Impulsivity said:
First I didn't say PDA phone, I said PDA from which most smart phones are based. The Newton was the first PDA as its traditionally understood (though some would claim the casio 3000 would be the first PDA, it was in effect a calculator looking device that could store names as well as numbers). It had handwriting recognition, multiple aplications, onboard memory, a touch screen and many more features standard on todays PDAs. Yes Nokia made a PDA phone before the iphone, but did not come before Apples Newton PDA (nor did Palm). The Newton was only mildly successful due mainly to its high price and Jobs killed it to work on the ipod and later iphone instead.
As to Xerox getting money from apple it DID in fact happen. "In December 1979, the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center developed the first prototype for a GUI. A young man named Steve Jobs, looking for new ideas to work into future iterations of the Apple computer, traded US $1 million in stock options to Xerox for a detailed tour of their facilities and current projects. One of the things Xerox showed Jobs and other members of the Apple Lisa team was the Alto machine, which sported a GUI and a three-button mouse."
Apple did not take an alto back with them, did not directly copy the OS or anything involved (other then the basic idea of the GUI) and had a program leading to the macintosh in progress at the time with Apple II money. They were sued in 1989 by Xerox in a money grab lawsuit, but they HAD provided Xerox compensation for the look at the Alto in the form of the million dollars in options.
The mouse was first invented in the 60s as a tool only scientests could use, but like in the case of the CASIO the early mice used by those scientists bared little resemblance to the commercially successful mac mouse that had much greater utility for the average consumer.
If you're going to go to the widget/gadget system neither apple nor MS created that, it was from Yahoo, swing and a miss on that one.
There is a difference between a prototype and a comercially viable product too. Xerox may have had a prototype of a GUI but that doesn't mean it was a functional consumer product like the macintosh was just like there were hobbyist machines before the Apple I and II (but that doesn't mean that the Apple I and II weren't the first successful consumer machines either).
There is a difference between being first in theory (IE I'm sure 2000 years ago at least someone hit a round object with a stick a few times but that doesn't mean he invented baseball) and first in terms of having an actualized product. Apple has been first in having an actualized product many, many times. Microsoft has never once been first with an actualized product, never. You can make an arguement that there was an obscure product in the shadows before Apple made the standard version (say OMG there was the Archon Hard Drive MP3 player before the ipod! if you must) but Apple didn't just tweak it, it revolutionized it (ditto with the macintosh, the Apple II, the iphone ect). If you want tweaking with no real innovation look at Windows, the zune, internet explorer, .net, the Xbox and all the rest of the Microsoft me too products. Microsoft products aren't even evolutionary much less revolutionary.
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First the Lawsuit and agreement. There was no agreement during the lawsuit Apple made no such claim and only went after statute of limitations. This is important because if there had baeen an agreement than Apple would of been awarded damages and at the very least. this did not happen because no company would perjure themselves at this level when other legal strategies are available...Like Statute of limitations. Trust me they would of been all over it in the news and in the courtroom if their had been a money for copyrights agreement.
As for stock I do not know if they had bought apple stock or not. This however is not uncommon when a company is looking at an upstart with intent for a future partnership as is inviting a CEO over for a meeting at your HQ and doing a quick walk through. This does not grant rights to IP. Also the similiarities in design from the Lisa to Star are to similiar to be anything but a copy. Bill gates himself was rumored to have bought a Star(notice I say rumored since I have no link outside of Wikipedia)
Touchscreen PDAs that existed befoe and way before the Newton which came out in 1993
1991-Kyocera Refalo also with US Patent 5739814
Capable of storing address, Maps and HW recognition as well
Abstract
An electronic book which can store, in a ROM, a computer program, is integrated with graphic and textual material on a series of pages. Various input devices such as a finger, a light pen, a touch pen, etc. can be utilized with a sensing circuit combined with the page for inputting data into the computer system . The computer system can display this information in both an audio and visual manner.
Citation below
The Usability of the Mouse was developed at Xerox. The Xerox Star was on display at the Computer Development conference in 1981 and was intended for commercial use. It was a superior product that was available on the market.
Yeah that mouse looks unusable...keep in mind this 8010 weas availlable in 1981 to anybody not just universities. Apple removed a bunch of features for its GUIs and removed a mouse button called it original.(BTW I Like the Woz I personally think the man is a genius in both HW and SW).
You can talk about MS V Apple all you want. I use both. I like both I prefer MS because it has always worked faster and has been easier for me to navigate than Apple but that is just me.
The widgets are confabulator I only added that to stress my point apple didn't invent them or put themin an OS first or even second Linux had them first.
BYTE, vol. 16, No. 9, Sep. 1991, pp 881S-7 to 881S-12, "Kyocera Rustles Up the Refalo", by Andy Redfern
Lets take you back to 1987
The Casio IF-8000
Way before the Newton was even an Idea.
This isn't including the Psions from 1981-1985 or the HP PDA released in 1991. However you are right the Newton is the first PDA as Apple invented the marketing term PDA for it's launch.... Which will bring me to the Iphone.
Say hello to Simon...IBM Simon(1994) a PDA phone with Touchscreen. Sold for 899 only a few hundred more than the original Iphone 2 years ago.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3457/is_n14_v12/ai_14973288
Processor : |
custom |
OS : |
Zaurus OS??? |
RAM : |
1 MB |
ROM : |
1 MB |
Graphic display : |
160 x 293 |
Text display : |
variable fonts |
Display : |
B&W |
Input : |
Stylus |
Built-in Applications :
Complete telephone abilities, phone directory, mail (not internet compliant), calculator, calendar, fax, note pad, file manager, sketch pad, to do list...
Open to other applications : On PCMCIA cards (maybe also by installation in memory?)
Ports :
- power supply entry
- one PCMCIA type 2 port
- one IO connection port
Other phones of note Palm PDA phones pretty much every HTC phone like the T-mobile MDA all before the Iphone was even designed. All had copy and paste which the Iphone doesn't all can run run multiple programs which the Iphone can't....(Wait you are complaining about a SW lock out on an OS designed to run on slower HW aren't you). Then there is this little phone relased and Announced before the Iphone