March 25, 1993: Apple government Gaston Bastiaens bets a journalist that the eagerly anticipated Newton MessagePad will ship earlier than summer time ends. The prize? Bastiaens’ well-stocked private wine cellar, value 1000’s of {dollars}.
The wager takes place on the CeBit commerce present in Hanover, Germany. Bastiaens’ outburst is available in response to a reporter’s needling. The gamble not solely offers the Newton a launch timetable, but in addition a worth goal: lower than $1,000.
Newton MessagePad: A short historical past
The Newton MessagePad was an ahead-of-its-time machine. In some ways, it predicted the sort of cellular machine success Apple would later obtain with the iPhone. Individuals each inside and out of doors the corporate usually regarded Apple’s PDA as then-CEO John Sculley‘s reply to Steve Jobs’ Mac.
The Newton was the brainchild of an Apple engineer named Steve Sakoman. Passionately devoted to handheld computing, he beforehand constructed the HP 110, the world’s first battery-powered transportable MS-DOS PC, whereas at Hewlett-Packard within the Eighties.
The Apple PDA began out as a skunkworks venture in 1987. It continued as an R&D investigation till 1991, when Sculley noticed it. From this level on, the Newton venture pushed full pace forward.
Issues with handwriting recognition
By 1993, nevertheless, the Newton encountered issues. For one factor, the handwriting recognition software program didn’t work in addition to deliberate. The venture additionally skilled tragedy when programmer Ko Isono, who labored on the software program facet of the Newton, dedicated suicide in his residence in Fremont, California. It was a darkish time for all concerned.
Nonetheless, the press remained desperate to know what Apple deliberate for its breakthrough machine — therefore the wager in Hanover.
Finally, the Newton launched in August 1993, simply earlier than the official finish of summer time. Whereas it later grew to become a worthwhile product in its personal proper, the first-gen Newton proved disappointing and seemingly unfinished. Some folks advised that Bastiaens rushed its launch as a result of he liked his wine cellar a lot.
