Re: [NTLK] A day in the life

At 01:24 20.04.2006, you wrote:
>So, we've got about 2,000 people on the list here.

(...)

>I am really curious to hear from the day-to-day users what a typical
>day is like. Things like: what kind of work do you do, and how do
>you use your Newton to help get it done?

I'm a writer and a journalist.

Since I stumbled upon the Newton about two years ago and bought my first
2100 from eBay, it has become an integral part of my life. For private and
professional reasons, I'm constantly on the move. What do I do with
my Newtons (two 2100s and an eMate) when I use one of them while being
on the move? I write novels, shortstories and articles with them

http://www.flickr.com/photos/concord/85642762/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/concord/92637931/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/concord/34490871/

using NewtWorks (see below for a list of articles on Newton technology I wrote).
I write poems with my 2100s using Notes, somewhat enhanced via BigNotes and
Options (multiple clipboards). I find the 2100 the *ideal* tool for the IT-aware poet.
It handles quite much like a paper notebook - minus the drawbacks. Writing poetry
is about corrections. A lot of them. The more you correct on a piece of paper,
the mightier the chaos. On a more subtle level canceled words, verses, stanzas
are somehow still there. They continue to influence the ongoing process. While
some of my colleagues actually like this "palimpsest" approach, I don't.
I want to make a decision, I want to move. This is exactly where all
of the 2100s strenghts converge: working HWR, excellent agility in text handling,
gorgeous battery life. I work on a poem in Notes, and when I feel it has reached
a certain maturity, it wanders via OneTap TWT and clipboard to
NewtWorks and get's transferred to my desktop machine. Which is a no name
XP box and happily collaborates with my Newtons via the Ethernet/Basilisk/NCU
solution.

I listen to radioplays, audiobooks and music on my 2100:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/concord/91374328/

Sometimes I do the dishes while the Newt plays a couple of songs, lying on
the kitchen table. It is my alarm clock. Of course I use it to keep
my dates coordinated. My contacts are in there too. I go shopping with
it, conveniently arranging the groceries I plan to buy according to my usual
itinerary through the supermarket. When I can't be bothered to write ideas down,
I record them. Should my XP machine catastrophically fail *together* with an aging
Win98 laptop I use as primary backup, I would still be able to receive and send mail,
because of my 2100. With Paul's ATA drivers I could store and retrieve quite some
ammount of text before handling becomes impractical in NewtWorks (yes, I have
a PrintPack at the ready and a printer to connect it to). Would I have to worry
about batteries, even if my battery packs totally fail? Not with my battery
cage.

So do I think the Newton 2100 is perfect? No. But from my point of view
and for my usage pattern I have yet to see something better.

List of my articles mentioning Newton technology, in large parts written on my
Newtons (German only, sorry):

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/18/18290/1.html

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/20/20804/1.html

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21975/1.html

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/22/22352/1.html

Best,

Marcus

-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/