Posts tagged “wired”.

Wired’s Apple-inspired design

March 26th, 2008

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Leander Kahney, author of the Cult of Mac blog, got a cover piece wondering if Apple is an evil genius (and it’s caused quite the reaction).

What caught my eye, however, was the binding on the cover of the magazine. Notice anything?

Look here:

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Wired had a bit of fun with the old-school Apple logo colors – placing them in the original order, even.

I didn’t even notice it when my subscription edition came, but today I sat at my desk, turned around, and *BAM* it hit me. The old Apple rainbow.

Say what you will about Wired pimping their writers’ upcoming books, or their stance on whether Apple is “evil” or not (because they do things differently?), but their design is fun. If you’re not an Apple fan, you may not have even noticed the subtle clue.

In spite of everything, thanks for the nod, Wired.

Wired.com: ‘Apple’s Newton sucks’

February 1st, 2008

Screw you, Wired.com:

Arguably the most famous Apple flop of all, the Newton (which was actually the name of the OS and not the device) started out as a top-secret project with a lofty goal: to reinvent personal computing. During its development, the Newton took on many forms, such as the tabletlike “Cadillac” prototype, before its eventual release in 1993 as a smaller and considerably less revolutionary PDA. Although the Newton was available for six years (longer than most other Apple flops), it was a prime example of an idea that was simply ahead of its time, and sales never lived up to Apple’s expectations. When Steve Jobs resumed his stewardship of Apple in 1997, one of the first things he did was to axe the subsidiary Newton Systems Group. By the following February, the Newton was dead.

From their “Learning from Failure: Apple’s Most Notorious Flops” lineup.

Wired.com: thinking the same thing.

December 19th, 2007

Great minds – and web sites – think alike.

My post on the other iPhone.

Wired.com’s post on the other iPhone.

The difference is Wired has access to Linksys reps and great sources.

I wonder if something is in the water.

What Newton users think of the iPhone.

December 10th, 2007

Back in January, when the iPhone was first announced, Leander Kahney did a roundup of what Newton users thought of the iPhone.

Newton users, he said, were still angry at Steve Jobs for killing the Newton:

But in the meantime, they’ve kept the platform very much alive and technologically current…Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of active Newton users, the Newton supports things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and memory cards. It can synchronize with OS X and iTunes, just like an iPod.

Albert Muniz said, “”It fails to include a key part of the Newton’s soul – handwriting recognition.”

Plus, says NewtonSales owner, Marsh Man, the iPhone’s constant thirst for power makes it lag behind the Newton in stamina: “The battery life with a refurbished battery pack will enable you to use this device for 40+ hours on a single charge, making it something a student could use for a couple of weeks or more in class taking notes before having to worry about charging the device.”

Keep in mind, this was back in January. I wonder if any thoughts have changed since summer, when the iPhone was released.

Dump the Newton, 10 years ago.

October 30th, 2007

Cult of Mac had an interesting refresher on Wired’s “101 Ways to save Apple” story that ran in 1997.

Here’s number 15:

15. Dump (or outsource) the Newton, eMate, digital cameras, and scanners.

Huh.  How about that.  Interesting on number 59:

59. Invest heavily in Newton technology, which is one area where Microsoft can’t touch you. Build voice recognition and better gesture recognition into Newton, making a new environment for desktop, laptop, and palmtop Macs. Newton can also be the basis of a new generation of embedded systems, from cash registers to kiosks.

So which was it?  Apple, at the time, was swimming in a sea of “we don’t know what the hell we are.”  If they had stuck to the Newton and really ran with it, it could’ve been Apple’s iPod before there was an iPod.  Let’s face it – the iPod helped save Apple.  Now look what the iPhone is doing.

Speaking of which – how prophetic:

31. Build a PDA for less than $250 that actually does something: a) cellular email b) 56-channel TV c) Internet phone.

Thanks to Cult of Mac for reminding us of Apple’s conflicted frame of mind about the MessagePad.