I hear all this discussion about the Newton fund and the people for it and
against it. This issue of trust is essential, so how do you establish this trust?
Create something that can be legally responsible for it. But you guys are not the
only one, Japanese Newton users are trying to look into the future also and are
trying to pull their resources to develop for the Newton and petition Apple Japan
to work with them and release necessary support materials. So we have two
groups (America & Europe along with Japan) who are trying to do the same
thing.
Why don't we look into the future?
All of us Newton users are sticking by the Newt because what it can do and we
know there is nothing like it yet and in the near foreseeable future. Most of us
are waiting around for a product that can do the same thing. People on the
outside do not understand why we are so rabid when it comes to the Newton but
this is because we have seen what a PDA can do, and currently no PDA can
match it. I am sure most of us would buy a Palm if it could do what our Newton
could do.
So this brings us to the current situation and the need to establish a central
operation that can oversea and help developers who want to create things for
the Newton. The development fund is only one part of what should really be
established.
My proposal is to create a non-profit corporation that can facilitate Newton
development. This will then create a legal establishment that will be responsible
to a board and responsible to its members. This legal status will enable us to
seek funding. Many people are hesitant to provide financial support to a person
because there is no one legally obligated to control the money. The
establishment of a non-profit corporation would solve this problem, because
people know their money will be protected and someone will be accountable.
This non-profit corporation can become the center of development for the
Newton platform. It can unite global users into one source of development and
direction for the Newton platform. If it becomes respected we may be able to
approach Apple to open source the Newton OS, which would be a benefit
because someone will be legally responsible for the OS. This organization can
petition developers who have discontinued support to open source their
applications, and allow this organization to take over support and development.
Again, a legal organization will make it a bit easier to ask for this stuff, but we
need to establish ourselves.
Who knows we might be on the verge of something completely new here.
Nowhere before has a non-profit corporation taken over product support and
development by defacto. We can produce our own parts with the talent on the
Newton list, along with continuing software development. This legal entity could
do many things that individual developers and discussion lists could never do.
But this organization would respect the fact that individual developers are
essential and the organization can provide the direction and support essential
to get new projects off the ground. This guidance could really accelerate the
development of the Newton and bring us places we never thought.
Yes it will be a task to get started but I feel this organization could be up and
running by the end of 2003. But if we do not get the ball rolling eventually our
beloved Newts will become obsolete in a rapidly evolving PDA market. Like
John Anderson said, we need to begin to think of ways to show how the Newton
can be a different PDA and because of this we must toss out our old ways of
thinking. This includes the old way of thinking that developers will be out there
to continue our platform. This will not be the case unless there are incentives
and direction that only a centralized effort could facilitate.
I would be willing to work with the international Newton community to help
establish such an organization. What do you all think?
Chris Myers
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