Filed under: Hardware, Portables, Apple History
Newton among "Biggest Cults in Tech"
I'm proud to count myself among InfoWorld's Tech cult No. 7: The Tao of Newton. I'll confess that my 2100 has seen less action since I bought my iPhone, but it'll never be relegated to my basement wasteland where various Palms, Visors and even a 3Com Audrey dream of more useful days.Newton ownership is definitely not for everyone. it's big and takes some doing to get it to cooperate with contemporary hardware and software. But for the faithful it's a terrific piece of hardware. For more Newton information, check out The NewtonTalk mailing list.
People either have the love or they don't. You can have mine when you pull it from my cold, dead hands.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andy Smith said 8:18AM on 5-06-2009
Amen Brother!
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Taylor said 8:30AM on 5-06-2009
Does the Newton have copy & paste?
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paxswill said 8:48AM on 5-06-2009
Oh yes. It also has Wifi and Bluetooth support. Pretty nifty thinking it was axed in 1998.
oZ said 9:49AM on 5-06-2009
Well, no, it has wifi and bluetooth support with third party drivers that are sketchy at best, but at least you can install third party drivers.
jake said 8:39AM on 5-06-2009
Newton was actually my introduction to Apple way back in 19whatever. What was most frustrating was that I could see the potential in the device. I just couldn't reach it with the device. But I really liked it and used it to frustrate myself for about two years. Then I gave it to a friend who still has it. Somewhere.
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Neg said 8:49AM on 5-06-2009
Delicious PCMCIA!
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Fred said 9:53AM on 5-06-2009
My Newton was an unfortunate casualty to my iPhone. It now sits on my bookshelf. It was an awesome piece of tech. So far ahead of it's time.
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pdcryan said 10:32AM on 5-06-2009
My Newton was an unfortunate casualty of my foot - and now has a cracked screen. It was a lot of fun while it lasted. Any AOL folks still around? We used to have a great following on Monday nights in the PDA forum... ahh... those were the days.
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Stephen Lang said 12:04PM on 5-06-2009
If only it could use regular CF cards...
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Noah Ramon said 12:44PM on 5-06-2009
Well, there is the ATA Support package...
Jo Jo the Dancer said 12:37PM on 5-06-2009
Oh, I love the Newton. Actually I never had one, but I inherited a few eMates. I used one for years as a great word processor. Even in 2004, using it in public people would come up to me and ask me what it was and where to get one. I gave a few to friends, I sold a couple on eBay, and I have 2 left.
I'm keeping one, but I want to give the other one away to a good home. The battery holds a 2 hour charge (according to my notes circa 2003), but if needed, replacements are available online cheap and are very easy to install. It comes with the manual, literature, cables, and CD in the original box. I can throw in a CD of extra software. MISSING the power cable and stylus, but if you're into it, you can find these easily through NUGs (Newton User Groups)
I'd love to offer this to the first post to respond, but I want this baby to have a nice home. So reply with something that convinces me and it's yours, for free (minus shipping of course).
Cheers
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Krokadil said 2:03PM on 5-06-2009
@jojothedancer - I would be glad to give your eMate a good home! When I got married I downsized my Newton herd but couldn't bring myself to part with my 120 and the connection kit in their original boxes because they were my first. I've kept it going all these years, losing hours of my life finding drivers for the anonymous USB/serial adapter I used to get it talking to my MacBook Pro (thank you sketchy Russian websites!) and, in the dark days waiting for its release, I used to draw numbers on the screen and pretend it was an iPhone.
Well, not really that last bit - but I was tempted.
I never did have an eMate though, and sure wouldn't mind helping you out!
cBonthron said 4:50PM on 5-06-2009
@ jo jo the dancer:
I would love to add your eMate to my collection of Newtons, that I can not and will not part with. It will provide great company for my OMP, 110, 120, 130 and 2100... in a 2000 case.
I've recently started writing again and while travelling I've been using the 2100 and SUPERCLICKY Newton keyboard. Your post got me thinking that the eMate would be the perfect solution.
bonthron\at/mac\dot/com
Noah Ramon said 12:44PM on 5-06-2009
I was a late adopter (very beginning of 2001) and love the platform - but I've just had less and less luck getting things working with my current setup. It's a damn shame - I LOVE my eMate, and I still enjoy the feel of both the 130 and the 2100. But it got harder and harder to integrate it into my daily flow compared to a cheapie PalmOS device. (And the Tapwave Zodiac community is only a few degrees less fanatical than the Newton community - they're pretty devoted. For a PalmOS device, it was a pretty okay fake 2100...)
But, yeah - I've got an iPhone now, and it does a fair bit of what I used the Newt for, and with OS 3 it'll get even closer. But there's no way I'm getting rid of these old things.
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LGgeek said 12:59PM on 5-06-2009
To me the newton was the prototype for the iphone. Still have mine but since getting iphone and jail breaking it don't use newton much anymore.
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sageimac said 7:40PM on 5-06-2009
Newton's big screen role was in Under Siege 2 in 1995. You can see the scene on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaaMct-nF0o
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smacklin said 4:27PM on 5-06-2009
I was very sad when my Newton went to gadget heaven. When everyone would pull out their Palm Pilots in a meeting I was proud of my big bulky device.
Now I have to settle for the Newton sound set in Entourage to satisfy my nostalgia.
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Palm Sounds said 5:00PM on 5-06-2009
I wish someone would make a Newton emulator for the iPhone. It would be so cool
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Maddy said 3:25AM on 5-13-2009
It became a part of you. You began to identify with it, even develop a belief system around it. You may have attended regular meetings of others similarly afflicted, and openly despised members of other groups. Before you were even aware of it, you'd joined a cult.
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