[NTLK] Developer spotlight

[Jeff Sheldon]

Maurice,

You're actually on my short list of ex-Newton folks.  Very slick, especially the use of Lisp.  What did developer technical support entail?  Working development environments?  NTK-specific use, enhancements, and big fixes? Application debugging and unit tests? 

I get the Apple connection well and have tried to avoid those still employed there.  I believe Mike Culbert, rest his soul, was working at Apple from the beginnings of Newton to his illness several years ago. He would have been the absolute best contact, but I wouldn't have wanted to put him in an awkward position regardless. 

I exchanged email with Phil yesterday.  He was quick to respond, kindly provided his phone number, and led me to Dave Gallatin (the Lead Architect of the eMate).  Dave had this to say about the manuals: "I know that I at one time had read them and had a working knowledge of them.  I also recall visiting Cirrus Logic with Mike Culbert once during the chip specification phase."  He agreed that Mike would have been the best contact for sourcing them.  I left that conversation thinking it might be best to find one of Cirrus Logic's ex-engineers from that project.

I hope Dave will forgive my irreverence though after I sent the following in a reply: "Aside from that infernal ribbon cable-killing hinge spring, I can't praise the product enough; I proudly own an eMate and hear positive comments about them from others frequently."

;-)

-Jeff

> On Feb 15, 2017, at 19:13, Maurice Sharp <msharp at mac.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Jeff,
> 
> This is a great idea. I remember my time as an intern developing a prototype of Newton ToolKit (in Macintosh Common Lisp no less), and then in Newton Developer Technical Support with great fondness. 
> 
> The one issue you are likely to hit is that some of us are either back at, or still at Apple (most of the key hardware folk for example.) That means we can't talk about these things. 
> 
> Some of the key people aren't at Apple, such as Steve Capps (lots of parts), Walter Smith (NewtonScript), and Phil Baker (hardware... he writes a column among other things.)
> 
> Most of us keep in touch, so if you can reach one of the key Newton people, you can likely reach the rest.
> 
> Maurice Sharp
> (The "Mo" in MoDeminos on YouTube)
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Feb 15, 2017, at 2:44 PM, Jeff Sheldon <jeffsheldon at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> In trying to hunt down the Voyager chipset manuals, I've been chatting
>> in email with former Newton and eMate architects.  It's kind of
>> amazing to be talking with some of these guys only to find out how
>> substantial their role was in the product design.
>> 
>> On that note, it would be interesting if someone
>> (myapplenewton.blogspot.com, cough cough) felt the calling to produce
>> a series of first-hand interviews to pick up where books and other
>> interviews left off.
>> 
>> I don't have a lot of contact info right now, but something to
>> consider: A "Developer spotlight" series of interviews could include
>> both Apple-proper folks as well as those of you in our own camp.
>> 
>> 
>> -Jeff
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>> 
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