Apple's Newton handwriting recognition system was undone by a comic strip
Click to enlarge. Copyright: Gary Trudeau
The signature feature on the iPhone 4S that Apple (AAPL) unveiled Tuesday is Siri, a so-called intelligent assistant that depends on a lot of fiendishly complex artificial intelligence systems -- voice recognition, understanding context and natural language -- working flawlessly a high percentage of the time.
Few companies know better than Apple the risks of counting on applied AI to sell consumer electronics. Apple's Newton Message Pad never quite recovered from the drubbing it took in the popular press -- especially the Doonesbury strip posted above -- because its handwriting recognition software failed more often than it worked.
The Newton, which was released in 1993, was a pet project of John Sculley. Steve Jobs killed it in 1998, shortly after he came back to Apple. We assume he wouldn't have signed off on Siri if he didn't think it was ready for prime time.
But we'll find out soon enough.
Will a generation raised on computers ever appreciate the wonders of a printed newspaper?
Apple's (AAPL) iPad is the punchline in Tuesday's Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau. Click here for the full strip via Slate.com.
The joke may be a bit premature. For all the talk about the iPad breathing new life into a struggling industry, there's no evidence that America's newspapers have benefited materially since the device was released.
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Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 22, 2010 8:48 AM ET
