[NTLK] I miss the Newton

[Forrest]

I am the proud owner of a 1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. This model was manufactured for precisely two years. There is a website—several, actually—where this vehicle’s owners gather to discuss problems and gain insight on how to keep their cars running.

Like my Newton, I use (drive) my car every day. And, like the Newton, the Turbo Coupe has features that placed it ahead of its time when it was introduced.

There is a certain stubborn pride in continuing to use and operate a device when 99% of the world has moved on. Yes I will acknowledge there are better more modern devices in the world today. As you can read beneath my name below, I am responding on an iPhone 6S Plus (I also have an iPad Pro 9.7”). And, I do drive my wife’s car from time to time (a 2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser, which possesses none of the elegance of either the Turbo Coupe nor the Newton!).

I have plans to rebuild a spare engine soon and replace the Turbo Coupe’s.

I am and have been proud to be a Newton owner for at least the past 10 years (I had a Newton OMP that was given to me in 1995 that I subsequently loaned to another and never got back.)

I look forward to another 10 years—and beyond—for both items.

Mahalo,
Forrest

Sent from my T-Mobile iPhone 6S Plus

> On Feb 18, 2019, at 10:50 AM, Maury Estabrooks <maurye at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>> Subject: Re: [NTLK] I miss the Newton
>> Message-ID: <65B7B552-0FC8-4D24-8047-C86651D7989B at swbell.net>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>> 
>> Surprised no comments.   Let me ask this:
>> 
>> How do you all with the Newton make it relevant to use in today?s world that tends to be more USB/Micro SD/Bluetooth oriented.
>>> 
> I went to a VW Transporter meetup this past weekend. It was primarily 1967s and earlier. VW stopped making them years ago. People still own them, use them, sell and swap parts, gather to talk about them. I doubt every owner uses them as a daily driver. Much like the Newton, they are slow moving devices. 
> 
> Newton Talk is much like that experience. I do not need to justify why. It has been 26 years since the debut of the Newton. I love that it still works and I can swap for parts. I just make a swap with Christoph. 
> 
> I do not use it as my daily driver. I use an iPhone 7 Plus. I have never felt the need to connect my collection to the web. Nor have I felt the need to test or try out every available software program for my Newts. 
> 
> A group of people worked endlessly to pull it off. A few of them were members of the original Macintosh team. I still correspond with a member of the original Newton team. 
> 
> If you need to justify a Newton purchase on how it will help you in todays technological world, you are missing the point. It has elegance. It started a new way of communication. It was not a failure. It was bold and it was expensive. 
> 
> The Newton MessagePad, Sharp ExpertPad and eMate 300 are items of collectibility and personal use. A proud owner finds a use for their Newts. Even if it sits on a shelf. Some other journal, emailing, web servers, or simply conversation starters. Others like myself, find security through obscurity. 
> 
> Not to slam your question, but the Newton was not intended to last 25+ years. It was designed and built by a dedicated team in such a way in which it did last 25+ years. 
> 
> People still gather to chat about them. People still gather to chat about VW buses. That is my two cents. Not to make the Newton relevant to current tech. Many items of current tech stand on the shoulders of the Newton. 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> http://newtontalk.net/
> http://twitter.com/newtontalk