Benjamin said ... <lots of good points snipped>
> Of course, in the end, each individual uses his tools as he sees fit.
> However, after many years of devoted Newton use, along with use of many of
> its supporting hardware (hi-speed modem cards with cellular connections;
> ethernet cards for printing, synchronizing and broadband access; keyboard,
> etc), I have come to the realization that the utility of my Newton is
> nearing the end.
>
> Ben
>From my perspective, it irks me that I have to jump thru hoops to get the connectivity
solutions I need to work efficiently.
My (Nokia) 8810 connects flawlesly to the 'net via IR to my laptop and even works with
WinCE (and I think Psion) devices - but a quick conversation with SmartDog indicates its
unlikely Newt ever will.
My Laptop does I/O for notes easily only with additional (now unsupported and still buggy)
software - and not via IR (yes, I am aware of the Sloup option - but there are other
shortcomings with that) so cables need to be dragged along.
I hate having to 'kludge' synchronisation of meetings, names and 'mails thru the use of
old no-longer-appropriate-to-what-I-do software, because its the only thing that Newt
talks to properly
I'm PC based - but can't use Ethernet (in spite of having a home network larger than most
of my customers' commercial installations) without running emulator(s) and buying more
Apple gear (to legitimise the use of Basilisk) - something I swore I'd never do after the
manner in which they dropped the 'Newt....
Is the MP (particularly the 2x00 series) still the best stand-alone handheld out there?
Without question.
Is that enough in today's market? Not really - and the connectivity facet is becoming
steadily more important.
We all say functionality is preferred over size - but when you have to cart 3 cables, 2
floppies, a dongle and an oversized PDA everywhere you go - the Palm (or, more likely, one
of its clones) looks more and more appealing in one respect, a cheap laptop in another.
If the Newt had been supported properly - eg high quality (not bitmapped) printing and fax
output on A4 pages (which in spite of 'localised' settings, it doesn't support), ability
to easily I/O sound and works documents - ability to open Word (or at least RTF docs)
directly onboard, without converting on a desktop first, 'upgrading' to USB or at least
Win ENet support - THEN it would still be the platform to beat.
As it is? Superlative HWR, a decent screen size/resolution, 2 PC slots (last 2 already
being caught up with newer WinCE devices) and good battery life do not a 'perfect PDA'
make.
Much as I hate to say it, I agree with Benjamin.
The Newt still has enough pros (and significant good points they are, too!) to outweigh
its cons for now - but it _is_ based on old technology and _is_ limited by the
(admittedly, extraordinary) vision of its designers, many years ago.
The time approaches when small, light, powerful, connected devices (be it watch, PDA or
phone) will be more useful that the Newton.
I, too, am looking at other options. A 'Newt user since '94, I will regret putting my
green friend out to pasture - but there's only so much you can do with a Telegraph in a
world of multiple, wireless, connectivity.
My 2c (worth close to nothing at today's exchange rates ;-).
Please reply/flame offlist to newton@xpress.net.nz
-D
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