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.
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…]
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.]
Turns out the Pogo Stylus is stealing your finger’s thunder, if you’re an iPhone or iPod Touch user. For $25, you too can have a chubby stylus that looks a heckuva lot less elegant than us Newton users enjoy.
Hats off to the Pogo folks for thinking of this: the commentors at Cult of Mac love the idea of a stylus just for those who suffer through winter, like we’re doing right now in Michigan.
Some have already wondered if the iPod Touch, and iPhone, are becoming the Newton replacements (see “Is the iPod Touch the new Newton“), but Cult of Mac gives it their “Pointless Product” alert. I don’t see why; sure, the whole dynamic idea of the iPhone, according to Steve Jobs, is its lack of stylus. But for those with fingers that don’t handle small objects so well, this could be a lifesaver. And I can see those of us in the Midwest needing a stylus just so we wouldn’t have to take our gloves off.
The nice thing about the Newton was the need for just a stylus. Because it recognized handwriting, there was no need for a keyboard (even though they did exist, and were useful).
Then again, we could forget the stylus and just start using an iBlade.
In a dream,
I saw a man I kuw;
In a dark stream,
he smiles though –
Me,
dreaming into the airflow;
He,
I kicow –
The most beautiful man
flies above my head with a plan…
O CAPTAIN! My Captain! our fewful trip is done;
The ship has weatheved every ack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is new, the bells I hear, the people all e+ulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the lessel grin and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck his Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
[Read the original. This is just the first part. In other news, I think the Newton is really started to learn my handwriting. “O Captain!” features some of the best translation it has done yet.]
I’m trying to teach myself more about what makes a Newton tick, and this is a big help.
A great big advocate for the MessagePad, and founder of the Newton Flickr pool, splorp is a true Newtfan in every sense of the word. He also takes on other Apple projects.
