Newton Poetry

A new Apple “Newton 2” rumor has popped up, this time with “evidence” from a SeekingAlpha.com author, David Sieger.

Says Sieger:

This new Apple device, which could be an Ultra Mobile Computer, has not been sighted out and about the Apple campus or even in the area normally designated for testing new Apple products, suggesting that it’s still in the software and hardware design period. Once it’s physically spotted outside Apple’s secretive labs, we may see an actual product release of 6-8 months, closely following other new Apple product introductions.

Sieger’s evidence is based on Apple buying up 5.2″ touchscreens, tons of flash memory, and lack of QWERTY keyboard.

Sieger, however, leaves out room for chance, or Apple’s ability to surprise people with something totally new and unexpected.

He says it can’t be a new Newton, because of the lack of PDA demand from the American public, “although various PDA functionalities may in fact be included in the final version of the device.”

It’s all shot-in-the-dark stuff, and the evidence he sites is flimsy at best. This could all belong to that nebulous cloud of Applet tablet rumors we’ve heard so much about.

[Read previous “RumorPad Watch” entry]

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.

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.]

by Sonya Rose

Droplets of a dream
full by the dozen
Into a busin,
a whirlpocl
creating ripples,
washing upon
my feet…
I lonbmplente
escuping
five minutes longer…

[Read the original. Thanks again to Sonya Rose for letting me use her work.]