Apple's Big Failure That Gave Us iPhone - Newton

The video begins by reframing the Apple Newton as a true ancestor of modern smartphones, arguing that the iPhone did not appear from nothing but inherited DNA from the Newton. The host introduces the MessagePad 2000 and sets up context about how the Newton was ahead of its time with a touchscreen, an ARM processor, and the idea of a personal digital assistant that combined note taking, address book, and calendar in a compact form. The discussion establishes that although Jobs killed the Newton in 1997, its concepts lived on in later Apple products and even in the iPhone, with emphasis on handwriting recognition, the use of a stylus, and the emphasis on app-like functionality despite the period limitations. The host then digs into the hardware specifics, explaining the LCD display with grayscale color, the architecture, RAM, flash storage, and the unique power setup using AA batteries and a battery-backed storage scheme, highlighting the era’s tradeoffs between portability and capability. The video proceeds to demonstrate the device’s I/O options, including two PCMCIA slots, an infrared beam for wireless data transfer, a proprietary serial port, and an integrated stylus storage solution. Through hands-on experimentation, the host shows how the Newton handled handwriting input, the on-screen keyboard, and the various input modes, noting that handwriting recognition improved in later OS versions but struggled with cursive input on the original units. The segment on WiFi and networking is practical and illustrative, showing attempts to connect to a modern network with an obsolete card, and discussing the broader observation that the Newton was never designed for WiFi but could be extended with adapters and later community patches to run newer software. The video then shifts to user experience, exploring calendar management, notifications, and even a NES emulator, revealing both the device’s surprising capabilities for its time and the limitations that ultimately contributed to its commercial failure. The host concludes by tracing the Newton’s legacy, linking its handwriting recognition evolution to Rosetta and Mondello, and showing how many concepts from the Newton, including the idea of mobile computing and handwriting-based input, foreshadowed the iPhone and modern iPadOS/macOS. The sponsor message is integrated toward the end, and the video closes with a retrospective reflection on how the Newton’s design and DNA influenced later mobile devices, underscoring the lasting impact on consumer electronics despite its initial commercial struggles.

Topics · technology · history · mobile_devices · computing · consumer_electronics