What product should Apple bring back from the dead?

[jsaure]

What product do you think should Steve 'Messiah' Jobs reintroduce to his Mac apostles?

[ginoledesma]

None of the above. I'll reserve my vote until later. For the meantime, let's look at the potential for reviving the above-mentioned technologies:

Color LaserWriter -- Too expensive then, will just be as expensive now. While the LaserWriter heralded the coming of LocalTalk (and network printing on the Mac), there's no point in introducing a product to a market that won't bite as much. Apple learned its lesson sometime back that it best left accessories to 3rd parties. They started of selling them under their own brand using other's engines (e.g. Stylewriter using Canon BC engine), to finally just keeping the original manufacturer's name. I don't see how the LaserWriter will generate much profit for Apple, not to mention fanfare which it seems to be banking on.

QuickTake -- no need to, what with the proliferation of far better digital cameras out there. Also, Apple will be hardpressed to join the digital camera foray in light of stiff competition and the patents the competition holds. Just look at Eastman-Kodak battling it out with Sony (while Canon takes a look from a distance and leaves 'em in the dust). Also, with digital cameras becoming more commonplace, and support on the Mac is ok as it is with iPhoto, Apple doesn't need to introduce yet another one to the market. Think of anything that can revolutionize the way photos are take? Hmmm... I've no ideas yet.

Newton -- a highly debatable, and often chewed on topic. I'd best leave this to the PDA experts. It sounds just about right what with PalmSoft's dropping off Mac support for the Palm, but that's no reason for Apple to bring out their own PDA. The once-thought invincible Palm is looking at very harsh competition from the PocketPC, and even then, the PDA market isn't as lucrative as it once was. Now if the Newton were to be a PDA+phone hybrid, yet carry something as intuitive as the iPod, it could be something else.

OneScanner -- Err... Wasn't Ofoto what made OneScanner's appealing?

Apple External HardDrive -- One word: iPod! :lol: (Not that you should use it as a live hard drive, though).

Apple Graphics Tablet -- Talk about old! Wow, this predates to the Apple II days. I remember the Apple Graphics Tablet software, though how it performed escapes me already. But like the above-mentioned technologies, there's very little room to innovate. Heck, there's only even just a handful of manufacturer's who cater to this demand.

Now, some of the technologies that were missed are the following:
OpenDoc -- anyone miss CyberDog? I do, but well, we have Safari now, not to mention Cocoa and Java.
Taligent -- the OS that never was.
Kaleida's ScriptX -- Shockwave Flash anyone?
AppleLink (later on eWorld) -- just imagine what would've happened had Apple seen the potential of QuantumLink's products and not be in merger-hunting back then. Guess what QuantumLink now is, thanks in part to Apple. Why, its the biggest online service provider to date. Yep, you got it -- America OnLine, popularly known as AOL (or AO-Hell).

[Adel]

Hard poll to answer.

I'm more with Gino in this. Maybe none.

With an exception or two, there are other better alternatives or products out there that make the things on the poll largely redundant and superfluous.

Rather, I would prefer that Apple create a hybrid of some of the items in the list. Like a combo Newton-External HD-cellphone thing, or a External HD-Quicktake gadget.

But the best I think is to leave these things behind and develop new groundbreaking stuff, the things that Apple is known for. And knowing Apple, they are waaaay ahead of us already.

[berniej]

NOTA (None Of The Above).

Apple should introduce something new and revolutionary... something that will take the members of Steve's cult to a new level. Something in the line of the Segway but something more usable, affordable and "insanely great".

[Henjie]

None of the above.

All I want right now is for Apple to release new Power Mac G5s. ;-)


~Henjie

[extremyks]

A new generation Newton!!! Just imagine running a mini OS X under your hands.

[dust]

You forgot the Pippin

[Maverick]

Originally posted by Henjie
None of the above.

All I want right now is for Apple to release new Power Mac G5s. ;-)


~Henjie

Amen to that... :clap:

[jorweeck]

I kn ow Apple's had it with PDAs but I do need one that syncs FLAWLESSLY with my notebook. No more missing sync, no more palm conduits! And syncs my contacts, calendar, notes, to-do, and my mail. Hindi yun kulang-kulang.

[MiKo]

I say, let them all rest in mac heaven. I'll just wait for the new products from Apple which I am sure will great.