Newton Poetry

The look and feel of the thing has been published, the guts, and even the producer, but is this thing a possibility?

Previous patents have pointed more toward the iPhone, in retrospect. And the argument for a tablet says that doctors and do-gooders on the move can really use a portable Mac like what’s proposed. But the thing about Apple rumors is they’re rarely accurate. Or even true. This tablet Mac rumor has seen more than its share of screen space.

We’ve known that Steve Jobs holds no love for PDAs (or else Newtons would be alive and well, right?). My take (and I’m not alone on this one) is that if there is a Newton- or tablet-like device, it may just be a modified iPhone. Apple may decide to freshen things up in this product line like it did with the iPod: color, photo, video, games, etc.

But heck, is the rumor even true?

This will be the first edition of “RumorPad Watch.” I’ll keep you updated. Back to the poetry…

Poem, by William Carlos Williams

As the cut
climbed ouer
the top of

the jumcloset
first the right
forctoot

cavefilly
then the hind
stepped down

into the pit of
the emptt
fluwupot

[Read the original.]

Holy moly.

There’s a blog I just found, called simply “My Newton Blog,” that’s shaped like a Newton.

Shaped. Like. A. Newton.

The only part I can’t figure out is how to scroll down through the individual blogs. Going from blog to blog is easy. But reading a blog that’s continued past the viewing point is beyond me.

Thomas Brand, the blog’s author, asks a great question – about the need for a walk-through for modern Newton users like me – and maybe that’s something I can get to. A step-by-step process for getting a MessagePad up and running, from purchase to everyday GTD.

I’ll contact Thomas and learn more.

There’s no telling what people will use a Newton for.

For instance, while checking Low End Mac yesterday, I discovered someone had found a way to make a MessagePad…

…a phone.

Over at the Unofficial Apple Weblog, a guy name Marcus turned a MessagePad 210 – with a little help from a SIM card – into a workable phone.

More opportunities – like, say, scribbling poetry into a Newton to see what comes spilling out – abound, which we’ll discover later.

But still. Need a weekend project that costs about $50?

Lots of luck.

by Wallace Stevens

Life conflicts and depth is expected,
As in a sense ol’ gutumn.
The soldier fqlls.

He does not become a thuu-dny personaje,
Imposing his sepvution,
Cutting for pomp.

Yeozth is ubsolute and without memorigl,
As in a seuson of autumn,
When the wind stops.

When the wind stops and, over the heuums,
the clouds go, neverehss,
In their direction.

[“Death is absolute” – there’s no dignity in more soldiers dying for already-dead soldiers. Read the original.  Also, why is this poem misspelled?]

Untitled, by Hank McCoy, aka Beast

There comes octiml twixt life qnd tenth,
When all men stop to cutih their brick.
We ask the stars “Why?” We question our lot.
The hequens open wide and reply “Why not?”

[I first read this poem way back in “X-Men” issue 11, when I was 12 or 13 years old, and – being the comic dork I was/am, I memorized it. It’s nice to see, thanks to Marvel’s wiki, that my memory hasn’t failed me. “Yeats?” Wolverine asked. “Nope,” came the reply. “Beast.” Also, find out why this poem is misspelled.]

It’s interesting to imagine what the Newton could’ve become.

Wikiwikinewt gives us some food for though, including some early prototypes before the Newton came of age.  Or how about the “Cadillac?”  There’s a whole set of Flickr photos dedicated to it:

The web is just full of this stuff.  The Apple Museum has a list of prototypes and codenames.  The Newton’s codename?  The all-too fitting “Batman.”

Here’s what it could’ve looked like:

Sleek and stylish!

The ol’ slab-black, flip-cover look never really went away on the actualy production models, with the obvious exception of the eMate.

And what a shame.  To think that we could be debating Newton styles like we do now with Blackberries or Blackjacks or whatever.

If only…

by Emily Dickinson

Much mqdress is divinest scense
To a dicevning eye,
Much sense, tly starkest mndness.
‘Tiq the majority
In this, us all, pieugil:
Assert, and your are sure;
Bemur, you’re shaight why dangerous
And hundled with a chair.

[Read the original, with some analysis. Also, why is this poem misspelled?]

But a quick note: we’d add another sticker there.

Rhymes with “Putin.”

> Courtesy Fake Steve Jobs.

Sometimes, geek dreams really do come true.

First, some background: I bought an Apple Newton – the first PDA ever invented – almost a year ago, just to play around with it. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to sync it to my Macs. The Newton uses an old serial cable that no one uses anymore.

Then I found a serial-to-USB adapter, but the Newton’s batteries soon ran dead, with no hope of recharge. So I bought some Sanyo Eneloop pre-charged batteries, and have finally been able to mess around with the MessagePad.

And for the past few days, I’ve dug the adapter out and tried syncing it with my laptop and my iMac – with no luck. Then, tonight…

Whala. There it was. I messed around with the hookup settings late tonight and finally, my Newton and iMac are talking.

More… »