[NTLK] Apple Discontinued Newton Development

[Doctor Clu]

Was an exciting times.   When I bought the 2000 I got the upgrade package.  Then the 2100 came out.   Always wondered “Should I have held out for the color Newton”.  They rumored a color Newton was on the way.

Then when they cancelled the Newton I was thinking at first “Well, dang, and I’m still paying on the Apple Student Loan for my 2000.”   Didn’t seem fair to be two years into playing off a $1,100 loan and have Apple cancel support for Newton.   But oh well, the 2000 would be used daily clear up to about 2005-2006.  :D

Doctor Clu


> On Mar 1, 2017, at 12:26 AM, sirizaac <sirizaac at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Whist chatting w/linetrace on Instagram, I was reminded of the events which occurred that week:
> 
> 26Feb1998: Sent my MP2000 to Apple for the 2100 upgrade. Began using my MP100 w/BTI X-Pack. Later that evening attended the SFNUG meeting & many actually had hopes Newton would survive the next day.
> 
> 27Feb1998: This morning at work was pretty quiet. We knew Newton Development had been halted by Steve during the conference call.  Upon examining many Newton websites, anger, outrage, "The bastards killed Newton", sadness, revolt, yet promises of some to keep developing.
> 
> The other employees that morning questioned what I had in mind. "I'll keep going". Meaning, Newton is where its at; pencil and paper would never suffice. 
> 
> All week long, the calls kept coming in asking for a MessagePad or two & advise.  Whilst attending SNUG, Neil Rhodes needed at least 20 MessagePads. Stanford needed a lot of them as well. Our inventory ran out quickly; calls to Apple & others were unfruitful. 
> 
> I recall Blake couldn't keep them in stock during MacWorldSF Jan1998 & his store NewtonSourceSF. 
> 
> Management a few weeks later told me not to spend money on Newton HW nor SW since Apple was developing a mini Mac. I held this advise 2 weeks then headed to every store purchasing their Newton inventory & propaganda. Rumors of a mini Mac seldom surfaced. In fact, a beta version w/the Mac startup sound ran on the MP2100.
> 
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