From: DJ Vollkasko (DJ_Vollkasko_at_gmx.net)
Date: Wed Oct 26 2005 - 12:41:00 PDT
Subject: Re: [NTLK] [WTB] Want To Buy a "Clear" Newton
From: Lord Groundhog <LordGroundhog () gmail ! com>
Date: 2005-10-25 18:03:47
> But seeing those amazing photos -- I'm breathless! I'm almost tempted
> to get a spare, perhaps dead Newton, and dismantle the case. Then I
> would
> try to create a series of quality dies of the constituent parts, and
> experiment with different kinds of clear materials (including perhaps
> some
> kind of transparent, rubberized silicone compound?) in the hope of
> making
> a tough, clear, shock-absorbent case.
You may want to talk to Sonny Hung. He was the last one to attempt the
Frozen Newton revival. Trying to raise contacts in Japan apparently
didn't
work, so he tried to get new moulds done with help from some folks on
and
off the list, even down to talking to professional casting outfits in
his
area. Seems just casting a mould from an existing case is no option, as
anything you'd in turn cast from that would shrink a tiny bit resulting
in
beautifully done but slightly too small transparent cases... So, there
is
some professional juju required to make it work. Last thing we'd
discussed
was that it'd be smart to start small & affordable--do a Frozen Lid
first to
learn the ropes (difficult enough with the spring mechanism...), and
then do
the bigger stuff.
Unfortunately, whoever wanted to do this never got the drawings oder
die
or CAD data required to proceed to the next step finished. Ask Sonny
about
it, and pick up from there, if you want to take a try at it.
The other project before Sonny's has tried to recreate the Frozen
Newton,
too, but I faintly remember having read they were thinking of also
doing a
metal case (alu? titanium?). But my memory may fail me here... This
project
seems never even to have gotten as far as Sonny did.
The original Frozen Newton project worked this way: Some people were
doing
this. They had a very precise time schedule and business plan. If you
wanted
to become part of this, you entered into a contract with them and also
prepaid at least part of the case IIRC (which somehow was like a
manufacturing cooperative). They then manufactured parts according to
schedule and give them out and be paid the rest. Every side was bound by
that contract to fulfill the agreement. Somehow like this--very strict,
very
credible.
The reason they could do it there is that there are many flexible and
creative moulding and shaping businesses in Japan catering to the
electronics/entertainment industry. Reason it was so expensive was the
high
cost of producing a mould and then the limited run of cases made. A
renewed
attempt should be considerably cheaper if those moulds could be located
and
cases ordered from the original team. I always wonder why they have
never
offered a second run of transparent cases after a few years to recap
some
part of the original investment...
Doesn't the World Newton Association or Interpol or whoever have
groundagents in Japan right now who could investigate? Ronnie, put your
WNA
agent on that case! Basuke, Yoshi or ClubNewton (Yos) should be able to
point to someone to talk to...
> Who's to say someone here doesn't have the skill and inclination --
> and obsessive personality :) -- to produce such
> cases at a reasonable price at least for some of us?
It has been done once. It has been tried repeatedly. It will only happen
again if there's somebody willing to invest a lot of money, or someone
from
that kinda industry does this in her spare time or if you get hold of
the
original Frozen Newton crewe who'd done that over in Nippon. Wakarimas?
'Kasko
P.S.: That said, I'd love to have a transparent case. It makes the 2x00
look
"lighter" and more like the slick and innovative machine it actually is.
P.P.S.: Any Japanese Newton friends on the list, pls.--can you point us
to
the original Frozen Newton team?
-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Oct 26 2005 - 14:30:06 PDT