This gadget's a good example for me because at the same time as Apple, Amstrad-then about the biggest computer company in Europe-developed and marketed a very similar device. William Gibson's novel Pattern Recognition begins with its protagonist arriving in London and experiencing the uncanny "mirror world" feeling one gets traveling between the US and UK. The Apple Newton MessagePad 110 has an integrated copier style lid that flips back and fastens on the rear of the unit. The Simpsons released an episode in which Nelson Muntz told his friend to "take a note on your Newton." He wrote, "Beat Up Martin," but the Newton translated it as "Eat Up Martha."
#APPLE NEWTON SERIES#
Doonesbury author Garry Trudeau wrote a series of comic strips in which a character tried to get the Newton to recognize his handwriting, with hilarious results. Manufactured by Sharp, the Apple Newton MessagePad is not a Personal Computer (PC), its one of the first-ever really useful Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) - a term coined by Apples then-CEO John Sculley. This flaw led to a massive backlash in public opinion, and the Newton became the go-to reference for expensive but flawed high-tech gadgets. It had to be trained on a user's unique writing, and it failed to recognize many words. The primary feature of the device, the handwriting recognition, did not work well out of the box. Newton, a product that was abandoned by the marketer. At Ars Technica, Jeremy Reiner looks back on Apple's Newton Messagepad, a groundbreaking device that failed forward. This research explores the grassroots brand community centered on the Apple.
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