sprocketeer's Profile

The Newton, unfortunately, could not leverage itself using Apple's share of the desktop market. The Palm Pilot, which could sychronize with a Windows computer, proved the concept successful. Apple learned from this, and made the iPod Windows-compatible. That's a nice lever. Now, if Apple could introduce a Newton that could synchronize with either Windows or OS X, I think it's chances would be good. It would still need to be "insanely great," of course.

The original telephone is another example of a not-yet-ready-for-primetime device that needed much refinement to become indispensable. Alexander Graham Bell started with an original idea--changing voice into current and back again. If you think about it, what he actually invented was the microphone and the speaker. Telephony was the first obvious application, hence the name. Mr. Bell thought his invention would be used for broadcasting, such as carrying the sound of a symphony from the concert hall to another venue. The idea for point-to-point communication came later. Thomas Edison provided improvements to the telephone, such as the carbon-grain microphone, a dramatic improvement at the time. That microphone worked well enough to continue to be used in telephones for the better part of a century. The "iPodification"--for lack of a better term--of the telephone, I think, was the introduction of the "candlestick" phone. No longer did one have to stand at the wall to use a phone, one could sit at a desk or on a comfortable chair and chat. The rotary dial was the next great refinement, as was the all-in-one handset to follow. Making the telephone user-friendly is one of the reasons for its ubiquity; ANYBODY could use it with minimal instruction. Sound familiar? Even the oppressive, omnipotent, monopolistic AT&T (the Microsoft of its day) managed to continue to refine the concept. Great thought went into the "G" series handset, which can still be found on payphones today. Previous handsets looked cool, but the plain, boring "G" series handset has been in use for over 55 years now. Part of the reason for that handset's success was its flat-backed handle, which made it naturally cradle-able between one's shoulder and tilted head. Previous "E" and "F" series handsets, such as one might see in an episode of "I Love Lucy," had rounded handles, require much effort to cradle. Sure, you can admire a refiner as much as an innovator. Many of the great inventions we know were not instantly suitable for the end-consumer; aesthetics and ergonomics are extremely important selling points.