Everything Apple touches turns to gold. Or does it?

Apple’s history is filled with mistakes and outright failures — products that even the most ardent fans shunned, and that Apple itself would rather pretend never happened. We can all forgive Apple its missteps, because you can’t achieve the peak of coolness without shooting some blanks along the way. But it’s still pretty fascinating to look back and see how such a powerful company can get it so very, very wrong.

USB “Hockey Puck” Mouse

The flat, round design was supposed to be elegant and stylish, while the two-toned plastic was intended to be easy on the eyes. Instead it turned out to be one hot little mess.

One of the things most of us hope to see today at the “Let’s Rock” iPhone event is a copy and paste feature added to the iPhone OS. The video above shows us an example of how it might be done, by taking a look at the way Apple did it with the Newton 15 years ago.

Now obviously this wouldn’t be an exact way to get the job done, but it does give you an idea of the though process that has to be in mind to make this work.

Will we see copy and paste today? I’m not holding my breath, but it would be nice.

via tuaw.

You know, sometimes you read a rumor that is just so blisteringly stupid, that you just can’t help but talk about it. That’s the case with the latest intel coming from Apple Insider.

They have “sources” (not the quotation marks) that have the inside track on what’s next for Apple – a new version of the Newton.

That’s right – Apple is going to ride the train of success all the way back down by scraping the bottom of the barrel, and reviving one of their biggest failures to compete in a market no one cares about.

It makes perfect sense…except, of course, that it’s completely ridiculous.

The return of the Newton is a rumor that just won’t die, and Apple Insider seems fit to make sure that this idiocy lives on forever. There is no end to the ways you can begin to explain why this isn’t happening and has never been happening.

First off, there is no Ultra Portable computer market. It’s not there – and if it was there – or Apple decided to create it — it would be a new Mac – not bringing back the brand name Newton. Also, based on the AI description, the device would only be roughtly twice the size of the iPhone – making it expensive, inconvenient, and basically useless.

It’s a device no one wants or needs (I know a few of you are going to scream “I want one” – but there aren’t enough of you to justify this product’s existance). Something that was twice as big as an iPhone would be just unportable enough to be a pain, and just small enough to not be a full blown computer.

The article even goes on to speculate that Apple is purposely holding the iPhone back to make this new device seem even cooler – with awesome features like Copy and Paste…that Apple apparently thinks we’ll believe is only capable on a device that’s larger than our iPhones…I just…I just can’t do this.

This is just so unbelievably ridiculous.

Here’s the main reason that you’ll never see this:

All of you with iPhones grab them and hold them in your hands. Do you know why Apple isn’t developing a Newton 2.0? Because you’re holding it in your hand right now. The iPhone IS a Newton 2.0.

Boom.

Done.

I stumbled across this gallery last night, comparing the iPhone and the Newton. I gotta say I’m a bit stunned by how big that Newton looks. Of course, I knew the Newton was substantially larger than it’s modern equivalent, but MAN – that Newton looks like something on Star Trek TOS.

wow…that explanation was longer than the clip.

It was a dark time to be an Apple fan. The year was 1993, and a Jobless Apple stumbled around from one idea to the next, lacking the direction and creative vision that had steered the company in previous years. There was a product that seemed like it could change that, though. It was a revolutionary device that had started its life as a larger format tablet-styled computer, but had been re-envisioned as a smaller companion device (so as not to cannibalize Mac sales). It was the device that coined the term “Personal Digital Assistant”…

It’s name…was Newton.

It was a device that was supposed to change the world…it put the power of computing, faxing, and organizing your life in the palm of your hand. The only problem was that when it was released, it didn’t actually work like they promised. The handwriting recognition of Newton was one of its most touted features, but it had a hard time actually recognizing your handwriting. In the “Getting Started Tips” video below, you can see that Apple was aware of this, and not only spun it as a positive, but also placed the blame directly on the user (at least, that’s the impression I get from this video that shipped with every Newton), telling you to use “common sense” when writing to help Newton understand you…

The handwriting issue is probably what kept the device from ever reaching the level of success it could have. It was an otherwise impressive digital assistant, and extremely ahead of its time. It’s clear when you look at the interface for the Newton that the layout and design of the OS influenced the look of the Palm Pilot and almost every other PDA that followed it. In fact, you can even clearly see it’s influence in the interface on the iPhone itself.

The terrible advertising campaign (which you can see a sample of below) also didn’t help sell the device, in my opinion. This wacky ad campaign seemed to steer the device in a more “fun” direction than I think it was intended. Newton was designed for business users…not kids…and for the most part, this advertising campaign belonged on Nickelodeon more than it did on 60 Minutes.

The Newton limped along from 1993 to 1998 and saw a variety of models released, ranging from the initial release, to the MessagePad series, and finally the more laptop-like eMate.

Like almost all Apple products, the Newton developed a dedicated, albeit small, following, some of which continue to use their Newton’s to this day. You can find sites dedicated to the device online with a simple Google search, and community members ready to tell you why the Newton was, and still is, great.

When it comes down to it, the device was ahead of it’s time. The question is…is that time now? The iPhone bares more than a passing resemblance to the Newton in a variety of ways. From the interface (which is obviously more visually stunning on the iPhone) to the applications, there are some very definite similarities…but…there are as many differences as their are similarities in the devices as well. The iPhone is certainly no Newton 2.0, but I think the success of the iPhone will ultimately depend on how well Apple learned from the mistakes made with the Newton.

In the coming weeks we’ll know for sure.

There is one hoax, however, that stands out as one of the most elaborate I think I’ve ever seen.

The iWalk.

The device was rumored for a long time to be the next generation Newton. A new Apple PDA. iWalk rumors actually pre-date the iPod itself. Spymac (which was then a Mac rumors site with an, apparently poor level of accuracy, and is now a YouTube like video sharing portal – go figure) actually posted an image of the iWalk PDA device claiming it was going to be the “breakthrough” device that Apple revealed in October of 2001. Of course, that wasn’t true. That breakthrough device was, in fact, the iPod.

The device rumors again surfaced in Jan. or 2002 before Macworld. This time the images of the device even included video like the one below…

Wired posted a story about the videos before Macworld, debunking the rumors…but some fans wanted to believe it was real anyway – at least until Macworld 2002, when the device was nowhere to be found.

Just yesterday, as I was writing the first part of this article, the device showed up in The Apple Blog’s Top 10 list of Apple Rumors that never came true, and it has had a continued presence on the web since the images and videos first surfaced online at the beginning of the century.

The iWalk will never exist, especially now that the PDA market is in decline, and the Smartphone market has taken its place. The iPhone is as close a successor the Newton as we’re ever likely to see, and I think it’s ultimately great that this thing was fake. If Apple had tried their hand at the PDA market again and failed (as this device surely would have – I mean, who wants that big honkin’ knob sticking out of your pocket?) the iPhone might never have existed.

Well, everyone seemed to like taking a look at the 1983 Apple Gift Catalog, and when I was searching for some of the products from the catalog on eBay, I stubmled across this ebay auction for this Newton Poster from 1993.

You can click on the thumbnail to see a super-sized version of the poster where you can read everything clearly.

Power Mac G4 Cube – The Power Mac G4 Cube as a beautifully designed computer. It was the computer that first sparked my interest in Macs, but the 8x8x8 Cube didn’t fair well with the public…primarily because of it’s extremely high price point. The Cube was scrapped after only a year. It’s failure was so great that Apple’s stock took a dive that it hadn’t been at since before theiMacs were initially released…and the stock wouldn’t recover until the introduction of the iPod . The Cube was an amazing piece of design, but it was too expensive to justify a purchase for most users. Now, the Cube lives on (sort of) in the Mac Mini – another impressively small Apple Computer…this time, however, the price reflects the size of the machine.

Apple Lisa – The Lisa did a lot of amazing things…but at $10,000 a pop, most people never got a chance to see those amazing things. The Apple Lisa was the first Apple computer to use a GUI and a mouse, and it was a very powerful machine. It was just too darn expensive. Lisa flopped, but the Macintosh was just around the corner, and it was just as amazing as the Lisa – plus it was something people could actually afford. Which is why I’m typing this on a Mac Mini instead of a Lil Lisa.
Apple QuickTake – Launched in 1994, the QuickTake was one of the first consumer digital cameras available. The clunky camera was capable of taking photographs at a whopping 640×480 (which was great for the time). Apple missed the boat, however, as Kodak, Fujifilm, Canon, and Nikon entered the digital camera market at much the same time. Each of those 4 companies were already associated with photography…Apple wasn’t, and consumers let the QuickTake fade into obscurity.

Pippin – Voted as one of the 25 worst Tech products of all time, the Pippin was designed by Apple and manufactured by Bandai in 1995. The oddly shaped machine didn’t know what it wanted to be…it was kind of a computer, and kind of a gaming console…and it wasn’t particularly good at being either of those things. The system was released at a $599 price point that was great for a computer, but way to expensive for a gaming console…which is what most people thought it was (and rightly so…I mean, LOOK at it). The Pippin didn’t stand a chance against Nintendo, Sony and Sega, and console/computer love child died a quick, and much deserved, death.

Macintosh TV – Macintosh TV was Apple’s first attempt at Computer/TV Intergration…and the results were amazingly “eh”.

Essentially all the Macintosh TV consisted of was a Performa 520 a built-in 14″ Sony Trinitron CRT Monitor that could switch to being a cable ready TV. It was met with a resounding “big whoop”, and discontinued a year later.

Apple Interactive Television Box – I have already talked about the AITB in detail here at Apple Gazette, but – in a nutshell – this set top box was similar to a modern day satellite receiver with interactive content. The device was never mass produced, and thankfully so. It is nothing like the upcoming Apple set top box code named “iTV”. The only value this still born Apple project has these days is as a collector’s item due to it’s rarity.

Newton – Ah, the Newton. I look at thee and think, “What might have been”. The Newton was the first handheld computer coined a “PDA”, and it’s influence on the PDA market cannot be denied, but the system itself was a complete failure for Apple when it was released in the early 90s. Primarily due to poor handwriting recognition (and I personally think having Steve Segal use it in one of the worst movies ever didn’t help it either), the Newton limped along for a few years, but was ultimately not a success for Apple.

Macintosh Portable – Does that thing look portable? Um…not really. In the same way the Powerbook 100 series showed the world what a portable computer SHOULD look like, the Macintosh Portable showed the world exactly what it SHOULDN’T look like. The computer was released in 1989 and continued on for a few years – ultimately being put down in October of 1991. Apple learned a lot from this bold experiment, though. The Powerbook arrived soon after, and forever changed the way people perceived what a portable computer could be.

10) Intel Partnership/Boot Camp

Apple’s decision to partner with Intel, and move Apple Computers to Intel chips created an opportunity for users that had never existed in computing before…the ability to run BOTH OSX, and Windows XP on the same machine. Apple’s released of the software dubbed “Boot Camp” made it virtually effortless to install Windows on your Mac, and keep access to both operating systems a snap. This simple innovation opened up a whole new world to Windows users, and allowed Mac users to have access to Windows features they wanted, without giving up their favorite computer and OS in the process.

9) Mac Mini

If it’s one thing Apple is good at it’s innovating design. The Mac Mini is a robust computer packed in a case that is no larger than six CDs stacked on top of one another. It is a perfect computer for college students or families on a budget, and it’s amazingly compact design makes it a great fit for users without a lot of desktop space. The Mac Mini was the smallest PC being commercially produced when it was unveiled in 2005 (with comparable features), and PC makers quickly attempted to copy the small-scale design of this little Mac powerhouse. The mini was preceded by the Apple G4 Cube, another visually impressive, and compact computer, but the Cube had several problems that kept it from being a success.

Newton

Apple’s Newton was not a success. The device, coined a Personal Digital Assistant by then Apple CEO John Sculley, was introduced in 1993. It was not the first PDA, even though Apple did invent the term “PDA”. The Newton did, however, heavily influence the future of the Personal Digital Assistant. One could argue that the Newton was the pattern for all PDAs that came after it. Had the Newton’s handwriting recognition been up to snuff, we’d probably still have Newtons today, but when you look at a Blackberry or Palm, Apple fan’s can’t help but be reminded of this innovative, portable device.

7) iLife

iMovie, iDVD, iTunes, iPhoto, and Garage Band. These iLife applications have taken what were once cumbersome and time consuming tasks, and made them simple, easy, and best of all, professional looking. From making professional quality home movies, to DVDs, photo albums, songs, and podcasts, the iLife suite of apps have become an essential part of the Mac experience, and have given thousands of amateurs delusions of grandeur.

6) Powerbook 100 Series

Apple didn’t invent the laptop…but the did re-invent it with the Powerbook. The Powerbook 100 series, released in 1991, took the world by storm with the seemingly small innovation of pushing the keyboard up toward the screen, leaving the lower part of the laptop for the user to rest his/her palms on. The dark cases, and innovative trackball use also help the original Powerbooks get noticed. If you walk into any electronics store today you’ll find that almost every laptop being built follows the design pattern of these first Powerbooks.

5) The Macintosh

The Macintosh wasn’t the first computer to use a Graphical User Interface – in fact it wasn’t even the first Apple Computer to use a GUI – but the Macintosh computer changed the way the world used computers forever with it’s advanced graphical capabilities and intuitive GUI. The Macintosh was the first computer to make Desktop Publishing possible, and it’s the reason most “artists” and publishing companies create their projects on Macs to this day. The Macintosh has evolved into Apple’s current lines of computers, the iMacs , Mac Mini, Macbooks, and more, but the original Macintosh system will always be an icon, and an innovative product that changed the way we use computers…and what we use them for.

4) iMacs

Design. It makes people take notice. Apple decide to use design to make the world take notice of it’s computers, and it started with the “blueberry” iMac in 1998. Soon more colors followed, and the colorful iMac became a staple of 90s iconography. In the new millennium, the iMac has continued to evolve twice, with each system becoming more compact, and more amazing than the last. The iMac line shows no signs of stopping as we head into the latter part of the 00s, and with Apple’s design team behind it, it is sure to continue being an innovative force for computer design for many years to come.

3) OS X

In the 1990s Apple’s OS was feeling dated and attempts to create a next-generation OS through the Taligent and Copland projects were unsuccessful. Luckily, Steve Jobs – then working at his “new” computer company, NeXt – was working on something that would change the computer industry forever…then it was called OPENSTEP, but Apple saw potential in the OS, and NeXt was purchased by Apple – bringing Jobs back to the company for the first time since 1985. In 2001, Mac OS X finally arrived, and it changed computing forever. The beauty and simplicity of the OS was immediately recognizable, and users stood up and took notice. Competitors took notice too…and if you look at Microsoft’s upcoming Vista OS, you’ll notice more than a few passing similarities to OSX. Since 2001 there have been 4 major upgrades to OS X, with a 5th one due in the Spring of 2007, and each time the OS has become more innovative. From simple things like expose making it easier to manage yourmulti -tasking, to features like Spotlight completely changing the way you search for files, OSX has set a standard in Operating Systems that has yet to be matched.

2) iPod

The iPod is one of Apple’s biggest success ever. The iPod has dominated the MP3 player market since early in its release, and has never let go. Apple completely changed the music industry with the release of the iPod, and the iTunes music store. The iPod is currently in it’s 5th Generation, with rumors of new evolutions of the product (by way of a widescreen iPod, and/or iPhone) in the near future. Even with challengers like Microsoft hoping to knock the iPod off it’s throne, it is unlikely that Apple’s digital video, music, and game player will be losing ground anytime soon. The future looks very bright for the iPod, and Apple as a company – and this little player deserves a lot of the credit for that. The iPod’s innovative design, and integration with iTunes has truely made it one of Apple’s greatest innovations.

1) The Apple II

Introduced in 1977 and manufactured until 1993, the Apple II was one of the first, and most popular personal computers ever built. The Apple II was THE standard computer in American education throughout the 1980s and much of the 1990s (in fact, you can probably still find a few running in schools today). This was the computer that introduced most of us (25 and up) to personal computing…but education wasn’t the only place the Apple II was popular, it was popular in business – and with families as well. Most notably after the release of Visi-Cal – the first ever spreadsheet software – that originally ran only on the Apple II. Even after the release of the Macintosh, the Apple II held strong as Apple’s primary computer for years. With it’s innovative software, hardware, and price-point, the Apple II took the world by storm, and will forever be one of Apple’s greatest innovations.

Ah the Newton….it was ahead of it’s time…when will Apple give us a Newton 2.0?

Anyway, here’s the video:

And for those of you Apple fans who just can’t get enough Steven Segal, Here are few other pieces of Segal goodness.

Lighting Bolt Energy Drink – Steven Segal’s own energy drink. It tastes like mule urine, but hey, maybe you’re into that.

Mojo Priest – The latest album from Steven Segal. You read that right. Album. As in music. As in – Steven Segal made an album on which he sings, plays the guitar, and writes some terrible, terrible music. Enjoy.