"The fact that Apple has been named as a possible buyer may seem strange to those who recall that one of the most controversial acts of CEO Steve Jobs was to kill off the pen-driven Apple Newton, a pre-cursor of the Palm Pilot, when he returned to the company after a 10-year absence in 1996," says [url=http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/news/2149813/apple-bite-palm]Personal Computer World[/url]. "Yet the two companies are closely linked. They are near neighbours and several early Palm employees, including co-founder and former company president Donna Dubinsky, previously worked with Apple."

Sure, Jobs tried to buy Palm in the late nineties. But those days have passed. So has Jobs' interest in buying Palm, I'd think. Apple won't enter the traditional handheld arena. And if (when?) it enters the smartphone market, it will do so with in-house products most likely spun off from its iPod base.

"Also, for all their vaunted style, the latest Apple notebooks look like antiques beside the latest pen-driven Tablet PCs," [url=http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/news/2149813/apple-bite-palm]Personal Computer World[/url] adds. "The company will sooner or later be forced to offer a pen interface, and could benefit from Palm expertise in the area - especially as tablets are getting smaller, and may eventually supersede the PDA."

I'm not sure that Apple will be "forced" to offer a pen interface. So far tablet computers haven't exactly set the world on fire. But if and when Apple enters this market, it will do so with its own (this time Mac-based) product.

Apple won't buy Palm. There's simple no reason for them to.

Thoughts? Write me at dsellers@macsimumnews.com