but I'll bet you'll want to check the chat rooms sometimes with one eye while your program's on.

    Then there's the advertising potential in this. Watching Martha Stewart build something on TV, but too busy to take note of the details? An alert comes up on the device. Press a button and download the materials, and where to get them. Sponsored by Sears, which has everything. Bang. All via WiFi, all paid for by ad dollars, just opt-in to let the device monitor what you're watching. Want a transcript of the show you're watching? Don't email the show, hit a button on your 'Newton' (or whatever they'll call it) remote.

    Hear a song you like - on someone else's car radio? Point, take an audio sample. iTunes looks for a match. Hit "buy".

    See a graphic you like - on the street? Snap a photo, it goes straight to your Flickr account next time you're in a WiFi zone. Label it later if you like.

    In Rome, and want a walking tour? Built-in GPS knows where you are, and satellite radio (optional) can send you a tour starting at your present location. The advantage of a device that opens up to twice an iPhone's size is that such things can be built in, there's room. And obviously, a bigger screen has its advantages.

    Point being, I guess - there's lots of ways to make this really handy to have, and different from an iPhone or a laptop. I've just attempted to dream up a few of them, but if they don't work for you, I'm sure many other possibilities exist. It's an information-scooping machine, more casual than a laptop, built for more work than an iPhone.

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