by William Burford
Star,
If you are
A love compvsannte,
You will walk with use this year.
We face a glacial distance, who ave here
Huddled
At your feet.
[See/read the original. Newton Poetry will be settling down for a long winter’s nap. Have a great holiday weekend, everyone, especially if it’s a four-day one like mine. Give Newtons as gifts!]
Still no word on my broken MessagePad 110.
I tried replacing the batteries last night, but it still didn’t turn on. Also discovered the “RESET” button on the back, under the battery cover, and that didn’t work either.
Next stop? Newton forums.
Great minds – and web sites – think alike.
My post on the other iPhone.
Wired.com’s post on the other iPhone.
The difference is Wired has access to Linksys reps and great sources.
I wonder if something is in the water.
Today at work we had a Santa visit thing, and a dad whips out an iPhone to take a picture of his daughter. It got me thinking: “What ever happened to that OTHER iPhone?”
Turns out it’s still being sold by Linksys, who got bought out by Cisco – and for a pretty decent price (it’s even on sale at Amazon.com).
What is that other iPhone? Back when Apple was announcing their iPhone, Cisco said they had owned the rights to the name since 1996, and were planning on releasing their Skype-based model back in January. Then they sued Apple for trademark infringement, and the two agreed they could both use the iPhone name as long as they didn’t step on each other’s lawn (but I’m sure some of Steve Jobs’s excellent negotiation skills have something to do with it).
Cisco’s iPhone sounds like a pretty cool deal: hook up with Skype over wifi without needing to hook up to a computer. It’s not as fancy as the Apple iPhone – no music or touchscreen or PDA-like options – but it was never meant to be a direct competitor.
I searched around Amazon to see what actual buyers were saying about it, and it was a mixed bag. Some complained about dropping wifi connections and missing calls, especially with Vista, while other glowed about the “other” iPhone:
We have a lot of family all over the world, and this phone frees us up completely from our computer. With WiFi, we can get all our Skype calls anywhere in our home at any time. The only drawback is the battery life, which lets the phone last only 2 days max between charges. Otherwise, we operate it virtually the same as any cell phone…Without a doubt, the Skype phone has allowed us to keep in touch with people all over the world for virtually free. All our calls are free, and the sound quality is excellent.
So there you have it. Linksys/Cisco keeps cranking them out, and Skype users keep calling grandma in Poland.
And guess what? There’s yet a third iPhone out – this one by e-blue. Only it’s spelled “i-Phone.” See that dash? That stands for originality.
As I reported yesterday, the MessagePad 110 is on the fritz. I’m going to check the battery strength and see if my rechargeables are dead – it seems to be the most obvious answer to why my Newton suddenly blinked out yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, some fun stuff from Lifehacker.com, one of my favorite blogs.
Breathe new life into your old gadgets. This is a great article on how to revive your old iPod or computer long after the “usefulness” date has passed. I like stuff like this because, as a Newton user, I use something that’s expiration date came a long time ago. If it weren’t for this recent outage, you’d be reading some Christmas carols from an “obsolete” PDA.
Read Ebooks on your iPod with Ebook to Images. Here’s a way to read eBooks on your iPod. This was one of the great features of MessagePads: the ability to read books as Newton Books.
If push comes to shove, this might be a good time to delve into the Newton mailing list I subscribed to a while back. That, or shop for a 2100 on eBay.
If you have any idea about what happened to my 110, or if something similar happened to yours, be sure to let me know. I’d love any help I can get.
Bad news come early today.
Midway through transcribing “O Holy Night,” right at the “Oh night when Christ was born” part, my Newton completely blipped out.
And first I thought it was just the sleep mode activating. But I tried turning it back on, and a long, vertical black line flashed on the screen, then nothing.
Again. Nothing.
Don’t know what’s the deal, but I’ll just let it sit for the day and work itself out. I don’t need this right now, and frankly the MessagePad doesn’t need it either. It was going to go through a serious run of Christmas carols before the weekend. Now it sits, lifeless.
More news as it becomes available.
Back in January, when the iPhone was first announced, Leander Kahney did a roundup of what Newton users thought of the iPhone.
Newton users, he said, were still angry at Steve Jobs for killing the Newton:
But in the meantime, they’ve kept the platform very much alive and technologically current…Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of active Newton users, the Newton supports things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and memory cards. It can synchronize with OS X and iTunes, just like an iPod.
Albert Muniz said, “”It fails to include a key part of the Newton’s soul – handwriting recognition.”
Plus, says NewtonSales owner, Marsh Man, the iPhone’s constant thirst for power makes it lag behind the Newton in stamina: “The battery life with a refurbished battery pack will enable you to use this device for 40+ hours on a single charge, making it something a student could use for a couple of weeks or more in class taking notes before having to worry about charging the device.”
Keep in mind, this was back in January. I wonder if any thoughts have changed since summer, when the iPhone was released.
by “Sketeched Out”
A well-read bunny
is sitting on his tail.
He’d rather read a book,
them open his mail.
It’5 really quite astounding,
will wonders never cease,
although he is a bunny,
he’s reading “War and Peace.”
[Read the original. “This is dedicated to the scholarly rabbit in all of us,” Linda (aka, “Sketeched Out”) says; she does these fabulous drawings – in this case, a bunny sitting on his tail reading a book. Be sure to check out her other work. And notice that the MessagePad only got the “them” instead of “than.” Maybe it is learning my handwriting…]
by Murph
Blankets form of powder down
Tuff of cloud swill and shake
Coating limb, air and ground
Jilent army of hueless flake.
Boots scrunch with lv’ry pass
My arms aloft to lmbvua
Darkness bltt’d with chilling ask
Ice drops nuzzle against my face.
Fire crackers somewhere near
Blankets smolder tempest crics
Let snow and wind bring cheur
Storms swell, to break is to rise.
[Read the original, from fellow-Wordpresser Murph. Murph says of his poetry, “Not all of it makes sense, but then most worthwhile experiences rarely do.” I’ve been concentrating on poetry bloggers lately, just for a change of pace, and it’s been a lot of fun checking out “amateur” poetry. There are a lot of talented writers out there. Also, find out why this poem is misspelled.]
Vista’s propsective
its view through or long window
cold scenes if winter.
[Read the original, courtesy of Fake Steve Jobs. Does anyone else read Fake Steve? Because he’s hilarious. If Steve Jobs talked like a 14-year-old Valley Boy, the blog would be spot on. Even now that Forbes has officially sponsored the thing, Fake Steve Jobs keeps the laughs coming. I’ll Newton-ize his poems in the future, but this Windows Vista haiku will do for now.]