Would Apple Really Do This?



The hot rumour this week is whether Apple is planning to revive the Newton handheld computer. The original Newton created the handheld market but failed before that market took off. I am not convinced at all that if it is true, the revival would be anything more than a nostalgia release like the ‘New Beetle’. The handheld market is not yet dead, but is starting to smell funny. Companies like Palm are rationalising their future releases, and others like Dell (who are a good barometer of what is happening to product line volumes) are getting out completely.

Many of the functions being crammed into mobile phones have limited use, and are unlikely to replace the stand alone product (cameras and music players for example). The PDA however is a great fit for integration, and the combined PDA/phone, especially the blackberry, has essentially demolished the stand alone PDA market. The iPhone itself is a product in this category, although I have not seen much about its use in a business context yet. And while PDA manufacturers initially thought that getting the screens bigger and the handwriting software better would drive adoption, PDA phones that are a bit smaller have sold better, and there is a marked preference for the thumb keyboards.

My question is, what would be better about an iPhone by making it less convenient to carry?


One thought on “Would Apple Really Do This?

  1. Thanks for the great post. I have to agree with you totally, there would be litle reason for Apple to delve into the handeld computer market now beyond the iPhone. I have the iPhone and it would be easy to put business software on it right now. Apple could simply update the software on the iPhone through iTunes like normal and the processor should be good enough to run more software that they would want to put on it. I would love for Apple to do this since that is one thing that the iPhone lacks right now. I have tried internet based business applications, but since the connections are not always stable or reliable, it would be better if it were an offline app. Apple would be smart to come out with a business version of the iPhone next year maybe that focuses on killing the Blackberry. Right now I believe their main target is the media centric group that want movies and music on the go. That is what I wanted (iPod, Internet, and Phone in one device that is small enough to fit comfortably in the pocket).

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