[NTLK] Newts in public and usage

[Stephan Weber]

Just a few thoughts....

A pad of paper might be lighter, but when I carry any of my machines, I'm
carrying MUCH more than a pad of paper -- I've got a whole library, and
calendar, contacts, lists, references, et al.

And it's backlighted, which few pads of paper are.

I'm not a one-finger typist, I've been touch typing since I was... 5? So I
find using any sort of "tap" keyboard annoying beyond belief.

When I flip open the 2100, or even the emate, I write, simply. Just like on
paper, yes, but with so much more.

Typically, I find the device very unobtrusive except in specific places,
like tech venues. I rarely get noticed in stores, etc.

I have a couple of Motion Computing Slates. I love them. The handwriting
recognition is pretty well done, and at this point is intuitive for me, and
they are lightweight, but full PCs, so I have all of  the applications I do
on any of my PCs. In a leather flip folder, they are absolutely as
unobtrusive as one could wish.

Much less so that the Mac Air you mention... however...

They have less battery life than the newt. They are bulky in their own ways.
They have boot or load times, even when just "sleeping".

To each their own, but I've got a lot of choice in tools, and the newt is a
form factor that works, with simple, elegant applications that still work
for what I need, that "pile of drek" on my desk, swept into one small box
that's still large enough to read, reliable enough to never lose my data
always "on".

And not least, I do not like "smearing" my fingers all over the screen.
Until the "crunk factor" is solved (and I have extremely dry, non-oily or
sweaty hands) I will steer clear of "kiosk controls" on my devices other
than off-screen touchpads.



-- Message: 9
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:50:17 -0800
From: Steven Frank <stevenfrank880 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NTLK] Visiting the Apple Store with my Newts
To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
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       <AANLkTi=Q-34kZJ5P1XCOy=mtsfOvGayv0mMqrzs0JXRF at mail.gmail.com>
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I may be alone in this but I don't like when things attract unwanted
attention toward me, like whipping out a Newton in public does.  I
guess at the core I'm pretty antisocial and would rather just be
getting on with whatever I was doing than having an awkward
conversation.  :)

It's one of the "little frictions" that keeps my Newtons in safe
storage except for occasional tinkering.

For me, Notes is the one Newton app that nobody has been able to top.
I know I've read that many times on the list too.  With HWR relegated
to the industry's "well, that didn't work so well" pile, I don't think
anybody's looking back, least of all now that finger-based interfaces
are extremely popular.

But slowly tapping out notes on my iPhone (I use SimpleNote) works
"well enough" that, combined with all the other stuff it does in such
a tiny lightweight package, it makes toting the Newton seem highly
impractical.  Especially if I'd just be using it for Notes.  A paper
notepad is much lighter.  :)

The double-whammy is that for just a pound or so of additional weight
over the Newton, I can carry my 11" MacBook Air and have a full-on
modern computer at my disposal.

Of course neither the iPhone nor MB Air evoke that pure sense of...
just _fun_ and enjoyment of using the Newton.  That's what I miss the
most, and what I'm always longing for when I pull a Newt from storage
and briefly entertain the notion of using it as a daily driver, even
when I inevitably don't.  :-/

I think what I want is a Kindle but for note-taking instead of
reading.  :)  Sadly, that doesn't exist.

Steven
The Masters don't give orders;
they work with everybody else.
When the job's done,
people are amazed
at what they accomplished.