Newton Poetry

Looking for loonies like yourself who enjoy low-end technology, outdated PDAs, and a knack for shaking their fist at Apple’s decisions?

Join a Newton User Group!

Chuma.org’s Newton FAQ has a listing of user groups, including where they’re at and their web site.

A few have since disbanded, but groups like Stanford’s (above) are die-hards, and I’m sure would love a visitor (visit their site here).  SNUG meets on the third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. (right before the iPhone group) at Printer’s Inc. Café (320 S. California Avenue in Palo Alto).  Be sure to check out the group’s “gripe list.”

There’s a Michigan State group that’s just a bit north of me. I may check to see if they still meet. If they do, I’ll be sure to report back.

By the way, the Tennessee Valley Newton Users Group (TVNUG) meets the first Wednesday of each month at 5 p.m. Central at the Barnes & Nobel coffee shop, located on University Drive in Huntsville, AL, says George S. Hamilton.  The store is closing, however, so stay tuned for the new location.

If you want to do some research, check out Meetup.com’s list of Newton User Group cities.

Turns out it might be true:

According to Mindset Media, people who purchase Macs fall into what the branding company calls the “Openness 5” personality category– which means they are more liberal, less modest and more assured of their own superiority than the population at large. Mindset Media helps companies with strong brands develop ads targeted to people based on personality traits or people’s “mindsets,” and does research to that effect.

The story goes on to say that the Apple’s brand is very appealing to folks like us.

Read the rest of the story on Yahoo!

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.