Terry,
> A key issue in theorising about design at a macro-scale seems to be how to
> deal with 2 issues: path dependence and delay between innovation and
> appearance on the market. For example, ideas about devices similar to the
> iPad were around in the 80s. In the mid-90s (15 years ago), I wrote my PhD
> thesis on an A4 size lightweight touch sensitive Compaq computer screen
> using 'Pen Windows 1.0'. It worked well (especially compared to the
> Newton)
> and recognised my handwriting (even I have difficulty with that!). It was
> easy to see then that sometime in the future Apple would eventually come
> up
> with the iPad or something similar - and that it would likely be more
> user
> friendly because that appears to be a focus of Apple's design effort.
> It's
> just taken rather a long time!
Was it really so obvious that Apple would learn from the Newton and eventually get it 'right' with the iPad? In 1994, it may have been just as predictable that Apple as an industrial and commercial concern would not reach the 21st century - as was nearly the case in the mid to late nineties.
best,
John.
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