I n 1993, Apple introduced the fi rst personal digital assistant (PDA), the Newt

Question

I n 1993, Apple introduced the fi rst personal digital assistant (PDA), the Newton, to the market. The Newton included handwriting recognition software, a backlight, and a stylus that was used to input most commands. It also supported modems, ethernet and wireless network cards, and fl ash memory. However, due to Apple’s rush to beat competitors to the market, engineers did not have adequate time to test the Newton, and bugs were later found in its software. In addition, many consumers thought the Newton had too many features and was not user-friendly. This perception, combined with the Newton’s size, which was larger than the PalmPilot and other PDAs introduced later, made it unpopular with most consumers. Sales of the Newton were sluggish so it was dropped from Apple’s product line in early 1998, shortly after Steve Jobs became CEO of Apple. During its brief time with Apple, though, a brand community consisting of about 200,000 highly loyal Newton users coalesced. Many members of this community thought that the discontinuation of the Newton was directly due to Steve Jobs becoming Apple’s CEO, while others believed that the product had not been given a fair chance and was simply too far ahead of its time. Thus, in a surprising result, the Newton brand community did not disappear with the removal of the Newton from the market; rather, the community flourished. The members of the brand community became even more committed to the Newton and served as devout advocates of the Newton. Online community forums dedicated to the Newton were filled with accounts of Newton users convincing others of the product’s worth, stories about how Microsoft and its users were bullying the Newton, and rumors about the Newton being reintroduced. Almost mythical descriptions of the Newton’s performance, such as its compatibility with other products or recovery after seemingly “fatal” accidents, were also quite normal. Mystical and spiritual themes were widespread among members’ comments about the Newton. Marketing researchers have even noted that many members of this brand community almost treated it as a religion. Many members of the community treated competing products like a false religion, comparing users of other PDAs and Microsoft products to cattle who were simply going with the flow and unaware of the real value of the Newton. When members of the community felt that the community was threatened, their resolve to stay with the community and be all the more dedicated to it was reinforced.

QUESTIONS- MINIMUM 500 WORDS

1. Why did a brand community develop around the Newton?

2. Why did the Newton brand community thrive after Apple abandoned the Newton?

3. Could the Newton brand community have existed without the Internet? Why or why not?  

Explanation / Answer

1.Ans:- As Newton failed to cater to the needs of its users with its many attributes, it was need of the hour to innovate something new by the company which would be able to create loyal customers to the brand. So tremendous changes were brought in the system of Apple's software and newton was dropped from the company after Steve Jobs becoming the CEO of the company's product line. This Created a brand community of around 200,000 customers of Newton to become loyal customers of the Apple's products. Newton is considered to be a market innovator for the Apple company as its flawed software led to the creation of more innovation in its later products. Now Apple customers remain many steps ahead of other computer companies due to its high end products and innovation with time to time.

2.Ans:- The Newton brand community thrived after the abandoned Newton due to the market revolution biught by this software in the computer world. As Apple is considered the most coolest company among all the companies dealing with computers because of its time to time innovation and software updatation. A brand community of loyal customers of Newton have been thriving after Apple despite abandoning The flawed softwrae because of the company's high end quality products and its easy reliability.

3. Ans:- The Newton brand community could not have existed without the internet as it would be difficult for alll the community members to remain connected and supporting their love for newton and bring new members into this community. Users of Newtons started online forum where they advocated for Newton and shared every details of it which helped in raising community members to the product. Internet played a great role in creating connectivity among Newton community members and brought momentum to the company's reputation and marketing.

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