Filed under: Hardware, Other Events
Worldwide Newton Conference begins today
The Macworld Expo
is coming to a close in San Francisco, but that doesn't mean that the fun is over. The Worldwide Newton Conference begins three days of workshops, information
sessions and keynote speeches today. Scheduled activities include a workshop on creating Newton fonts, an update on the
Einstein Newton emulator by Paul Guyot and keynote speeches by Larry
Yaeger (Technical Lead in the development of the handwriting recognition system behind the Newton PDAs and Mac OS X's
Inkwell) and James Joaquin, who will present a brief
history of Newton development, among others.If you're attending, drop us a line! We'd love to have your photos and/or reports.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Philip Liu said 4:37PM on 1-13-2006
Weird... Are these upgraded Newtons for the 21st century or is it that these people are just old Newtonians hanging on to a dying (dead) platform?
Reply
Brad said 5:52PM on 1-13-2006
That's just sad.
Reply
MILE said 6:10PM on 1-13-2006
I really loved my Newton(s) back then and still think it was a great device with an awesome OS...but what's the deal with holding a conference about a system that was buried like ten years ago or so...?! That sounds like a total waste of time and money and resources and brain cells and...well, whatever...
Reply
Jody said 6:40PM on 1-13-2006
I still have my Newton and it is really cool. Not only do I like the OS, but I also like the apps that run on the OS. A small number of people attend the Newton Conference. Last year, around 30 people went.
The Newton is still functional. Through the people who still develop for the Newton, it has brought us Web Browsers, GPS apps, and, really, just cool stuff. The people who hold it are really smart Developers.
The Newton Platform is alive and well. It isn't dead. A Newton never dies, it just gets new batteries (Or however that saying goes)
Reply
ChillyWilly said 7:09PM on 1-13-2006
Dead platform or not, the Newton was really cool. Still wishing I would have kept one of my older models. BTW, it's only been discontinued for 5 years now. Not too long. Just wish they would have done a color model.
And it was one of the last PDAs to be able to take normal AA batteries (along with the Palm III line).
Reply
Steve Rhodes said 7:28PM on 1-13-2006
The site says the sessions will be available for download if you can't make it.
Reply
Peter Glaskowsky said 7:56PM on 1-13-2006
Aww, it isn't sad. The Newton, especially the MessagePad 2100, is a kind of computing device that simply isn't being made today. I used a 2100 for seven years, until I finally switched to a combination of a Treo 650 plus a Tablet PC. The combination is more capable in many ways, but much less convenient. If Apple or another company introduced something like a Newton but with a color display and integrated support for modern wireless networking and multimedia, I'd certainly switch back.
I'll be at WWNC tomorrow.
. png
Reply
Rajiv Perera said 8:43AM on 1-14-2006
I have a Newton and would like to give it to someone that will use it and not sell it . It's in good condition (not used in the last 10 years). The person who wants it will need to pay for shipping (if it is more than, let's say $5).
In return -- a cool Apple t-shirt or Apple/Newton t-shirt or a donation to Katrina/Rita relief. (size is XL - new T-Shirt perfered).
Most likely the t-shirt costs more that the Newton!! ;(
I could not think of anything else to barter for.
Regards
Reply
brian ashe said 1:13PM on 1-16-2006
Newton users are not all pathetic old fogeys. Read this for a few ideas about what made the newton so great, and why support is still important:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=174040&cid=14475887
Reply
Erik Jan said 4:49AM on 12-20-2006
@ Rajiv Perera
I'm verry intrested, mine died 4 months ago, i still mis it every day :'(
Mail me @ erikjan AT hofmeyer.nl
Reply
Fresh! said 8:53PM on 1-21-2006
The Newton Messagepad was way ahead of it's time. It was the only PDA (personal digital assistant, not portable data access (Palm)) that was fully functional out of the box! No extra bulky peripherals needed to buy for faxing. memory or net surfing (all applicable from its TWO PCMCIA slots). Large enuff screen (I never cared that it was monochrome, the green is classic)
Yes, I use my Palm Tungsten more than the Newton, but I use my 2100 everyday, it's design still does things the Palm platform can't do well...a big things is HWR.
In any event, anyone who believes the Newton platform is dead, need not even GO to WWNC...just search around the net and see how alive and well the platform still is. I personally believe Apple made a mistake in not keeping the Newton, it would have been to PDAs what the iPod is to mp3 players...
Best,
F!
Reply