Newton

What Does Newton Mean?

Apple Newton is an obsolete technology based on a platform for Apple devices developed in the 1980s. Released in 1993, the Newton is considered an early predecessor of modern-day tablets. Newton devices were made on the ARM RISC processor model, where a reduced instruction set design promotes efficiency.

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Techopedia Explains Newton

In the 1980s, Apple leaders chose to focus on initiatives to turn out a personal assistant or tablet-type product, and the Apple Newton MessagePad was born. Experts describe the Apple Newton device as a handheld PDA — functionality included digital notes, faxing and calendar management.

One challenge with Newton was getting custom parts for the device. In general, experts believe Newton was ahead of the curve in terms of technology, and the cost and complexity of production ended up sinking the product. Today’s modern tablet designs would not come out for another 20 years or more, and while today’s consumer market includes many tablet device designs, Newton was never able to thrive in the tech markets of its time.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…