I’ll actually be weening myself from my Newton a bit by switching over to a laptop as my workstation here at Small Dog. In fact, it’ll be a MacBook Pro, so you’ll all get to read about my experiences with these transitions (Newton tools -> Mac OS X tools as well as PowerPC -> Intel) here on the blog.
I’ve been in the market for a MP2100 for a while now, one in good condition, but in the back of my mind ever since the patents started being placed for touchscreen elements, I have been expecting some kind of new “UMPC” from Apple. The Newtons are more useful and friendlier to me than any other PDA I have ever attempted to use, and if they could do so well so far ahead of their time (at least conceptually, obviously not market-wise) … all they need to do is take advantage of this opportunity to blow MS out of the water with their beautiful, compact, easy-to-use take on the idea.
Of course in order for it to be appealing, it would need bluetooth, airport, and both USB and FireWire. Oh, and a PCMCIA/ExpressCard slot.
Price is a major factor everywhere I’ve read, too. It shouldn’t have to leave such a small footprint everywhere but your wallet… especially when we’re all shelling out for MacBooks 🙂
Dawn – if you’re highly interested in a device that is both your ultra-mobile and cell phone, take a look at the T-Mobile MDA, Cingular 8125, Sprint 6700, or VZW Palm Treo 700w. They all run Windows Mobile 5 with Pocket PC Phone Edition and should do everything and more you could want. I’ve had an MDA for the past few weeks now and I absolutely love it.
good luck!
Aaron
mcMarch 11, 2006 at 10:22 am
I still use my Newton every day, intensively, and have spoken to guys using Tablet PCs about it. Sure, the UMPC form factor gets closer to the Newton, but the one issue that is still missing is not the HWR, it’s the gesture driven interface. That’s why I haven’t left… Now, if only the machine itself had a POWERFUL browser and newsreader and email program (speed on the net is not a Newton strong point), I’d stop pining for a Palm TX or Nokia 770.
Hey, I still use my Newton MessagePad 2000 every day, and I don’t think I’m going to shell out $400 for an UMPC that does the (nearly) the same thing as my Newt.
Also, keep in mind that the Newton in the picture was made in 1997…
Edward JohnsonMarch 11, 2006 at 4:55 pm
My Newton back in Sept ‘05, I have purchased the parts necessary to fix it but have put off doing for no good reason. I can use my Powerbook, but it is too big. The MP2100 has the best form factor for book reading, note-taking during long meetings, and moderate on-the-road Word Processing using my keyboard. I lament the lack of effective syncing for my addressbook and notepad. I like the power of newtonworks but wish that it exchange better with office. Never really got the email going. Almost had cellular WIFI going but CDPD systems were closed to new subscribers in my area and availability was problematical nationwide. Yes I know verizon has a pretty good system going now but the expense is too high $50-$75/month for a casual subscription. My tipping point is $25/mo for WIFI. I guess I’ll have to break out the screwdriver and solder iron and get to work on mine. Or maybe I’ll just “borrow” my son’s. He’s not using it…
Brian DohertyMarch 11, 2006 at 7:30 pm
The Newton was great! And it was the best thing for the way I worked. The HWR is the best as far as I’m concerned and so were a number of the programs – (more info rocked!)
But it got a bit too tricky (and risky) not being able to back up my contact listings.
Sadly, I’ve never been able to find such a clean, easy to use replacement… It would be nice to see it return!
I have a number of Newtons (2100s and an eMate), and use them all constantly. The 2100 MessagePad holds my contacts, sends and receives mails, surfs the web (like this site) and keeps track of my teaching classes and students (Clarity is a great teacher’s tool). I can do lots of other things with these machines and here in Turkey, the Newton excites interest and admiration, not to say astonishment that its no longer in production. The Wests insatiable consumerism drives these so-called developments but the Newton reminds us that newer must haves are not always better. Despitevits name, it strikes me the Newton is actually a little more zen in the fact that its still here, still used and still being developed. Older wisdom beats the young paper tiger?
S PrestonMarch 12, 2006 at 3:07 pm
I have an iBook and a Handspring Visor (Palm OS). For calendars, contacts, notes, database… the Palm OS suits me great, plus it syncs to my laptop. For web browsing, I want a screen big enough to see the page without scrolling right to left and up and down.
What’s other people’s experience browsing the web on anything smaller than a 12” laptop screen?
AnneMarch 13, 2006 at 5:17 pm
So this is how long it takes Microsoft to catch up with an Apple idea? Too bad Apple was so far ahead of its time or maybe not.
I’ve been using a Newton constantly since I got my hands on a pre-release Motorola Marco (Motorola branded Newton with wireless built it) back in the early ‘90s…Now I have several mp2100s and carry one with me every day. It wakes me up in the morning, puts me to sleep at night. It’s my primary note taker at meetings at work and when I’m bored, I play Jig! or Solitare… But mostly, I am, to this day, amazed by it’s ability to adapt to me…it modifies the way it does things to fit me, instead of the other way around. That’s what’s called Newton technology…Sure, you can “make” a PDA device that has the screen and icons, but if you have to be trained on how to use it, then it’s not much use…Remember what the “P” stands for in PDA! To be “personal” it needs to be a seamless integration into a “person’s” daily activity. Using the device should not be a chore…Unfortunatly, most of these so call “PDAs” are more of a burden thana benefit, resulting in their ultimate demise. Ed web/gadget guru
Yup, I still carry my Newton MessagePad 2100 around with me every day. It still functions as my PIM and my notes quite effectively.
Communicating with desktop machines is getting to be more work than I’d like, these days, but that’s a price you pay sometimes.
Dave Caolo at TUAW expresses my feelings on Origami perfectly in his post I already have an Ultra-Mobile PC: It’s called a Newton
I’ll actually be weening myself from my Newton a bit by switching over to a laptop as my workstation here at Small Dog. In fact, it’ll be a MacBook Pro, so you’ll all get to read about my experiences with these transitions (Newton tools -> Mac OS X tools as well as PowerPC -> Intel) here on the blog.
I’ve been in the market for a MP2100 for a while now, one in good condition, but in the back of my mind ever since the patents started being placed for touchscreen elements, I have been expecting some kind of new “UMPC” from Apple. The Newtons are more useful and friendlier to me than any other PDA I have ever attempted to use, and if they could do so well so far ahead of their time (at least conceptually, obviously not market-wise) … all they need to do is take advantage of this opportunity to blow MS out of the water with their beautiful, compact, easy-to-use take on the idea.
Of course in order for it to be appealing, it would need bluetooth, airport, and both USB and FireWire. Oh, and a PCMCIA/ExpressCard slot.
Price is a major factor everywhere I’ve read, too. It shouldn’t have to leave such a small footprint everywhere but your wallet… especially when we’re all shelling out for MacBooks 🙂
Dawn – if you’re highly interested in a device that is both your ultra-mobile and cell phone, take a look at the T-Mobile MDA, Cingular 8125, Sprint 6700, or VZW Palm Treo 700w. They all run Windows Mobile 5 with Pocket PC Phone Edition and should do everything and more you could want. I’ve had an MDA for the past few weeks now and I absolutely love it.
good luck!
Aaron
I still use my Newton every day, intensively, and have spoken to guys using Tablet PCs about it. Sure, the UMPC form factor gets closer to the Newton, but the one issue that is still missing is not the HWR, it’s the gesture driven interface. That’s why I haven’t left… Now, if only the machine itself had a POWERFUL browser and newsreader and email program (speed on the net is not a Newton strong point), I’d stop pining for a Palm TX or Nokia 770.
Hey, I still use my Newton MessagePad 2000 every day, and I don’t think I’m going to shell out $400 for an UMPC that does the (nearly) the same thing as my Newt.
Also, keep in mind that the Newton in the picture was made in 1997…
My Newton back in Sept ‘05, I have purchased the parts necessary to fix it but have put off doing for no good reason. I can use my Powerbook, but it is too big. The MP2100 has the best form factor for book reading, note-taking during long meetings, and moderate on-the-road Word Processing using my keyboard. I lament the lack of effective syncing for my addressbook and notepad. I like the power of newtonworks but wish that it exchange better with office. Never really got the email going. Almost had cellular WIFI going but CDPD systems were closed to new subscribers in my area and availability was problematical nationwide. Yes I know verizon has a pretty good system going now but the expense is too high $50-$75/month for a casual subscription. My tipping point is $25/mo for WIFI. I guess I’ll have to break out the screwdriver and solder iron and get to work on mine. Or maybe I’ll just “borrow” my son’s. He’s not using it…
The Newton was great! And it was the best thing for the way I worked. The HWR is the best as far as I’m concerned and so were a number of the programs – (more info rocked!)
But it got a bit too tricky (and risky) not being able to back up my contact listings.
Sadly, I’ve never been able to find such a clean, easy to use replacement… It would be nice to see it return!
I have a number of Newtons (2100s and an eMate), and use them all constantly. The 2100 MessagePad holds my contacts, sends and receives mails, surfs the web (like this site) and keeps track of my teaching classes and students (Clarity is a great teacher’s tool). I can do lots of other things with these machines and here in Turkey, the Newton excites interest and admiration, not to say astonishment that its no longer in production. The Wests insatiable consumerism drives these so-called developments but the Newton reminds us that newer must haves are not always better. Despitevits name, it strikes me the Newton is actually a little more zen in the fact that its still here, still used and still being developed. Older wisdom beats the young paper tiger?
I have an iBook and a Handspring Visor (Palm OS). For calendars, contacts, notes, database… the Palm OS suits me great, plus it syncs to my laptop. For web browsing, I want a screen big enough to see the page without scrolling right to left and up and down.
What’s other people’s experience browsing the web on anything smaller than a 12” laptop screen?
So this is how long it takes Microsoft to catch up with an Apple idea? Too bad Apple was so far ahead of its time or maybe not.
BTW – For those of you still using Newtons and who don’t already know about it, I highly suggest the NewtonTalk mailing list.
I’ve been using a Newton constantly since I got my hands on a pre-release Motorola Marco (Motorola branded Newton with wireless built it) back in the early ‘90s…Now I have several mp2100s and carry one with me every day. It wakes me up in the morning, puts me to sleep at night. It’s my primary note taker at meetings at work and when I’m bored, I play Jig! or Solitare…
But mostly, I am, to this day, amazed by it’s ability to adapt to me…it modifies the way it does things to fit me, instead of the other way around.
That’s what’s called Newton technology…Sure, you can “make” a PDA device that has the screen and icons, but if you have to be trained on how to use it, then it’s not much use…Remember what the “P” stands for in PDA! To be “personal” it needs to be a seamless integration into a “person’s” daily activity. Using the device should not be a chore…Unfortunatly, most of these so call “PDAs” are more of a burden thana benefit, resulting in their ultimate demise.
Ed
web/gadget guru