Get inspired by this Museum of Failure!
The newly opened 'Museum of Failure' in Sweden on failed innovations is a lesson in embracing your errors
Curated By: Madhu Kapparath
Apple Newton
1993-1998
Apple’s personal digital assistant was marketed as the future of computing. The sleek design and touchscreen with handwriting recognition made the Newton an exciting innovation. But the hyped handwriting recognition was so frustratingly slow and inaccurate, even The Simpsons made fun of it. The Newton was an innovative idea with immature technology - an incomplete product launched far too early. While the catastrophic character recognition software was improved in later updates, the Newton’s reputation was already doomed. Steve Jobs killed the Newton when he returned to Apple in 1997. He said, “My gut was that there was some really good technology, but it was screwed up by mismanagement. By shutting it down, I freed up some good engineers who could work on new mobile devices. And eventually we got it right when we moved on to iPhones and the iPad”.
1993-1998
Apple’s personal digital assistant was marketed as the future of computing. The sleek design and touchscreen with handwriting recognition made the Newton an exciting innovation. But the hyped handwriting recognition was so frustratingly slow and inaccurate, even The Simpsons made fun of it. The Newton was an innovative idea with immature technology - an incomplete product launched far too early. While the catastrophic character recognition software was improved in later updates, the Newton’s reputation was already doomed. Steve Jobs killed the Newton when he returned to Apple in 1997. He said, “My gut was that there was some really good technology, but it was screwed up by mismanagement. By shutting it down, I freed up some good engineers who could work on new mobile devices. And eventually we got it right when we moved on to iPhones and the iPad”.
