Here's a lesson in history for electronics engineers. It involves looking at products and examining why it failed or succeeded—a case study in product design.

Apple Computer manufactured and sold the MessagePad, now known as the Apple Newton, from 1993 to 1998. An early version of today's PDA, it was Apple's attempt at creating a sub-notebook.

Engineers at Apple made it a powerful machine. Based on the ARM 610 RISC processor, it was packed with features like handwriting recognition. The 2100 model could run from 24hrs to 30hrs on four AA NiCd batteries, which is no mean feat in design engineering.

The MessagePad stored data in object-oriented databases called soups. The soups were available to all programs and all programs could operate across soups. Thus, a calendar entry could reference names in the address book—the kind of functionality we later got used to seeing in expensive contact management software.

The MessagePad also offered quite a few interfaces—Macintosh-standard serial ports, a proprietary small flat connector used with an adapter, infrared connectivity and standard PCMCIA expansion slots that allowed Ethernet connectivity. But MessagePad a.k.a. Newton failed. It started out as a large format device—a sub-notebook, but not a pocket computer. A popular usage scenario at Apple apparently involved a residential architect working out a sketch with a client. The pad would recognize shapes to deliver a simple, cleaned-up 2D home plan. I don't know how many architects in the United States had it in those days, but such usage obviously did not catch on and Apple later started offering smaller form factors.

Newton's handwriting-recognition engine was a sophisticated piece that Apple licensed from a Russian company. The system offered what is called modeless error correction, and worked in "portrait" and "landscape" modes anywhere on the screen.

Initial problems with accuracy, however, marred the product's reputation so much that it became the object of ridicule. For instance, in an episode of the cartoon series "The Simpsons," school bully Nelson Muntz has his associate take a memo on a Newton. When he writes "Beat up Martin" on the screen, Newton recognizes it as "Eat up Martha." The bully then throws his MessagePad at Martin.

Lastly, the Newton handheld was perceived as overpriced. The 2000/2100 was priced at over $1,000—mid-1990s dollars at that.

No one doubts that the Newton was a great piece of engineering. But it seems that Apple's marketing and engineering teams failed to work with each other to correctly identify what the market would accept. A less powerful, less sophisticated Palm Pilot stole the show, and most consumers now regard it as the first real PDA.

Today, Apple has made truckloads of money from the iPod—a well-designed HDD-based digital audio player that thrives on after-sales revenue from music downloads. Apple got it right this time. At least until the availability of cheaper and high-capacity portable flash players starts eating into its sales.

Most of the iPod revenue comes from the United States. In Asia, lack of content, high price and much cheaper but feature-rich MP3 players hold sway over the portable audio market.

This lesson in history shows it is essential for engineering and marketing teams to work together. I urge you to satisfy not merely the desires, as does the iPod, but also the needs of the consumer. Desires change rapidly and shorten the product life cycle. Need, on the other hand, lives longer.

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