Steve Sakoman
Steve Sakoman | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Computer industry executive, consultant |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Known for | Apple Newton, BeBox, Palm OS development |
Steve Sakoman is a prominent American executive in the computing industry who retired from Apple Computer in 2005 and currently operates as an independent consultant.
His professional journey started at Hewlett-Packard, where he worked as a manufacturing engineer and project manager on the development of the industry's first battery-operated portable MS-DOS computer, the HP 110.
In 1984, Sakoman joined Apple, taking charge of hardware divisions responsible for the Apple II and Mac product families. By 1987, he was leading the team that created the Apple Newton, which was a groundbreaking device as the initial PDA.
Sakoman departed Apple in 1990 before the Newton's official release to co-establish Be Inc. alongside ex-Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée. At Be, he spearheaded the creation of the original BeBox, developed BeOS compatibility for Brooktree video-capture hardware, and held the position of Chief Operating Officer. Additionally, he oversaw an early office webcam initiative known as CodyCam.
In 1994, he transitioned to Silicon Graphics as director of the Consumer Products & Technologies Group, where he contributed to the graphics architecture for the Nintendo 64. He returned to Be in 1996 thereafter.
Following the acquisition of Be by PalmSource in 2001, Sakoman assumed the role of Chief Products Officer, significantly influencing the development of both Palm OS 5 and Palm OS 6.
He rejoined Apple in 2003 as Vice-President of Software Technology, reporting directly to Avie Tevanian.
In 2004, Sakoman launched GutenTalk, a website dedicated to ebooks formatted specifically for PDAs and various handheld reading devices.