Re: [NTLK] The "iMoleskine" ?

From: Lord Groundhog <LordGroundhog_at_gmail.com>
Date: Sun May 18 2008 - 19:41:52 EDT

~~~ On 2008/05/18 21:04, Jon Glass at jonglass@usa.net wrote ~~~

> On Sun, May 18, 2008 at 4:25 PM, Lord Groundhog <LordGroundhog@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> This article via the New York Times makes me wonder ‹ yet again ‹ what is
>> keeping Apple from realizing that they need to get Newton 2.0 back into
>> production NOW?
>> http://tinyurl.com/6zal3e
>
>> Among my little niggles with the article, Markhoff credits the Palm with
>> being the source of all the handhelds. Is this guy a 10 year-old or
>> something? Take away the Newton and where would the Palm have been?
>
> Actually, that's not actually what he said. I read this yesterday, and
> took "umbrage" (if one can allow himself to get offended about
> something so mundane as a handheld computer), but read it again.
> Here's what he siad, "Since then, there has been a proliferation of
> gadgets of every size and shape, but to date only one other
> form-factor has established itself as a generic one: the palm-size or
> hand-held device that began as the Palm Pilot"
>
> Notice that he says that that only one other form-factor has
> established itself, and began as the palm Pilot. It is the
> palm-top-ness of the Palm that worked its way into ubiquity. Not the
> Newton size. I felt the author's greatest lack was not at this
> point--I think he is right there. It is the palm-sized form that has
> become a generic standard--he misses it when he doesn't acknowledge
> the Newton as a forerunner of this size--or at acknowledge that it was
> an earlier attempt at this zies and form factor.
>
Hi Jon. I wasn't referring to the sentence you quote, but this one that
came after: "An endless array of popular products, from BlackBerrys to
iPhones, are descended from the Palm". Mr. Markhoff (and you) are talking
about the palm-size; I'm referring to the more general idea of a hand-held
("infra-sub-notebook" size?) that tries to do something useful and is
stylus-operated. And for that, I'm looking at a Newton.

I'm inclined to think that if the Newton hadn't come out, the Palm -- and
all its progeny -- would've carried on the way of a load of things that
already were emerging in the early '90s, and were just LCD screens with
dinky keyboards fit only for a 6 year-old. (I still have one, for the
curiosity value. Appalling thing!) I'll grant you, Palm is responsible for
the reduced size, but at a cost in functionality.

> Now as to your assertion of a Newton 2.0. I'm not so sure. The Newton
> OS (2.0 and 2.1) stretched the OS beyond its capabilities. To
> resurrect that aged and creaky OS would be a disaster and a mistake....

Sorry; we're talking at crossed purposes here. I should have been more
precise. When I wrote "Newton 2.0" I was referring to a second run at the
Newton; i.e., as shorthand for "Newton Mark II", not the operating system
("NOS"), which as you say was/is 2.0 and 2.1 and wouldn't be fit to revive
"as is". But a new version of the Newt -- and I have a very clear idea of
how I'd like to see this designed -- would still be a fantastic idea if they
got it right.

> Also, to emulate it, other than maybe its most basic form (notepad,
> intertwingledness) would also be a mistake, IMO. People today want
> color, flash, web browsing, etc. They have all that in the iPhone. The
> iPhone is a _huge_ hit. I fear that handwriting recognition is dead. I
> know that, on my Treo with its keyboard, I _hate_ pulling out the
> stylus. I certainly can type faster on it than I can do grafitti, and
> I've only used the keyboard for a few weeks. Yes, handwriting is nice,
> but people aren't going to wait for it to learn them, and I certainly
> suspect that people don't want a stylus. Nothing says "geek" or worse,
> "nerd" louder than the stylus today. A stylus-based OS would be too
> anachronistic, and too much of a niche product.
>
You're right; people want flashier things today: colour, Flash, etc. And I
agree that the iPhone and to some extent the iPod Touch meets those needs
admirably. No question. But I don't think these new-fangled things and the
things we know and love about our Newtons have to be mutually exclusive.

And when we move on to what I call the real productivity uses, and also to
the whole topic of HWR, well, I guess we might have to agree to disagree
about some things. When I've tried other stylus-based gizmos, the
frustration I feel from being made to learn to write some artificial
characters, and then from discovering how slow that makes the process, makes
me chuck the thing into the back of a drawer or give it away to anyone
who'll have it. The Newton is different. I suppose if the Newton didn't
read my handwriting so well, I wouldn't feel so "connected" to it. But my
Newton learned my handwriting very quickly as it happened, and it's not only
a matter of how speedily I can write, but where I can write, and how I even
can write standing up (when I can't open out a keyboard). It's the most
natural way for me to enter data and to make notes and all the rest. For
example, I was in a philosophy lecture the other day. Taking notes
(including a few drawings copying the lecturer's illustrations, and to
outline the formal logic) was a snap. A keyboard would've let me down over
the graphics. And the result is this sense I have of being "attached" to my
Newton. It's as if my Newt understands me. Does it make sense? Not
altogether. It just is.

And for whatever reason, you and I seem to have different experiences of
people's responses. As soon as it becomes evident that I'm not tapping a
screen keyboard, or worse, writing one artificial character at a time, but
I'm really writing, I can count on a few people wanting to talk about my
Newton. Recently, I've finally mustered up the nerve to switch on "Guest
User" in the preferences when I met a really keen person, to let them try it
for themselves. I've done it a few times since. Very few people have
responded unappreciatively to the experience, and a more common reaction is
"are they expensive or hard to find now?" Words like "geek" and "nerd"
aren't common responses in my experience, although I admit I wouldn't be
deterred by them even if they were. And, "anachronistic"? We'll definitely
have to agree to disagree about that. IMO the real anachronism was when the
Newton first appeared, wa-a-a-ay ahead of its time. Now is just about the
right time for it. ;)

As for "niche product", I accept that: I happen to share a particular niche
with other people who crave a certain kind of functionality and don't care
how we get it. And I think there are even more people who would join me in
this niche if the product were there for them.

> That said, nothing will entirely replace my Newton. I still use it
> (but only at my desk) almost daily--but I'll be honest. I doubt I
> could give a rational reason. I like it--it's familiar, and I don't
> wish to stop using it. But I couldn't convince anybody to buy one now.
> Sorry, but iPhone _is_ Newton 2.0--whatever that means....
>
I guess you and I will continue to rate the iPhone differently. But I can't
help noticing that, after we can debate all the points we might not agree
about the Newton, we come back together when you and I both say, "nothing
will entirely replace my Newton. ... I doubt I could give a rational
reason." I don't know why, but as long as my Newton "knows" me and does
what I need better than anything else out there, I don't see me replacing it
with anything else.

 
Shalom.
Christian

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

“Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a Newton.”
            -- what Arthur C. Clarke meant

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1ZzpdPJ7Zr4
(With thanks to Chod Lang)
http://tinyurl.com/29y2dl
http://www.diyplanner.com/node/3942

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Received on Sun May 18 19:42:12 2008

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