[NTLK] John Sculley: The Newton was two decades ahead of its time

[Forrest]

The Pen Computing series of magazines is also available elsewhere  
(somewhere?) on UNNA, I believe.

It was a great series of articles about the Newton. I remember that  
during that time (mid 1990s) I was using a Sharp Zaurus ZR-5800, which  
did some things much better than the Newton (and many things not as  
well, like HWR). I was only a spectator to the Newton then, although I  
did manage to "test drive" one for a day or so. It was a lot heavier  
and not at all like the Zaurus that I was used to, which was like a  
very small laptop--clamshell design, touchscreen on top, actual  
keyboard (not just membrane style) below.

He writes with such enthusiasm...I believe that, if the series had had  
a larger subscriber base, the Newton would have done so much better. I  
remember that's why I wanted to try it in the first place.

The last several articles, when he discusses the discontinuation of  
the Newton, felt to me like he'd lost a very close friend. The  
enthusiasm was gone, and he even says that in the last regular issue,  
#26, from February 1999.

You should not be apologetic for sharing things like this with the  
rest of us...there's always the good chance that a new reader had not  
seen that collection before...and thanks to you, now they have.

Thanks,
--Forrest

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On May 24, 2012, at 10:24 AM, Norman Keen wrote:

> In the early days, I used to read Pen Computing magazine, and David  
> MacNeill on the Newton. You can see his Newton Notes Archives athttp://www.pencomputing.com/Newton/