From: Ed Kummel (tech_ed_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Sep 23 2004 - 13:31:51 PDT
I honestly don't see a problem with the Newton.
I think the issue at hand here is HOW you use your
Newt...
I personally believe that the Newton is autonomous. It
exists without the need of connecting it to something
else. The popular mind set is to adopt the
Palm-centric thought process to the Newt. The Palm
cannot exist without the connectivity to some other
form of computer. This is not true of the Newt. It is
quite happy sitting on it's own with never connecting
to anything. It works fine right out of the box.
Granted, I do make some connections to load
applications, but for the most part, it's basically a
seperate unit. It's with me everywhere I go. I use it
to quickly jot down notes, make lists and to wake me
up in the morning. It entertains me with games and
books, plus makes quite a good light without
disturbing others (like my wife) who may be asleep. It
is also a curiousity and a conversation starter.
But ultimatly, it's the handwriting. What
distinguishes the Newt from a 12"iMac is the
handwriting. I don't know about you, but standing up
in a subway train and pulling out my iBook (ok, I
don't own an iBook, but this is hypothetical) and
typing a note to myself would be impractical, and darn
near impossible. And the same goes for almost every
other kind of currently acceptable PDA. (do you show
PDA for your PDA?) With the Newt, it's not only easy
to perform this simple task, but almost intuitive.
Kinda like Columbo whipping out his spiral bound
notebook to jot down a clue. The Newt can be extracted
and with a "Star Trek" like flip of the wrist, you can
begin jotting down the lyrics to that new song you
were working on...Then you can send it to yourself in
an email.
I went on vacation last week. I brought my laptop and
my Newt...My laptop stayed at the hotel, the Newt came
with me everywhere...Seaworld, Cape Canaveral,
restaurants...and I made notes where ever I went. For
the curious, other items I carried with me are my
cellphone, digital camera and my Magellan GPS unit.
So, it all comes down to how you use your Newt...Me?
Well, it's a spare brain that takes care of the
mundane stuff....the human mind is a marvelous device,
why clutter it up with things like phone numbers,
shopping lists and zipcodes?
BTW...OSX on a newt would certainly kill it...OSX is
not a portable OS...
Ed
web/gadget guru
http://newton.tek-ed.com (download Newton packages)
--- David Deranian <deranian_at_mac.com> wrote:
> Hi Folks.
>
> I little thinking out loud here. First a quick set
> up to position
> myself as an old timer. Been a Mac user since 1984,
> been a Newton user
> non-stop since 1994.
<snip>
>
> Now on to the Newton. Lately, while using my Newton,
> I've really been
> noticing how it's aged. Not just the obvious, like
> lack of color or one
> button connectivity. The overall look and feel is
> starting to look
> almost "vintage". While in most cases this is a
> desirable trait, (like
> the 1962 Porsche 356 I used to own) in the world of
> computers, old is
> usually synonymous with "no longer useful". Newton
> has been the
> exception to that rule for almost 7 years now.
<snip>
=====
"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the decision."
- Benjamin Franklin
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