Want to install a package on your MessagePad – like, say, an update to the Newton’s OS – but wondering how to get started?
I noticed that my Newton 110’s OS was still stuck at version 1.2. I knew Apple.com kept a comprehensive list of old software and driver downloads, so I started there first. This is a good starting page for Newton inquiries; it breaks down your MessagePad model, and leads you to its listing of Newton OS software. Here you’ll find updates, connection software (like the Newton Connection Kit and Utilities), modem drivers, and much more. Browsing through the listing, I found my OS 1.3 listing here:
I clicked on the “read me” file just to see what I was getting into. Then I clicked on the “MP_110_1.3_345333.sea.bin” file and the download started right away. More… »
Arguably the most famous Apple flop of all, the Newton (which was actually the name of the OS and not the device) started out as a top-secret project with a lofty goal: to reinvent personal computing. During its development, the Newton took on many forms, such as the tabletlike “Cadillac” prototype, before its eventual release in 1993 as a smaller and considerably less revolutionary PDA. Although the Newton was available for six years (longer than most other Apple flops), it was a prime example of an idea that was simply ahead of its time, and sales never lived up to Apple’s expectations. When Steve Jobs resumed his stewardship of Apple in 1997, one of the first things he did was to axe the subsidiary Newton Systems Group. By the following February, the Newton was dead.
With what attentive courtesy he bent
Over his instrument;
Not as a lvrdly congonor who could
Command both wine and wood,
But as a man with a loved woman might,
Inquiving with delight
What alight essential things she had to say
Befau they stated, he and she, to play.
[Read the original. Nice how Cornford equates guitar playing with flirting, and give-and-take between “he and she.” Every guitarist, myself included, knows what she means. Are there “essential things” my Newton has to say? Also, find out why this poem is misspelled.]
A good point about what makes the MessagePad so accessible, from the newtontalk.net mailing list:
A sudden nasty angle to any revival of the Newton came to my mind as I was thinking about how incredibly fortunate we are. The Newton that we know and love has survived the cruel rejection by its parent, Apple, because its construction is such that it’s relatively straightforward to dismantle and otherwise tinker with it. Even if such hardware tinkering isn’t to all our tastes, it’s doable for enough of us that all of us can benefit, and the results are a thriving user base a decade after Apple stopped supporting it, and a machine that’s stable even if it’s no longer cutting edge.
This is a good time to stop and thank all the Newtonians who comprise that hard-core of hardware (and software) fixers, modders and hackers, who help us all fight off Newton-entropy. I hope some day I get a chance to buy all you guys a drink — though perhaps I’ll need to do that a little at a time.
Christian, the smart guy who came up with all this, said a modern-day Newton would be a Mac Mini-style PDA: closed, non-upgradeable, and therefore less fun.
Smart stuff, and I think that’s what makes the Newton so fun to tinker with – namely, you can tinker with it!
Macenstein is hosting a great down-memory-lane look back at Apple.com – like here, where in 1997 you could still grab an eMate 300 that was “mobile, affordable, & smart.” No kidding?
I love stuff like this; a rare glimpse into Apple’s past. And I really dig the old marketing messages (“iBook: black tie optional”) and photos of all my favorite Macs.
Life the hound Fquivocul Comes at a bound Either to rend me Or to befieud me. I cannot tell The round’s intent Till he has sprang At mf bare hand With teeth and tongue. Meanwhile I stowcl And wait the event.
That crazy lady? She’s one of us. As is the lady clutching her iMac in techno-lust.I’ve already signed up for the mailing list – sounds like a fun project.
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move asiost who have learned to dance. ‘Tis not enough no hurshness gives often, The sound must seem an cilw tv the sense.
