Re: [NTLK] Newton is dead, long live Newton.

Peter,

> seriously, we can finally lay the newt to rest. newton is now a
> hobby; its rightful descendent and heir is in place. and for a
> whole lot less money!

I don't know what you used your Newton for but I don't see the
current iPhone taking extensive, structured notes in meetings then
faxing or printing them out, editing and correcting WP documents,
sketching vector and bitmap drawings, storing hundreds of password-
protected access IDs, reading barcodes, handling spreadsheets and
varied databases etc. with the packages that are bundled. Perhaps one
day but not yet.

It might well be possible to replicate a lot, if not all of these
functions by using secure, web-based applications but how to get more
than just a few words or numbers into it? Apple may be considering
some kind of portal for iPhone users to expand their functional reach
but it's still unbalanced. And what happens when there is no signal?

The web browser itself was something of an aberration until Wikkis
came on the scene and the lesson is that access must be symmetrical
or the experience is very much impaired.

I don't want to just browse information, I want to create it! Lots of
it. It's passive vs. active.

Agreed, the interface seems very impressive and I'd be happy for the
Newt to work this way. The design and the degree of miniaturisation
is fantastic but no data input - no sale, no matter how funky.

I hardly use a cell phone - once or twice a month at best - I don't
have any use for an iPod, the iPhone does not have enough memory to
dump camera images into, it can't take notes or a doodle and my need
for web access on the move is not going to be that great. For this
I'm going to pay for a relatively expensive device and a two year
contract when I already have something that does what I want? I don't
think so.

This is not about us being luddites. After all, everyone here jumped
on the Newt as soon as they could and a lot of us did the same when
the Mac was new because it suited a special set of needs we had and
still have.

For those whose life revolves around the phone and connectivity (and
that's a lot of people), the iPhone is going to be fabulous and sexy
and easy to use. For those whose life revolves around creating and
editing data, brainstorming ideas, and notetaking, the iPhone, until
it can be demonstrated to be otherwise, is just about useless -
probably because of some deep-rooted block that Jobs has about PDAs.

However, given its excellent foundations, it need not remain so and
future devices based on the iPhone could be just the ticket.
I sincerely and longingly look forward to that gadget.

Joel.

-- 
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/