Apple at 30: Part 2 -- The Newton, Clone Wars and Jobs returns

Computerworld - Editor’s note: Apple Computer Inc. celebrated its 30th birthday on April 1. This is Part 2 of a virtual trip down memory lane that looks back at some Apple’s famous -- and infamous -- moments during the past three decades, including the advent of the Newton, the Clone Wars of the mid-1990s, Copeland and, finally, the return of Steve Jobs. Part 1 is available online already, and the final installment will be posted next week.

What Was a Palm Before There Was a Palm? A Newton

Today, many people take their Palm devices and Pocket PCs for granted. Even full-scale tablet PCs are becoming more mainstream. But in the early 1990s, the idea was radical that you could carry a handheld computer around that could manage a great deal of information and run its own applications -- let alone that the computer could recognize a variation of your own handwriting. Yet Apple pioneered this technological feat before anyone else with the Newton. The Newton was bigger than today’s handheld computers (though not terribly), had its own operating system and could be used to record and sync information with a Mac or PC. Unfortunately, the handwriting-recognition routines built into the Newton focused more on learning a person’s handwriting and less on a person learning a modified script (like Palm’s Graffiti, which was licensed by Apple for later Newton models). The Newton developed a fairly loyal user base, never quite took off -- although the concept certainly did. Apple produced these great devices until 1998, even creating a model that included a keyboard and more traditional laptop design called the eMate that was sold as a low-cost laptop for education.

Mac OS vs. Windows

Most Mac users know the sordid tale of the fight between the Mac OS and Windows. Apple needed productivity software for the Mac and turned to Microsoft to develop the fist version of Office for Mac. Microsoft agreed, but the contract enabled it to develop and use the Mac’s GUI elements -- arguably to produce software for the Mac. This later gave Microsoft the ability to develop its own GUI interface, which became Windows 3.1 and later Windows 95, 98, Me and Windows NT, 2000 and XP. Apple and Microsoft remained locked in a lawsuit over Windows’ similarity to the Mac for years but Apple eventually lost. In the meantime, because Windows could be licensed by and run on any number of low-cost PCs, it became the de facto computer operating system in the business world.