Newton Poetry

Is Google’s Android mobile platform the Newton fan’s savior at bringing a Newton-clone app to fruition?

When Apple announced the iPhone SDK, I wondered whether someone could use it to develop an Einstein-based Newton app – even just to mess around with – for Apple’s Mobile OS X.

Because of the licensing agreement, a Newton app is probably impossible. But on the open-source Android OS and its new Android Market, the dream of a modern-day Einstein hack might be realized.

Now that Android has its own “app store,” some bootstrapping developer could do something really cool. A touch screen, a stylus, some sort of handwriting recognition, and access to the OS’s dates and contacts and notes, and you might be all set.

I’m positive its nowhere near that simple to develop a Newton emulator for a mobile phone. But one can dream, right?

Hello!

I did a search about Newton and I ended up on your great article. I have just bought an old Newton 130 (above) and I was wondering how you have it sync/connect with Mac OS X 10.5.4? I want mine to work with my MacBook and I think I need a USB serial adapter and the serial cable. None of that came with my Newton. Do you have any recommendations? How do you do it? Would be great to hear from you.

Thanks for your time.

Best,
Marcus

Hi Marcus,

Sad to say, I haven’t actually connected my Newton with OS X – I can’t because it’s a MP110, and runs Newton OS 1.3. You need at least OS 2.x to connect.

I found my USB serial adapter (for hooking up with OS 9) on eBay, so that’s the first place to try. A serial cable might be harder to come by, however. Luckily mine came with my Newton, but you could try some online sellers like J&K Sales or, again, eBay. I’m working on getting an updated Newton so I can actually try it out.

…Marcus, who lives in Brazil, wrote back several times to keep me up-to-date on his progress:

Hello Dave,

Thank you for answering! I went ahead and I got 2 serial cables and a Belking USB to serial adapter for Mac (for OS X). I found on Sourceforge that someone wrote a OS X version for this series of adapters, so I HOPE it might work. I don’t intent do get a classic Mac just to sync my 130.

I also found out my backlighting wasn’t working. I saw on eBay someone selling 2 screens for it, new, for $19.95. Already have taken my Newton apart multiple times, but it is scary!

Thanks again for your reply and I liked your blog.

best,
Marcus

Later, Marcus wrote me with more to say on his project:

Hello Dave,

I don’t think I got it to work. I spent all afternoon looking for drivers and trying to hack the existing one. Problem is I did not even find the sourcecode of it on the Sourceforge project page, it’s gone. The F5U003 refuses to run with the Sourceforge driver under 10.5. I think it only works up to 10.3.

I know someone did make it work with Intel and Mac os x 10.3.4 using the driver for the F5U103 (really identical inside), but the hack he did to the kext can not be found anywhere. And since I have Intel and Leopard that solution is out of the question. I just have the instructions, but they are useless without sourcecode.

So now I went ahead and got a Prolific chipset USB to serial adapter, I know they have Mac OS X drivers for Leopard actually that are current on their website. I should have it by end of the week and will give it a new try. Wish me luck! This just might work. If I get it working I will put up something on my own blog. By the way, this is my site and blog. In the meantime my 130 is sitting on my table waiting to talk to my new world MacBook, I still have hopes.

Thank you,

Best,
Marcus

He’s quite the DIYer, isn’t he? Marcus then sent along a final, successful e-mail – with pictures!

Hello Dave,

I have managed to connect my Newton 130 to my MacBook Core 2 Duo via USB! I have attached a few pics of my wiring setup. Works like a charm.

I will probably do a blog entry with nicer photos about this when I have some time. The USB to Serial 232 adapter has a Prolific chip inside, and that driver they are providing for Mac OS X works like a charm. There is a Sourceforge generic driver for all kinds of other adapter brands, but OS X wanted me to remove the generic one and the prolific driver does the job very well. The first software I tried and that works just like the old Apple OS 9 Connection Kit is NCX 1.2. I will try Escale and the others ones as well.

Just thought you liked to know how it is going.

My next venture will be to try and get a WiFi card working in this Newton. :-)

Best,
Marcus

Nice job, Marcus! Here’s a picture of his serial-to-USB setup:

If you’ve ever thought about digging in and upgrading your PowerMac G4 (Yikes! model), here’s a tip:

Think again.

After several successful projects involving simple upgrades like RAM and a PCI USB 2.0 card, a recent attempt at installing an Apple-made DVD-ROM drive was a complete disaster. Sadly, it’s because of the design of the PowerMac itself; when you open it up, it looks customizable, but actually trying to take the thing apart is a nightmare.

And it’s all the screws’ fault.

More… »

Someday Newton Poetry will have its own domain name, after a certain goal has been reached.

Before that happens, however, I have to draw up a plan. So that’s exactly what I did. If and when Newton Poetry becomes newtonpoetry.com, I’d like to stick with WordPress and do a customized blog. A Newton-looking theme would be great – not on par with some blogs, but sporting a MessagePad-ish theme would fit in nicely.

The rough draft above shows a basic outline of what this site could become.

1. The overall site would look much like the Newton’s screen looks: a dock at the bottom, notes in between (the blog postings) and icons that mimic the MessagePad’s. Each day’s post could include the little Newton clock and date, with the envelope icon for comments. Something like that.
2. My original idea for this site was to include the stylus somehow, but on newtonpoetry.com it’ll be a must. But no green. The header, the site, the posts – all on a nice clean white. Maybe some of the icons can be green.
3. Ah, the sidebar. It’ll have the requisite “archive” and “blogroll” and all the goodies, and maybe some space for an ad or two. This could, possibly, be the spot on the site where green plays heavily, just to set it off from the main body of blog posts.
4. Here’s the dock. It’s a must, I think, and it could be a great spot for archives and such in place of the sidebar. It’s hard to find good, high-quality images of the Newton’s screen, but if I have to I’ll simply recreate the icons. This may be where I put links to the “About” page and my upcoming “Links” page.

That’s the plan so far. I’ll still have to learn a thing or two about installing WordPress on a host, and how to manage themes, but it can be done. And now I have a basic outline of how I want things to look.

Any suggestions?

Well look who showed up.

After a UPS mis-delivery, a neighbor hunt-down, and a package found safe and sound, my iMac G4 has finally arrived at my doorstep. I can die a happy man now.

More… »

Browsing through Apple’s App Store, I lucked out on a program I’ve been meaning to try: Catamount’s PocketMoney. Previously available for $9.99, Catamount dropped the price to $0.99 for a few days only, and I snatched it up as soon as I saw it. How could I resist? Catamount was a dedicated Newton app developer. They’ve ported their PocketMoney finance manager to everything from the Palm to the PocketPC, and it only made sense for them to bring their piggy bank to the iPhone.

More… »

Over at the NewtonTalk e-mail list there’s a great thread running about how people use their MessagePads. The whole thing was started by a 13-year-old Slovenian student who bought a Newton on eBay on a whim, got hooked, and started this project to compile all the messages into a Newton eBook for later reading.

The response has been huge, and there are some really great examples of how people use their Newton every single day to organize their life. Ryan from Vancouver says his upgraded MP2000 has replaced paper in his work flow:

Essentially, I am using it as a personal office assistant/tablet. It sits next to my MacBook Pro on my desk, and you won’t find any paper around here. I take notes on it, use it for To Dos and reminders, write articles on it for my blog, and am starting to use it more like a tablet PC. That is, reading eBooks and using it for analyzing spreadsheets.

Everything from reading the Bible to reading eBooks on the morning commute is mentioned. If you need practical ideas on how to use your MessagePad, this is a great forum to start with.

What about you? How do you use your Newton?

See here, from PC Magazine’s list of “21 Great Technologies That Failed.”  The linked list is Apple-specific, including the dead-horse Pippin and G4 Cube, among others.

Maybe it’s the nostalgia, or maybe it’s just an example of the tech press running out of good ideas. Or link bait? Cliche? All of the above?

And I tell it to go screw itself.

My Airport Extreme Base Station has been blinking amber for three days now. It’s blinking because, as you can see above, it’s wanting me to download the updated firmware and Airport Utility software.

You know what? Tough luck.

After all the trouble this base station’s firmware has given me, and now that it’s finally working right, I’m not going to let a little blinking yellow light stop me.

Yikes. Newton in your pocket?

Maybe I don’t remember ’90s jean styles all that well – I was only 12 or 13 at the time – but somehow this ad seems improbable.

What do you think? Can your Newton fit in your back pocket?

[Image courtesy of The Mothership.]