Apple Newton 1993 Print Ad

The product was cool, kind of like the first "Palm Pilot" type device, but it was way too early.

It was pre-internet, expensive, bad battery life, and just not useful enough for people at $700 in 1993 (that's like $1,600 now).

Steve Jobs was a product genius, with almost everything he made being a success because he could tell what people would actually use and want.....and after he got fired I think a team thought this expensive product would work, but it didn't.

This flop reminds me of the Apple Vision Pro and some other Apple products (like their Alexa competitor) that were very technologically advanced, but not exactly what people wanted.

It took 5 years worth of technological advancements before the iPhone was released, and a technology like the Newton was finally ready for prime time.

My opinion is that if Steve Jobs were alive today he never would've released something like the Apple Vision Pro with all it's VR capabilities....but rather a simple, stylish, lightweight set of glasses with basic text/image interface on it.

I think the important lesson underneath all this is knowing what specifically people want before making it.