Re: [NTLK] Newton paging solutions?

From: Ed Kummel (tech_ed_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Jun 23 2002 - 00:36:29 EDT


There are two answers for this. A short answer:
There are no current paging options available for the
Newton!

And the long answer:
The Newton dates back to ancient times when the epoch
of IT enlightenment was nothing more than a faint
glimmer in a geek's eye. The coming of the Newton
heralded an awakening of sorts. Corporate dogma that
previously shunned anything that had a blinking light,
began to see that perhaps money can be made by selling
things that HAVE blinking lights in them! A cottage
industry sprang up, seemingly overnight, to sell
things that modified or enhanced the way in which
these blinking lights would operate. These
enhancements were thinly veiled attempts to "mimic"
interoperability. Basically, big business believed
that if they could shoe-horn a ton of technology into
as small a space as possible and then throw an equal
ton of money at it, then "they will come". "They" of
course, being the geek-droids. Geek wanna-be's who
actually believed that this sudden infusion of
technology and the marketting hype would allow them to
be more productive. Un-beknownst to them, real geeks
were already doing this with even more ancient
technology (my Tandy 100 connected through a custom
serial buffer to a text pager gave me computer access
to my pager as far back as the mid 80's...I
incorporated a "car-phone...called such becuase they
still weren't portable" and a 12V GellCell motorcycle
battery and gave a friend of mine 24h access to their
corporate network!)
Alas, though this infusion of pseudo-technology wasn't
to last. Funds dried up and the actual productivity
gains anticipated just didn't materialize. It is with
fond remberance that I invoke the names of those
paging companies who are no longer with us. Who,
reading this email, is not familiar with at least ONE
of these greats:
Ardis; the first of the wireless gods who tamed the
Newton cousing called "Envoy"
DTS; fully supported a wireless newton with the RAM
system, competitor to Ardis, using the AllPoints card
below
Wynd; The early developer of the software that all
other Newton operators used.
MobileComm and the Motorola Flex PC card pager
AllPoints PC card two way communicator with the
distinctive "gold" antenna
Socket. Receive pages on the built in screen or on you
Newt
Motorla C100 CDPD for seamless twoway capabilities...

It is with a heavy heart that those who initially
embraced the coming technology, soon abandoned it for
the new promise. Enhanced single purpose
communicators...Blackberry's, Palm V's, and the now
ubiquitous Motorola two-way pager, that spends 99% of
its time out of range and can only function as a
simple beeper! The days of Ricochette are gone, and
with it, the supporting technology of the ancient
ones. Such is the burden that we, the protectors of
that which is pure, must endure...color screens and
seemless synching may be a dream for us, be we are
stalwarts, and our task is to protect the maligned,
the misunderstood, the Newton!!
And yay, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of "Palm" I shall fear no "grafitti"

Ed (on a boring saturday night)
web/gadget guru
(btw, I did say it was a long answer, didn't I?)

--- Steven Rogers <stevenr_at_metrocast.net> wrote:
>
> Greetings List,
> I will be recieving a MP2100 on Wednesday and
> want to know if there are any
> options to use it as a pager. I am not familiar
> with the protocols involved
> with paging and do not know if it was only supported
> by a specific company
> before Apple had discontinued the Newton or if the
> Newton itself can be
> supported on many different paging networks.
>
> Thank you for any info you have on this,
> Steven

=====
"I believe that viewers who skip television commercials are Thieves who are guilty of Stealing network programming"
 - Jamie Keller CEO/Chairman Turner Broadcasting

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