[NTLK] iPhone is not the new Newton (& announcing a Newt sell-off shortly)

Mark Rollins mark at mrollins.com
Wed Dec 30 22:14:58 EST 2009


A LOT of Apps for Jailbroken iPhones do one of two things forbidden by Apple. They either patch existing Apps (i.e. System Apps and calls) or access hardware in a non-standard way. Apple forbids these for reasons of stability and battery use.

Examples of the former are Cyntact (adds a photo of the person you have on the Phone App speed dial list; and Inspell, add the ability to correct by tapping a word 2x (how Newt-like). Or Snappy - it calls up the camera App from within any App.

Apps that access hardware in a non-standard way are ClearCam (takes 4 photos in 2 seconds (assuming iPhone is held still) to make a 4 MB photo from a 2 MB camera, and Backgrounder, that allows all Apps to background.

As far as the auto analogy, it's like installing an underdrive pulley for a few more horsepower. A standard size pulley does not change RPMs of the water pump; use of an underdrive pulley that does not meet manufacturer's specs can void the warrantee.

And it's Apple's right to minimize possibly unjust customer complaints. Remember the Newt OS 1.0 - if you set a user password and forgot no one in the world but Apple could unlock your device; no reset, no battery drain, etc. Why do you think they allowed OS 2 on up to get by the password if the batteries were pulled? I think they got tired of having people send in their Newts for resetting.

Any iPhone updates that leave a brick are done by those who do not read the directions. I have JB'd 4 different iPhones for friend and family from OS 1 to 2 to 3.12 and the only errors have been mine. There is no evidence Apple is releasing updates deliberately to cause iPhone bricking. Some Apps for jailbroken iPhones (see line 1) may leave them more susceptible to bricking.

I think Apple has encouraged App development (one they were shown the error of their ways re Web Apps). Don't forget, the Newton Developer Kit cost $1,000 (but it came with a swell golf shirt); the iPhone Dev kit is free with $99 to submit an App. Also - if you did buy the Newton dev kit, you got a double-secret free upgrade to the basic Apple Developer account - for life.

Mark Rollins
exNewt on iTunes and elsewhere...



On Dec 30, 2009, at 3:00 PM, newtontalk-request at newtontalk.net wrote:

> Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:08:26 -0800
> From: "Dennis B. Swaney" <romad at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] iPhone is not the new Newton (& announcing a Newt
> 	sell-off shortly)
> To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
> Message-ID: <4B3BA52A.7080307 at aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> 
> Lord Groundhog wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Sorry Riccardo, I guess this is a case of my not leaving enough context when
>> I trimmed the e-mail.  We were talking about the difference between the
>> Newton's ability to allow 3rd party development and the iPhone's hardline
>> "no trespassers!" approach to 3rd party development, necessitating for some
>> users the jailbreak.  




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