From: Michael C. Wittmann (mwittmann_at_maine.edu)
Date: Thu Oct 13 2005 - 06:21:14 PDT
Greetings, all,
so, just because I like keeping up to date on new things while
soldiering on with my Newton, I went and looked at the specs for the
Palm T|X. Funny how a change in form factor can get many of us to say
"we already had that, and you teased us, and now you have it and want
people to say yay?!" At least, that's how I'm hearing some comments.
On the other hand, consider the appeal of what the T|X does have.
Built in and easy bluetooth, same with wi-fi. The standard Palm apps
are there, and you can probably do a lot with them if only
scheduling, project management, and contacts are your way to go. For
all the "keep it on your cell phone" mantra out there, some contacts
need more than phone numbers, and some portable management of
interactions is required. In addition, with native file format use of
Word, Excel, and even PowerPoint (read only from the Mac version, but
still letting you do presentations off the thing? who knows), there
are a lot of strengths that the Newton does not have. And isn't
DateMan available for the Palm? That certainly changes how you manage
contacts...
But I still wouldn't consider it, not for a second. (Okay, for $100,
I'd consider it, but not $300.) Graffiti 2 seems slightly less
horrible than the old format, but damn, I don't want to use it. The
Newton returned to my life for one simple reason: I can write
extremely well on it. That means that I USE the machine. I stopped
taking notes on my Palm when I tried one (for 2 years). Sure, I had
the keyboard, a godsend on a plane when I needed to write long first
drafts (I loathe the Newton keyboard, loud, clunky, heavy action,
ugh). But in meetings, I never used it. So I started taking my
laptop. But that was ugly and annoying. I have loved my return to the
Newton, plain notes, outlines, or checklists in hand, excellent
interface, and the fabulously intuitive gesture driven system (cut/
copy/paste, tap-n-drag, scribble out, capitalize after highlight,
etc.). I don't plan to change for a long, long time. I suspect a Mac
Tablet on Intel chips will happen within 3 years, and I'll give up
the Newton then. Until then? Whatever, the T|X doesn't appeal.
But it gets close. If only I could write differently on it, I'd use
it. The hardware really is much better than the Newton: finally a
large screen, useful color, easier connectivity. And the software has
some appeal: document portability with the Microsoft travesty that I
have to use, easy connections to my desktop and easy backups. But the
user interface is still crap, and that will never change. It's a
design difference, and the basic philosophy of the Newton wins for
me. It's the UI, stupid.
Michael Wittmann
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