Re: [NTLK] A day in the life

From: Riccardo Mori <rick_at_poc.it>
Date: Sat Apr 29 2006 - 16:30:03 EDT

Steven Frank wrote:

> So, we've got about 2,000 people on the list here. I know that some
> of you are day-to-day Newton users, and others of you are former
> users, or collectors, etc.
> I am really curious to hear from the day-to-day users what a typical
> day is like. Things like: what kind of work do you do, and how do
> you use your Newton to help get it done?

I arrive late to this thread... Evidently for me there's a sort of
NewtonTalk's law that says "the best threads all start on the first
day of your hiatus and the discussion ends on your returning" :)

Anyway, I'm a freelance translator / technical writer / writer. I've
been a Newton user since late 2001, and in these four years I've been
using my MessagePad 2000 in different ways. At the beginning there
was, obviously, some time spent exploring the new 'toy', searching
for software to install, try, and either discard or keep according to
my liking and needs of the moment.

I also collect old hardware and I believe that nothing is really old
if it still does its job pretty well (like the Newton), so I started
using my MP2000 as a very portable, very handy word processor. I
brought it with me everywhere, writing or reading ebooks while
commuting, taking notes during meetings with clients, reading/sending
emails, and the like. At that time I wasn't really using it as a PIM:
for that I still had my trustworthy Moleskine. The address/calendar
syncing has never been a real issue for me. I effortless transferred
my txt's and rtf's serially, first on my Quadras (700 and 950), then
on my clamshell graphite iBook G3 (using the Keyspan adapter).

When I purchased my PowerBook G4 12", it being such a wonder in
lightness and portability, I put the good old Newton to some rest.
But soon I was missing my Newton, so I started putting it back in my
bag -- "just in case", I said to myself. And of course it proved to
be useful in many occasions: taking quick notes and memos on the go,
scribbling down titles while browsing books in a bookshop, or camera
models and prices while visiting a store, or simply some ideas for a
short story or for a poem, all this in situations where opening the
backpack and taking the PowerBook out would be impractical/difficult/
better to avoid.

Now that I have relocated in Spain, and being very close to the
University library where my significant other works, I often go there
to write and work, and since I'm allowed to browse, search and borrow
books, the Newton -- once again -- comes handy. I can wander among
books and write down titles and/or signatures of interesting finds
which I may want to borrow later, sometimes even parts of Tables of
Contents for future reference. There are days in which I go to the
library without carrying too much with me, no iPod, no PowerBooks...
Just the Newton and its keyboard, and maybe I consult a book or two;
maybe I don't want to borrow them because I'm interested only in some
bits here and there, and voilą, I type those bits in Newton Works.
Everything I keep in my MP2000 is then transferred to at least two
other Macs. My Colour Classic still holds a complete archive of all
the 'newted' bits and text files.

I could go on rambling for a long while, but I think this is enough
to give a good picture of how I use my Newton :)

> ...Making matters worse, I already carry a Treo
> everywhere, which is -- eh -- OK, but the Newton's just so damn FUN,
> I hate leaving it in a drawer.)

I hear you loud and clear. I've always hated smartphones. To me a
mobile phone should _phone_ and _send/receive SMS_. I was forced to
buy a SonyEricsson K700i for Bluetooth and GPRS connectivity, but I
still have and use an old Sony CMD-Z7 (and I still have a Philips
Genie in the drawer).

So yes, the Newton is fun and to me is alive and well and living :)

Kind regards,
R.

_______________________________________________________________________
Riccardo Mori - Freelance translator . Technical writer . IT Consultant

My photos: <http://flickr.com/photos/nuail/>

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Received on Sat Apr 29 16:35:47 2006

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