[NTLK] Fact Check

[Stefan Thorsteinson]

Ryan, Jon,

My $0.02:

[snip]
The only way I can see wireless faxes happening is via a cell phone tethered
to the Newton.  So the cell phone acts as a modem (Apple's PCMCIA fax/modem
card could plug into phone with a standard phone cord).  Is that correct?
This is going back to when I was in the beginning of high school, so I was
pretty much unaware of all this stuff.
[snip]

My recollection of 1993 business practice was the marvel of sending a fax at
far less than the cost of a phone call to communicate the same information.
Most cell phones were huge. [Probably took 5 "D" cells. :)] Very few people
had them. Car phones were more popular for people on the road a lot.
Hardwired with a big black box taking up trunk space. I'd be willing to bet
they had data capability as portable computers were becoming more popular. 

My own experience with cell phones and a Newton didn't happen until 1997. My
original MP2000U was tethered to a Motorola flip phone (Forget he model) via
a US Robotics Megahertz 33.6 PCMCIA card. The card has a pop out connector
for a standard phone jack and flat pin female connector for the cable that
attached directly to the flip phone.(Museum fodder now) I can attest to
sitting in a restaurant and receiving a faxed order then turning around and
faxing orders to my supplier; and my hamburger was still hot when I was
done. :D

In 1993, I'm guessing there were only a few people that had that same
capability. Would that be an example of Apple (Scully) forward thinking?

Cheers,
Stefan Thorsteinson


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