Newton MessagePads: Will there ever be an Upgrade?
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PDAs, PDAs
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· Score: 1
Reading this kinda hit a "nerve" with me:
Doug made some goods points about the MP2000('97) except it supports 480x320 resolution. The MP110 (circa '94) was the first to have 320x240. The original MP100 had a 336x240 in '93 (that's almost 10 years ago...)
First, the Palms are not PDAs (Personal Digital Assitant)... they are electronic orgainizers. The PDA which was "defined" by John Sculley CEO-Apple in the early '90s referred to a digital device with intuitive, task oriented (non computer user) interface, handwriting/sketching capabilities, printing capabilities, send/recieve faxing capabilities, open expandability, email, addressbook, and datebook. The Palm can do the last four, but only the last two well and agreeably "very" well at that (which describes the term "electronic organizer). But most importantly the PDA device was to "work for" the individual using natural, common methods of inputs (PEN, HWR, SKETCHING, VOICE (future))... the PDA would NOT be a device where one would need to know the technicalities of the machine (like a PC) or have to learn a new input hardware(ie Keyboard) or software language(ie graffiti). Sure Apple had some issues with the complexities of this revolutionary product... especially with Paragraph "caligrapher" HWR, etc (and they were "ridiculed by MS and the industry for it), but by 1995 (6 years ago...) they got it right with the MP120/NOS 2. It had "everything" everyone is requesting. Advanced "extremely" accurate HWR (redesigned in-house, ROSETTA), 320x240 res, intuitive interface (datebook, addressbook, notetaking,etc), TCP/IP/internet capabilities, etc, etc. It even won Byte's OS of the YEAR... by 1997 (4 years ago) the MP2000 was introduced with a larger greyscale screen (480x320 (half VGA)), faster CPU, voice input, an extra PCMCIA slot, ethernet, word processing, spreadsheet, and even more advanced internet capabilities (it can even be a web server)
In addition.. the PocketPC is definately not a replacement... although it appears on paper (as do many MS products) to be a "true" PDA, it fails miserably in everyday use. It lacks the required intuitiveness, reliabilty, and usability of PDA/Newton. MS even has the "gaul" to use Paragraph Caligrapher as the HWR. This is the same technology which was in the original MPs that MS had ridiculed just a many years earlier... Bill gates himself "claimed" the Newton and its orginal HWR had set the PDA back 2 years (not bad considering today its about 4 years ahead and growing...)
NOW, I gotta ask... where were you "people" when Apple was selling this device 4-6 ago and when will the rest of the market catch up and make a "true" PDA (2005, 2010, 2015, anyone, anyone, anyone ???)
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Reading this kinda hit a "nerve" with me: Doug made some goods points about the MP2000('97) except it supports 480x320 resolution. The MP110 (circa '94) was the first to have 320x240. The original MP100 had a 336x240 in '93 (that's almost 10 years ago...) First, the Palms are not PDAs (Personal Digital Assitant)... they are electronic orgainizers. The PDA which was "defined" by John Sculley CEO-Apple in the early '90s referred to a digital device with intuitive, task oriented (non computer user) interface, handwriting/sketching capabilities, printing capabilities, send/recieve faxing capabilities, open expandability, email, addressbook, and datebook. The Palm can do the last four, but only the last two well and agreeably "very" well at that (which describes the term "electronic organizer). But most importantly the PDA device was to "work for" the individual using natural, common methods of inputs (PEN, HWR, SKETCHING, VOICE (future))... the PDA would NOT be a device where one would need to know the technicalities of the machine (like a PC) or have to learn a new input hardware(ie Keyboard) or software language(ie graffiti). Sure Apple had some issues with the complexities of this revolutionary product... especially with Paragraph "caligrapher" HWR, etc (and they were "ridiculed by MS and the industry for it), but by 1995 (6 years ago...) they got it right with the MP120/NOS 2. It had "everything" everyone is requesting. Advanced "extremely" accurate HWR (redesigned in-house, ROSETTA), 320x240 res, intuitive interface (datebook, addressbook, notetaking,etc), TCP/IP/internet capabilities, etc, etc. It even won Byte's OS of the YEAR... by 1997 (4 years ago) the MP2000 was introduced with a larger greyscale screen (480x320 (half VGA)), faster CPU, voice input, an extra PCMCIA slot, ethernet, word processing, spreadsheet, and even more advanced internet capabilities (it can even be a web server) In addition.. the PocketPC is definately not a replacement... although it appears on paper (as do many MS products) to be a "true" PDA, it fails miserably in everyday use. It lacks the required intuitiveness, reliabilty, and usability of PDA/Newton. MS even has the "gaul" to use Paragraph Caligrapher as the HWR. This is the same technology which was in the original MPs that MS had ridiculed just a many years earlier... Bill gates himself "claimed" the Newton and its orginal HWR had set the PDA back 2 years (not bad considering today its about 4 years ahead and growing...) NOW, I gotta ask... where were you "people" when Apple was selling this device 4-6 ago and when will the rest of the market catch up and make a "true" PDA (2005, 2010, 2015, anyone, anyone, anyone ???)