Month: September 1999

“Phones are no longer being viewed as a voice device. An infocentric appliance is where I’d like to take them.”

Bellsouth cell-phone technologist Stephen Blust, who’s intent on taking the “phone” out of “telephones,” San Jose Mercury News, 20 September 1999

“Tired: virtual communities; wired: distance families.”

Patrick Naughton, Java coinventor and former Go Network executive who was charged Thursday with allegedly crossing state lines with the intent to solicit sex from a minor, Wired magazine, August 1999

“I hope you’d agree that Amiga was never about a box. It was never about an operating system either. … At its heart, Amiga was simply about a better way.”

Tom Schmidt, president of Gateway subsidiary Amiga, on plans to produce a computer but skip over those pesky hardware and software bits, News.com, 17 September 1999

“This is a new game, and we’ll be in a position to continually define the rules.”

eCoverage president David Riker, presenting his online insurance company as the latest piece of evidence that the Internet revolution is well into its reactionary phase, PC World Online, 16 September 1999

“If you wait to have a business model in place, you’ll be the last guy in the marketplace.”

Microsoft president Steve Ballmer, on how his company plans to translate its seat-of-the-pants product strategy from Windows to the Web, The New York Times, 14 September 1999

“The reason the Palm is so successful is the simplicity of using them. They kind of just work.”

Handspring cofounder and PalmPilot inventor Jeff Hawkins, on the almost-there design esthetic of his handheld offspring, CNN, 13 September 1999

“Palm has reached a critical mass.”

3Com CEO Eric Benhamou, explaining why he wants to hand off Palm Computing’s explosive potential to the public as soon as possible (and before it gets nuked by Handspring’s new Visor), Wired News, 13 September 1999