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Newton, Rest In Peace (2/27/98)
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The years-long rumors finally came true: today, Apple laid the Newton's troubled spirit to rest. According to an Apple press release, as of today they will cease all development of the Newton OS and the products that use it (including the MessagePad and the eMate). And even though we at AtAT saw it coming, somehow we were still shocked and saddened when it finally happened. (This reaction was not dissimilar to the one we had when one of our favorite characters got killed off on the last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)
Apple's stated reason for the decision is its commitment to concentrate all of its software development resources on "extending the Macintosh operating system." Reactions are varied and sundry, ranging from MacAddict's "so what?" to Don Crabb's "the decision... is strategically flawed in the extreme." Most people are agreeing on two points, though: first, it's unfortunate that Newton has been killed now, when it's finally reached a truly useable point in its existence, with both the fast and powerful MessagePad 2100 and the cool and kidproof eMate 300; second, killing the eMate may seriously undermine Apple's straining credibility in the K-12 educational market. Apple plans to return to the handheld space next year with Mac OS-based eMates. That's all well and good, but Newton developers just had their necks stepped on, and a year is a heckuva long time to leave a market and expect to jump back in.
Personally, we at AtAT feel that Apple's stated reason is at least 70% smoke-- after all, if they're concentrating all resources entirely on extending the Mac OS, how could they still be working on Rhapsody? (Unless... Naw.) More than likely, Newton simply wasn't making Apple any money, so out it goes. And while it may possibly have been a good "business decision," we can't help but feel a profound sadness both at the loss of Newton, and at the loss of the Apple who could work on cool technologies even if they weren't immediately profitable. Bummer. It's always sad when a longtime cast member leaves the show...
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SceneLink (489)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 2/27/98 episode: February 27, 1998: A long-time cast member is finally killed off, though the show's producers are already hinting at a twin brother joining the cast next year. Meanwhile, the Great Reality / Kaleidoscope War reaches its end quickly, and Artemis again rears its ugly head (and we do mean ugly)...
Other scenes from that episode: 490: Kaleidoscope Cease Fire (2/27/98) The Great Reality / Kaledoscope War of 1998 was short but explosive. After Reality published screenshots from a leaked beta version of Kaleidoscope 2.0, the K team cut many of its beta testers and severed ties with Reality and MacNN... 491: The Curse of Artemis (2/27/98) Something wicked this way comes-- or if not wicked, at least horribly misshapen and deformed. No, we're not making an oblique reference to any high-placed political figures (at least not consciously), but rather to the long-awaited low-cost G3-based home Mac known as Artemis...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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