Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Five Years Later, Newton Still Going Strong

Posted by timothy on from the well-engineered dept.

CrezzyMan writes "Today is the five year anniversary of Apple's cancellation of the Newton platform. In spite of this, the Newton community has remained stronger than ever: it has even been the subject of academic research. In just the last few days, an IrCOMM stack and a new connection library have been released, on top of OS X syncing and 802.11b support."

10 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I've still got mine. by Dr+Caleb · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Proud Owner of a Newton 503. It still does my calendar, time accounting and notes to self.

    The only game on it is Lunar Lander, and I've got the LCARS Tricorder on it. Nothing like hitting the "Red Alert" button when the boss walks into a meeting.

    The company gave me an iPAQ, which I like. It has an IBM 1G microdrive that I use for movies while I travel. But it just isn't the same....

    --
    "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
  2. Maybe... by dave+at+hostwerks · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Did Newton owners choose wrong or were they simply ahead of the curve?

    Remember, Grafitti was developed by Palm for Newton. Their device did not exist at that time.

    Without Newton, the technology and the marketplace for handhelds would not be what it is today.

    The fact that Newton was only available for five years and has had five more years of life post-Apple is the real story.

    --
    d a v e
    "Hmmm...upgrades."
    1. Re:Maybe... by Drakonian · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Without Newton, the technology and the marketplace for handhelds would not be what it is today.

      I disagree. Maybe I'll agree for the technology, but not the marketplace. Apple unfortunately completed missed the boat with regards to what the public wanted in a PDA, even though their offering was very cool.

      Now without Jeff Hawkins, the PDA market would not be what it is today. I'm sure everyone has heard the story about how he carried around a wood block in his pocket to get a feel for if it was usable. He'd actually pull it out and pretend scrawl on it at the appropriate time to get a feel for the proper weight and size. That is what the market wanted - a *small*, usable, electronic daytimer.

      --
      Random is the New Order.
    2. Re:Maybe... by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "Did Newton owners choose wrong or were they simply ahead of the curve?"

      Niether. Apple had a good machine there but there were prohibiting factors that prevented it from being a bigger success. (Too big for pockets, high price, etc...) I think Palm proved that the Newton was useful, it just needed a little tweaking.

      I'm a little surprised that Apple didn't invent the Palm Pilot before Palm did. Now that PDAs are all over the place, where's Apple's entry?

    3. Re:Maybe... by cookiej · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Important point to remember -- Newton, Inc. was spun off before Jobs came back into power. They had a set of prototypes that would have addressed most of the big issues. The problem was that the Newton was John Scully's baby and Jobs was going to kill it no matter what. Instead of letting Newton, Inc. float on it's own, Jobs pulled it back into Apple and dismantled it under the guise of "retaining high-quality engineers."

      For those who think that the Palm would have been what it was before -- once Newton, Inc. was killed, every bright light (with the exception of Walter Smith and couple others who went other directions) on the Newton team went to work for Palm.

      P.S. Graffitti was a 3rd part app that was a resonable substitute until the Handwriting Recognition was perfected. It was not an Apple product, IIRC.

  3. I switched.. .then switched back.... by jbuilder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I use my Newton MP2100 daily. In fact it's sitting here next to me as I type this. I put Linux docs and HOWTO's relevant to my work on it that I need on it and well as various notes on Java programming. When SJ ended the Newton I tried other PDA's: CE, PalmOS (I stuck with that one for about 4 years) but in the end the *only* PDA I have *ever* used that allowed me to truly store and manage the information I needed for daily life was my Newton. So I switched back.

    Now, Paul Guyot at http://www.kallisys.com has made an ATA driver for CF cards and instead of having a slot with a 20MB card for storage I have a slot with 128MB of storage divided up as 4 32MB stores.

    Need support? Not a problem. The community is still alive and well. Sign up for the Newtontalk list at http://www.newtontalk.net and ask away. We get PalmOS converts daily signing up.

    Surfing the web and checking email works fine on the Newton. I can even chat with people via IM programs like Jabber and ICQ or on the IRC. In addition to that I get weeks of use out of a set of batteries.

    Now would I *like* for something newer/smaller/faster/prettier to come along? Sure. But so far nothing comes close to managing information for me the way my Newt does.

    And unlike the Simpsons episode's depiction, when I type "Beat up Martin" it digitizes it into "Beat up Martin"... I really was hoping to see "Eat up Martha" but no such luck.. ;)

    --
    Polymorphism -- It's what you make of it.
  4. Re:You're wrong by doconnor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If it's just the interface that is so great why doesn't someone re-create it on a modern PDA like a Palm or WinCE device? There isn't really anything that prevents someone form designing what ever interface they like for applications on these devices.

  5. Re:Still nothing like it! by cookiej · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Gotta disagree on it being impractical.

    Is there anyone who *REALLY* takes notes with the Palm/PPC Form Factor? When I whip out my MP2100, everyone in the room looks at the screen size with envy.

    The Palm and iPAQ are great tools for tracking your calendar and contact management. If that's all you need, then a Newton would certainly be overkill.

    If you wanted to replace your planner completely, then a Newton would be for you. The Handwriting Recognition has yet to be surpassed. One more case (see Apple II) of Steve Jobs blowing the market due to his arrogance... They were at least 4 years ahead of EVERYONE.

    They had palm-sized prototypes. I heard they even had a COLOR prototype.... in 1997! Yeah, Steve. No future in the handheld market...

    *sigh* You'd think I'd be less bitter after 5 years. Nope.

  6. Not necessarily by dangermouse · · Score: 3, Interesting
    With networked components, this is only true if you maintain the entire network.

    For instance, if you ditch the OS on your PC that allows you to take advantage of certain functions on your handheld, your handheld has effectively lost functionality without itself failing.

    With the continuing growth in the importance of interconnectedness to the devices and systems we use every day, your statement is quickly becoming less generally true.

  7. Re:You're wrong by RevAaron · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Newton's stregnths lie in a lot more than it's UI. In fact, the UI is a pretty small part of what the Newton did that was innovative.

    And there are/have been projects trying to recapture the Newton's spirit. There is Dynapad, my own project, aiming for a PDA system with similar strengths as the Newton. It is not a project trying to have the same UI appearance. However, that is something I'd like eventually. See my sig for info. Contrary to the page, active development is proceeding- it is hard to do too much working a lot and going to school. Email if you want to know where I am at, but haven't relesaed.

    There was also an attempt at a NewtonScript system emulator that would look, feel and act like a regular Newton, but that hasn't been touched for years.

    --

    Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad