Apple about to blow us away with a palmtop?

Back in the 90s, long before the technology was available to support its full vision, Apple released the Newton. It was supposed to be a portable, handheld computer, but it was too big, pretty clunky and did not work very well.

Then Palm came out with the Palm Pilot and created a runaway hit. The reason the palm did so well is because it was compact, simple, and it solved the handwriting problem in a very elegant way. There was no way that portable processors and software of the day could deal with real handwriting recognition as was attempted on the Newton, so it didn’t work very well. The Palm Pilot limited your “handwritng” to a single letter at a time in a single spot on the screen using a simplified alphabet, and everything came together. The Palm Pilot was a perfect fit with the technology of the day, and also of real value for its users.

Now Apple is thinking about redeeming itself:

Up next for Apple: the return of the Newton

If you look at the mockup in the article, you can see that Apple’s palmtop is bigger than the iPhone. This allows a real screen, with 720×480 pixels. According to the article: “More broadly characterized as Apple’s answer to the ultra-mobile PC, the next-gen device is believed to be tracking for a release sometime in the first half of 2008. Assuming the project remains clear of roadblocks, sources believe it could make an inaugural appearance during Jobs’ Macworld keynote in January alongside some new Mac offerings.”

Releasing a new product like this seems like a good idea. No one has really nailed the palmtop/super-mobile PC thing. Apple seems like it could. But why stop there? Why not a GPS? Garmin is making a killing with GPSs (just look at Garmin’s recent stock price). I have a Nuvi 350 and I love it. Could Apple do a GPS? An acquaintance of mine is on the record saying, “If Apple made an HDTV, I’d buy it in an instant.” Dell does HDTV - Could Apple do HDTV? And what about a toaster? If Apple made a really cool toaster and charged $200 for it, I know a lot of people who would buy one instantly.

Why hasn’t Apple gone the way of Sony, producing products in dozens of categories? Anyone know?