Re: [NTLK] The "iMoleskine" ?

On May 19, 2008, at 3:44 AM, Joel M. Sciamma wrote:
> Hi Jon,
>
>> Unfortunately, what with the iPhone, I doubt
>> we will ever see a Newton-like device any more. Besides the fact that
>> text/faxing/calendars, etc. are so 20th century to too many people.
>> Most people want mobile web, music and videos, or so it seems.
>
> We'll the iPodisation continues industry-wide but I have a feeling
> that while OSX and Cocoa are strategically very important for Apple,
> they are getting bored with the Mac. The Mac instantiation of OSX
> does not really seem to be going anywhere but the proliferation of
> touch-related patents indicates they are thinking about new ways to
> control the machine. There are three possibilities:
I disagree completely with this characterization. I feel that you are
projecting your own dissatisfaction with the state of desktop OS (mac
in this case) onto Apple's engineers/product designers.
>
> 1/. Expansion of the touch products to handle more complex tasks with
> more power. I'm not sure this is the route they would choose to take
> as they would like some differentiation for pricing etc. without
> cannibalisation. Some Newton-like functionality will come eventually
> now the SDK is around. The lack of a visible file system on the touch
> products shows soup-like tendencies.
I agree the ipod touch is crucial to Apple's plans going forward.
The soup thing seems a bit of a red herring as the device is clearly
based on a filing system, but your point that it's concealed is
currently true.
>
> 2/. A new interface on the Mac. This preserves the software library
> but opens up novel applications and form factors.
I wouldn't rule this out ( I would welcome it personally) but it does
seem unlikely.
>
> 3/. A new product line altogether that takes over from the Mac. The
> Mac as it is now is very much a 20th century legacy product and while
> it will be around for a long time yet, something has to move things
> forward. Apple must be thinking about this constantly.
This is not happening. The Mac is the primary and currently best
performing business Apple has. It actually has been replaced
repeatedly (ie PPC, OSX, Intel), but it again your basic point is
true, in that hopefully Apple has something up there sleeve for the
future of computing.

Right now, iPod touch/iphone is particularly promising, if you
consider the ease with which it can be "jailbroken" and thousands of
programs of all kinds can be installed (many of very high quality).

Marty

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Received on Mon May 19 13:29:36 2008