Re: [NTLK] GTD and Omnifocus vs. Newton

Hi Jon:

Good post. I use the Newton because my regular computer is too distracting, so I manage To Dos on it. To Dos are also a form of call logging for me. If a customer calls and wants a follow up, I log their name and number, and brief blurb of what they want as a To Do item. Because we have so much flow of customers, without this I would not be able to manage, and there is no way we could just remember all those phone numbers and Email addresses of customers on a daily basis!

We do have an enterprise system used for estimates, etc., and when it is a flat out estimate request, I personally don't use the Newton on those. I also just sit and vomit a stream of To Do consciousness into it and in 5 minutes I have a list of things I need to do for the next day. So the Newton is the "Capture and Organize" of COD in GTD speak.

I am, however, just starting to explore the calls application under 2.x. At any rate, I realize the limitations of the Newton which is why I like it: a focused device not capable of running YouTube, but capable of organizing a person and business.

Ryan

----- Original Message ----
From: Jon Glass <jonglass@usa.net>
To: newtontalk@newtontalk.net
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 7:53:09 AM
Subject: Re: [NTLK] GTD and Omnifocus vs. Newton

On Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 2:00 AM, Riccardo Mori <rick@poc.it> wrote:
> One thing I've never used the Newton (or iCal, or whatever software
> might be out there) for is To-Do. Either my life isn't as busy as I
> feel it is, or there may be something wrong with me (LOL), but I can
> assure you: I just use my brain and rely 99% of the time on my memory.
>

I know you guys have been knocking Newton's todos, but my perspective
is a bit different. Before I switched to the Newton, I was a hard-core
Daytimer(R) user, using the Jr. Desk version with the 7 ring binder.
My Newton was both smaller and more convenient than that! I quickly
learned that it was superior to my paper planner in every way.
Granted, NOS 1.3 was rather weak, but once I switched to NOS 2, I was
able to realize my dreams. Like everybody else, I realized the
weakness of any todos in the Newton, reserving them almost exclusively
for time-sensitive items that needed alarms (I used Action
Names)--mostly phone calls. Otherwise, I used the Newton Notes app for
my todos. Its hierarchal checklists were my daily soup (pun sort of
intended). It was great for shopping lists, project lists, and any
sort of quick organizational outline that required being able to check
things off. Unbeatable. I still have some lists on my Newton from
remodeling projects I did over a decade ago. I loved how, as you
checked sub items off, the main item would be checked off
automatically, and you could collapse the lists, just showing what you
needed to see at one time. Maybe some people can keep all that in
their heads, but I'm too scatter-brained, and need such organizational
help. The Newton Notes app was my main brain, with ActionNames filling
in the gaps.

I definitely miss using my Newton for all these things. Nowadays, I'm
stuck with my Treo and hipster pda (A7-sized), and a Circa
calendar/notebook for those items that require more space. My Treo
handles all my time-sensitive items, and contact information, and
syncs to my Macs and MobileMe, and paper is for those transient items,
or note-taking. Yes, it's a bit more compact than my Newton, but it
never feels as organic and automatic as my Newton did. But my Poor
Newton is too unreliable now, and honestly, in comparison, too big for
me to carry everywhere every day. Oh, and one more big use it had, no
longer works--namely PocketMoney. I just can't get it to transfer
transactions to my Macs. And now that I think of it, syncing names and
dates is no longer reliable, thus nailing the coffin quite firmly
closed on my Newton era.... and trust me, I miss it! I still use it
for currency conversions and other things--nothing else comes
close--but that's about it.

-- 
-Jon Glass
Krakow, Poland
<jonglass@usa.net>
"I don't believe in philosophies. I believe in fundamentals." --Jack Nicklaus
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