The Newton is way ahead of its time in the design department, and nobody, no matter how blonde or Canadian (that's you, Flora), can deny this. It might be older than Jesus' granddad, but it clearly set the standard for tablet-style devices and fancy smart phones like the iPhone and we've not moved on since.
Take a good look at the Newton. Now take a look at the cheap knockoff in Flora's hands. Coincidence? I don't think so. The iPhone is arguably a better-looking device, but other than being smaller and shinier, it brings nothing new to the table.
Incredibly, after a 15-year hiatus, Apple has actually rehired the Newton's original designer, Michael Tchao, as director of product marketing. Now if that's not an admission of the Newton's awesomeness, shrouded in a not-so-subtle hint towards the company's future direction, I don't know what is.
On the outside, the iPhone's glassy curves and huge screen, shorn of disfiguring buttons, mean it still looks like a visitor from the future compared to most phones polluting high-street shops. It's a worthy successor to the Newton's innovative shape.
Its simplicity -- one button on the front and a grid of shiny icons on the screen -- swept the cobwebs out of mobile phone design and launched a thousand wannabes. It's the must-have fashion accessory, whether clutched in the manicured grips of celebs from Lindsay Lohan to Kiefer Sutherland, or being flashed by the fashionistas in Lipstick Jungle.
It's so perfect, Apple didn't have to change it one bit when it upgraded the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS. Why mess with perfection? All they added was an oleophobic coating to the screen so our greasy uncelebrified fingerprints don't taint its shine.
If the iPhone is Megan Fox, the Newton is Marilyn Monroe. It was standing over windy manholes in short dresses, making our pulses race long before the iPhone was tattooing weird, incoherent nonsense about butterflies on its back.
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