Well, it's been about six months now since I first introduced my subscribers to Apple's "MessagePad" hand-held Personal Digital Assistant. The MessagePad was only one of several devices produced using Apple's proprietary "Newton" technology which includes the critical hand-writing recognition routines that are supposed to make devices like the MessagePad usable.
So, where do they stand now? As expected, the MessagePad has become a status symbol for executives around the country. Also as expected, the little machines have had their problems. In most cases there have been complaints about the handwriting recognition ability of the MessagePad. Either Apple oversold their abilitiy to recognize handwriting or users simply are too demanding, or both.
Some of the companies who introduced a Newton-based device have not renewed their licenses and are looking for new ways to create devices which have better results than the MessagePad and its clones.
So, does that mean that Apple has lost the initiative in this technology? Of course not. It is still probable that Apple has the edge in handwriting recognition technology and they will probably improve their algorithms over the next year. If the MessagePad holds true to the pattern of virtually every other electronic device, it won't be too long before Apple (or somebody else) licks the problem of recognizing handwriting.
So, keep an eye on these devices. I expect the general pattern of better performance and lower prices to hold true for the MessagePad, and I'll be waiting with my checkbook for the day when Apple actually gets the bugs out. In my original discussion of the MessagePad, I predicted that 1994 would be the year of the PDA ("Personal Digital Assistant") and I'm not prepared to back out of that prediction yet.
