Blue Dots Partners

Apple does not always get it right. Here is an illustration of a disastrous A2 (“Perception” versus “Messaging”) misalignment in the making.

Newton, “the first personal digital assistant”, officially called MessagePad, was launched by Apple’s CEO John Sculley on May 29, 1992 during the CES show in Chicago. It was released on August 2, 1993 with a base price of $699.99. It shipped with Names, a contact database, Notes, a handwriting application to draw sketches and write notes, and Dates, a calendar.

Steve Capps, Chief Architect of the Newton, who previously co-developed the Finder, the file system for the Mac, explained, “The goals were to design a new category of handheld device and to build a platform to support it.”

From the get-go, confusion around the device was high. Apple failed to explain how the product would be used or why someone should fork over $700 to buy one. Was it:

• A game console?
• A substitute for a computer?
• A PIM (Personal Information Manager) for the traveler?
• An electronic notebook for busy mothers to jot notes?
• A communication device to help people keep in touch?
• An easy way to fax? (No, I did not make that up!)
• A way to share information from one device to another?
• An intelligent assistant to help me do what I want to do?

Apple ran a series of ads to illustrate the variety of applications for the new device, but they caused more confusion in the market. The fundamental issue was that people did not understand Newton and didn’t know what to do with it. In other words, they did not know “Why” they should buy the device or what pain the device would address. One of the ads started with a sensible question: “What is Newton?” and went on by answering: “Newton is digital. Newton is personal. Newton is magic. Newton is as powerful as a computer and as simple as a piece of paper. Newton is intelligent.” If this doesn’t confuse you, then I don’t know what would! There is no emotional connection, no answer to the “Why should I buy” question. It did not trigger a strong desire or impulse to buy. I’m not motivated to stand in line just to get my hands on it. No benefits were described. It might have been better if the ad explained what Newton is not. Another ad says it all: “Newton is about a lot of things. Really.”

To confuse things even further, Apple released seven models over a six-year period.

In the end, only 300,000 units were sold during the 4.5 years Newton was on the market, despite a rock-solid loyal and fervent Mac user base. The new product was not perceived as a complementary or substitute product. Also, uncharacteristically of Apple, the company shared way too much information about an immature project, first talking about the concept in 1991 and then rushing to release the product two years later with a significant number of deficits. Apple over-promised with its pre-launch build up, creating unrealistic market expectations that naturally resulted in massive disappointment. Users were not willing to spend $700 for a product they simply could not understand. Newton became a “beautiful failure.” The perception of the product and its value was not aligned with the myriad unmet claims Apple made. It was a clear case of a total and embarrassing A2 misalignment at scale.