Apple hires former Newton guru as new VP of Product Marketing
The New York Times Bits Blog is reporting that Michael Tchao, a member of the team that brought the Apple Newton MessagePad to market, is going back to work for Apple after a 15-year absence. In Tchao's new job as Vice President of Product Marketing, he'll be reporting to Apple Senior V.P. of Product Marketing Phil Schiller.For the past 7 years, Tchao has been General Manager of Nike's Techlab, which has been responsible for the Nike + iPod line as well as the online integration that makes nikeplus.com so powerful.
If you wanted to start doing a bit of speculating, it's interesting to note that Tchao was part of the team that was responsible for Apple's first tablet computer. Of course, the Newton platform wasn't exactly a huge success during its 5 years of life, owing primarily to its high price and (at least in the first versions) less-than-stellar handwriting recognition. Tchao wasn't in a marketing position at the time as the General Manager of Product Planning and Strategy for Apple's Personal Interactive Electronics group, and most of the marketing fumbles of the Newton era can be laid at the feet of the Apple execs in charge at the time.
Tchao certainly has the street cred as a tablet computing expert, with 5 patents to his name during his time with the Newton team. Although we don't know for sure at this time if Tchao has been tapped to resurrect tablet computing at Apple, his background both at Apple and Nike Techlab shows that he not only has the technical background to shepherd a new product to market, but the marketing savvy as well.
Welcome back, Mr. Tchao!
[via Mashable]
Share
The New York Times Bits Blog is reporting that Michael Tchao, a member of the team that brought the Apple Newton MessagePad to market, is...
Add a Comment
"less-than-stellar handwriting recognition."??? Really? Did you ever actually use it? The handwriting recognition may not have been perfect, but I have yet to come across anything even remotely as good (with the exception of OSX).
September 29 2009 at 8:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHe said in the first version.
And, really, the recognition in Vista/Win7 is far better at this point. I know -- I use a tablet with both.
I don't really think comparing Ink to the Newton is a good idea. I know Ink is based off of the Newton's handwriting recognition engine, but it just isn't as good in my experience. I suppose because the Newton was more trainable, whereas Ink is more or less just supposed to work⦠I've never gotten Ink to work reliably for me, whereas I can still use my Newton effortlesslyâ¦
September 29 2009 at 11:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySchiller needs some serious clue. Maybe Chao will help, maybe not.
But both gents having spotty records? Maybe that's 'synergy'.
As to the tablet thing, I can see them as interactive eBook readers with color and little more. It WOULD be nice to have more reading area and to run things like Eucalyptus on a bigger screen.
The question is, can Apple keep the price down and kill the Kindle?
The ONLY way I'd pay more is if it was MacOSX desktop OS or if it was easily jailbreak'able to that end. Otherwise big fat Meh.
-Drunken Economist
http://mindtaker.blogspot.com/
The Nike+ website isn't that great, buggy, very slow to fix or bring new features, it's not exactly a stellar resume.
September 29 2009 at 7:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI really don't get the hype around tablets, I'm afraid. The last thing I want to do with a computer is write on it. (Well, second-last : the last thing is probably "talk to it".)
September 29 2009 at 6:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWell, Apple hired back Jobs, and it was probably one of their greatest decisions ever.
Surely hiring Tchao back couldn't be a horrible decision either? Sometimes the best products are just a bit too ahead of the game...
Hot Apps on TUAW
Deals of the Day
more deals- Refurb Apple MacBook Air Laptops: 12" 64GB SSD for $699 + free shipping
- JVC Motion Sensing Clock Radio with Dual iPod Docks for $55 + free shipping
- Apple iPhone Headset with Mic for $4 + $2 s&h
- miFrame Picture Frame Dock for iPad for $64 + $8 s&h
- Refurb Apple iPod nano 8GB MP3 Player for $99 + free shipping, 16GB for $119
- Hannspree Apple-Shaped 28" 1080p LCD HDTV for $270 + free shipping
Software Updates
more updates- EFI Firmware Update brings Lion Internet Recovery to 2010-model Macs
- OS X Lion 10.7.3 released with Safari 5.1.3, Wi-Fi bug fix
- Aperture updated to 3.2.2, addresses Photo Stream issue
- Apple updates Keynote to address Lion issues
- Google Search app gets new look on iPad
- Apple releases Apple TV Software Update 4.4.3



7 Comments