[Elvin]

With all the hub-bub lately regarding Palm, I really want to send a letter to Apple to bring back the Newton. Maybe even something larger such as http://www.petitiononline.com/ (anyone?). Now Palm's choice is clear, and not entirely shocking given that Apple has iCal and iSync. It's the same move that MicroSoft's Business Unit pulled with Internet Explorer, and it's a wise one.

SO times are changing and Apple is taking charge, and I feel they are doing a fantastic job! The entire iLife (including iSync and iCal) do everything that I can ask of my Mac, however... handhelds just don't cut it. After selling my Newton 2100 ages ago, I truly miss it! The screen resources were perfect, it was easy to navigate, it had animations and sounds, backlighting (could be turned on and off), developer's tools, and numerous other aspects that I feel today's Palms haven't even touched.

Granted each of us have a different interpretation on what we would want from a handheld. Clearly it would have to be 'pocket-sized' as the old Newton was too large. It would have to have Palm Application compatibility of some sort. Clearly the standards are already in place such as vCard and Quicktime. "Ink" is already complete. And I believe that Apple still owns the name 'Newton' so they could work on it without having to register and market something new.

I just feel that if Apple were to pretty much announce anything that resembled the old Newton, that they would have my money without a single doubt! My iPod is everything I could want in a portable music player, but clearly no data input to take it that one step further to complete my 'digital life'.

Hear my plea Apple and resurrect the Newton. When you control the entire process (developers apps, hardware, software, OS, syncing, etc), you can make it maybe not a Palm Killer, but something that I think a lot of Apple users will consider).

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Originally posted by Elvin:
With all the hub-bub lately regarding Palm, I really want to send a letter to Apple to bring back the Newton. Maybe even something larger such as http://www.petitiononline.com/ (anyone?).

oh ya that is as large as it gets and they ALWAYS work wonders

[-Q-]

Originally posted by Elvin:
Hear my plea Apple and resurrect the Newton. When you control the entire process (developers apps, hardware, software, OS, syncing, etc), you can make it maybe not a Palm Killer, but something that I think a lot of Apple users will consider).

This is such a horrible idea for many reasons:

• The handheld market is oversaturated and is most likely dying. All indications from Palm is that they're moving away from developing handhelds and focusing on convergence devices (cell/PDA/cameras,etc) that combine the best of all worlds. I think this business strategy makes sense as people want fewer devices to carry.
  
• If it's not going to be a palm-killer, what's the point? Why spend the money and R&D time in developing something that's not going to shake the world? That's why the iPod was such a winner. It worked better than any other MP3 player and offered such an advance on how people interacted with their music, that it's taken 3 years for companies to start catching up.
  
• Steve hates PDAs. And to elaborate further, he's cited many times that he thinks the key is cell phones with PDA functions. I agree for the reason stated above.
  
• Apple will never make a cell phone due to the intense competition in this marketplace also (Look at the struggles of Sony-Ericsson). Jobs has stated that he thinks the phone companies are doing good work and the key for Apple is to make sure their devices work with the phones. I think that's a much stronger selling point for someone to buy a Mac than a Mac-phone or Mac-PDA. 'A mac just slides into your digital lifestlye, no mac-developed pda or phone required.'
  

IMO, The best strategy for Apple, if they did want to enter the cell/handheld market, is to develop their own OS and license that to phone companies (exactly what MS did). Although Nokia's recent acquisition of Symbian makes that unlikely, some companies that rely on the Symbian OS might consider moving to an Apple-designed one. But that would require Apple to have something developed now. Another reason my idea won't work? The key to Apple's ease-of-use is the 'full widget' methodology. They'd lose that with this phone-OS plan and this could damage their ease-of-use credibility.

Apple already has the 'niche' market in personal computers. Speaking as a shareholder, they don't need to enter the PDA market and develop another niche device. They need more homeruns like the iPod.

[Elvin]

Excellent thoughts -Q-, I appreciate someone who spends the time to offer other insights to something that I might have a biased or limited view on.

I guess I'm just getting frustrated by the Palm/Camera/MP3 player, as I believe in a tool for each and every task. I want my iPod for my music. My DSLR for my photos, and a Newton for my daytimer/address book/notepad. Why skimp one one tool, at the sacrifice of quality. Regardless though I have heard the same from Steve on his thoughts on PDAs and don't expect to see anything, I just wanted Apple to do it right. I still have faith in Palm, as their Tungsten lines seem to mesh well with the concepts. I just hate to see them move towards Outlook adaption when there are other tools out there.

Perhaps now this will be the nudge for Apple to improve iSync so that we don't have to install HotSync first, and so that we have proper syncing of Notes.

[new newton]

Palm application compatibility? Why?! One of the true strengths of the Newton was the structure of its applications, and the fact that their "soups" were accessible and understood easily by other applications. That's part of why it's taken the Palm platform until the T|E and T|3 to have a birthday from the address book show up in the calendar.

Steve Jobs doesn't hate PDAs, and never did. He hated the Newton, and never gave it a chance. Things are personal for Jobs--witness the exchanges about Pixar and Disney. Sculley kicked Jobs out of Apple, and Sculley's lasting contribution to Apple and the technology world was his PDA--the Newton. It didn't matter that Newton, Inc. had been spun off. It didn't matter that Newton, Inc. had licensees and was on a clear path to being self-supporting. It didn't matter that Newton itself was more than 6 years ahead of the competition--they haven't matched it yet. All that mattered was that it was John Sculley's baby, and his legacy. Ego demanded that it had to go, and so it did. Let's not forget that Apple was one of Palm's first licensees, even though it never shipped a Palm-based PDA. Steve Jobs doesn't hate PDAs, and never did.

Newton would need a pocketable form-factor, and a half-VGA color screen. There are already WiFi drivers out there, a slew of world-class apps, and a foundation on the Mac OS for syncing. When Newton was existent, people didn't really know what PDAs were for. It also cost $1,000. Now there's a user-base out there. Why is PalmOne and PalmSource (don't confuse them--they're not the same company anymore) in decline? It's because today's Palms don't do anything significantly better than the Vx of four years ago did. Show them what a Newton can do, and they'll be lined up at the door of the warehouse. Provided the price can come down to $400, that is.

[Krypton]

Please stop trying to resurrect the Newton!! Let it rest in peace...

[veryniceguy2002]

May be... just may be...

Have a look at this Think Secret report (towards the end).

[Vader�s Pinch of Death]

Originally posted by veryniceguy2002:
May be... just may be...

Have a look at this Think Secret report (towards the end).

My guess it is just some bull to raise hype. iWalk anyone?

[nobitacu]

If Apple makes New Newton, I will be one of the first to buy one without question. But yea, seeing how the PDA market is already in decline, I see no point of Steve Jobs seeing this as something that would bring a nice profit to Apple.

Ming

[Cwriter]

Just stumbled across this old tread and thought I'd leave my 2 cents.

I loved the newton and would love to see it make a comeback. I agree that the Palm/PDA market is over saturated. If apple were to enter, it would have to be with a whole new twist. Currently, PDA are glofied digital organizers. Apple would rule by applying their iLife strategy to this device.

In other words, I don't need another PDA to keep by contacts and calendar. There are plenty of them out there. I want a divice that lets me take my photos, my movies, my music with me. I want to be able to input text in the notepad using Ink.

the ipod is great, but the newton was insanely great technology .

[Will McGoonigle]

Why are we comparing the PDA market for Windows to the PDA market for Macs? I thought we weren't interested in facts and percentages and only in hardware quality and integration with OSX and our iLives?

The iPod was laughed at intitially for its price. So is the new mini. That hasn't stopped sales. Put it down to hardware and software integration and ease of use. The mp3 market was packed and still is saturated but it didn't stop the iPod's success.

The reason the Newton failed was because Apple was failing as a company at the time. It wasn't just one product not selling well.

[Saad]

An interesting article I translated from L'Aventure Apple:

MessagePad? iPDA? iWalk?

[DigitalEl]

Good points by many of you above. I'm frustrated that this "convergence" they've promised us still isn't here.

I love my iPod, but it's one more thing to carry. It's not practical as a PDA.

I love my week-old Sony Ericsson T610, but it's not practical as a PDA either... And it doesn't store music... And the camera is weak. I'm sure there's a $600 phone out there that has .mp3 capabilities and a better camera, but who wants to pay $600. Not to mention the beauty of the iPod is its simplicity and capacity. That's something no phone can currently compete with.

So here I sit at work with my iPod and my phone. My PDA is at home, because I can only carry so much (without a damn purse).

If somebody -- even Microsoft -- were to make one device that did it all and elegantly, I'd be the first in line. Oh... And $400 max!
________________

I know... Keep dreamin'.

[bookofjames]

Originally posted by DigitalEl:
Good points by many of you above. I'm frustrated that this "convergence" they've promised us still isn't here.

I love my iPod, but it's one more thing to carry. It's not practical as a PDA.

I love my week-old Sony Ericsson T610, but it's not practical as a PDA either... And it doesn't store music... And the camera is weak. I'm sure there's a $600 phone out there that has .mp3 capabilities and a better camera, but who wants to pay $600. Not to mention the beauty of the iPod is its simplicity and capacity. That's something no phone can currently compete with.

So here I sit at work with my iPod and my phone. My PDA is at home, because I can only carry so much (without a damn purse).

If somebody -- even Microsoft -- were to make one device that did it all and elegantly, I'd be the first in line. Oh... And $400 max!
________________

I know... Keep dreamin'.

how about the Sony Ericsson K700i?

[StevenWRX]

i hate pda's myself..

i use em for a week or two and then they just sit and collect dust.

[osxisfun]

A petition?

Like that petition for the video ipod that ended up with a dozen signatures?

[starman]

Why bother? You get a decent amount of PDA-type features from a phone nowadays.

I'd like to get a Newton but just for nostalgia reasons. The brick's pretty much useless.

Mike

[new newton]

Originally posted by starman:
Why bother? You get a decent amount of PDA-type features from a phone nowadays.

You've never used a Newton, or you'd not ask why bother. Newton was amazing. The PDAs we know today don't hold a candle to it, and that's about 7 years after Newton development was halted. I wonder what we'd have today if the Newton, Inc spinoff had gotten out the door as planned.

[veryniceguy2002]

Originally posted by DigitalEl:

If somebody -- even Microsoft -- were to make one device that did it all and elegantly, I'd be the first in line. Oh... And $400 max!

I think the item you are looking for is called laptop computer, and I assume you had made a slip on the keyboard in your post, and forgot to you in an extra zero at the end for your dollar amount.

[waffffffle]

While I certainly agree that the future is in multifunction devices (camera/phone/pda/mp3 player/camcorder) that future is very far off, at least 4 years. Right now none of the multifunction devices out there work well at any of their particular tasks. Camera phones, while easy to use, take awful pictures and have very little storage. Phones with PDA features (not the PDA/Phone combos) have awful interfaces for entering and retrieving information. Phone/PDA combos make terrible phones (bad shape, bad interface). The few combination mp3 player/cameras are bad at both. DV camcorders take crummy still pictures and digital cameras take poor quality movies. And finally, the iPod's PDA features are pretty crummy and obviously an afterthought.

Now I think Apple is the one company with the ability to create the all-in-one digital device that is far superior to the competition, however they don't have the experience with imaging or with phones. They have the PDA experience but it seems like Steve wants to ignore that.

To me the cornerstone of this device will be the PDA. The PDA's OS will allow these advanced functions, however the current approaches to this usually make it so that the OS gets in the way of other functions (like music, pictures and phone). If Apple would revive the Newton they would have the foundation to build this all-in-one device.

Will they do it? Probably not. Maybe they can just give us a few more iPod features, like the ability to plug an iSight directly into an iPod and use it as a camcorder or still camera. And I'm still waiting for high quality audio recording....

[midwinter]

Just get an iPaq. I had a Newton 2100 with all the cool bells and whistles (wireless, CF cards, etc). The iPaq is better.

[TimmyDee51]

How is it better? I'm not trying to flame, I'm just genuinely curious for some details (how you used your Newton, how you use your iPaq, what's better about PocketPC, etc.)

[osxisfun]

Just wait a couple of more months and get a Treo 650.

treocentral.com / discussions

[starman]

Originally posted by new newton:
You've never used a Newton, or you'd not ask why bother. Newton was amazing. The PDAs we know today don't hold a candle to it, and that's about 7 years after Newton development was halted. I wonder what we'd have today if the Newton, Inc spinoff had gotten out the door as planned.

Uh, I've owned 3 Newtons. They were good, but they're heavy and bulky as hell. I've also developed for it (Info-Mac archives might still have some of my stuff up on it).

Do a little research on who you talk to.

That said, I carry my 4 oz. phone on my belt. Try doing that with a Newton. Yeah, the Newt has handwriting recognition, but I've never been anywhere that a pen wasn't handy.

Whatever.

Mike

[starman]

Originally posted by waffffffle:
While I certainly agree that the future is in multifunction devices (camera/phone/pda/mp3 player/camcorder) that future is very far off, at least 4 years. Right now none of the multifunction devices out there work well at any of their particular tasks. Camera phones, while easy to use, take awful pictures and have very little storage. Phones with PDA features (not the PDA/Phone combos) have awful interfaces for entering and retrieving information. Phone/PDA combos make terrible phones (bad shape, bad interface). The few combination mp3 player/cameras are bad at both. DV camcorders take crummy still pictures and digital cameras take poor quality movies. And finally, the iPod's PDA features are pretty crummy and obviously an afterthought.

Camera phones like my Nokia 3650 can use up to ONE GIGABYTE memory cards. So much for "very little storage".

Also, the 3650 has a very intuitive design.

I suggest trying a Nokia 3650 or a 6620 before you piss all over camera phones.

The iPod is NOT a PDA.

Mike

[starman]

Originally posted by midwinter:
Just get an iPaq. I had a Newton 2100 with all the cool bells and whistles (wireless, CF cards, etc). The iPaq is better.

By far. Loved my iPaq. I only sold it because the Nokia 3650's features were good enough where I didn't feel I needed the iPaq anymore.

Mike

[andretan]

PDAs are out. PDA-phones however, are the in-thing these days.

[LoganCharles]

Why couldn't they just eventually turn the iPod into a PDA? I could see it. Leave the mini as the music only device. Just make it one big touch screen. Base the OS off of a simplified version of X by having it run only say iApps and maybe some GPS software.

[midwinter]

Originally posted by TimmyDee51:
How is it better? I'm not trying to flame, I'm just genuinely curious for some details (how you used your Newton, how you use your iPaq, what's better about PocketPC, etc.)

1) The Newton is really large, which means you can't just stick it in your pocket. The iPaq is, well, iPaq-sized. Thin. Light.

2) The Newton screen is green and black, which can be difficult to read in high-light situations. The iPaq screen is color, high-res, and really amazingly clear.

3) The Newton has no buttons other than power, which means you have to use the stylus (or your finger) to access applications.

4) The Newton has no audio out unless you buy one of the hacks.

5) Unless you use those flash cards (4-8 mb), you have to pay to use the CF card adapter.

6) Despite its coolness, I found sync to be sketchy.

7) Media playback on the Newt is sketchy. I can fit an entire movie on my 256 SD card and watch it on my iPaq.

8) HWR on both is equal (I understand that MS hired some old Newton guys or bought the tech or something).

9) The bookreaders for the Newt are lame. MS Reader, frankly, is the best bookreader on any PDA.

10) The Newt can be expensive. ~$120-250 for the newt. Maybe you'll get a battery back. Maybe you'll get a charger. Maybe you'll get flash ram. Maybe a modem. Most likely NOT the serial adapter. Now, granted, you don't get some of this with an iPaq, but my point is that you don't need it. You have, I think, 64MB onboard. And SD cards are cheap for expansion. No extra dongles to attach a keyboard. Bluetooth built in.

11) I personally found the Newt a little unintuitive when I first got it. From the opening screen thingy (I forget the name of the app), you basically just write down whatever you need and "send" it to the appropriate application. Can be confusing when you're used to discrete apps.

12) While the Word support in the Newt is really good, it simply doesn't hold a candle to the pocket office stuff that comes with the iPaq.

Basically, it boils down to this: the Newt is 10 year-old technology being compared to current tech. And as is often the case with old tech, you can wind up spending so much money to bring it up to snuff that you might as well have gotten the new tech to begin with.

I've owned Palms dating back to the Palm Pilot and the Palm Pilot Professional. I've had a Newt 2100. I sold it and got a Clie. Then I bought an iPaq.

There is no comparison. The iPaq is an amazing piece of technology. MS got something right with that OS.

[new newton]

Some of you are trying to compare hardware features from the last decade to those of today. What's the point of that?

Newton's beauty wasn't the hardware--it was the OS and the apps. Nothing out there today matches it. Had Jobs not killed it the hardware would be as advanced as anything you see today, and who knows just how much better the OS might be.

The problem with PDAs is that they don't do terribly much more than they could in 1997--I'm talking practical things here, not watching a movie on a 3-inch screen. Had Apple stayed in the game the whole sector would be further along than it is. There's little innovation now.

[starman]

The point is that you can get something that's easier to carry around today, and it's easier to develop apps for something like the PocketPC devices. Newton development was a mess.

No apps out there today match what the Newton had? Give me a friggin' break.

Mike

[new newton]

You seem to have some problems with reading comprehension. Do you always get so pissy when you don't understand what has been said?

[goose]

Originally posted by LoganCharles:
Why couldn't they just eventually turn the iPod into a PDA? I could see it. Leave the mini as the music only device. Just make it one big touch screen. Base the OS off of a simplified version of X by having it run only say iApps and maybe some GPS software.

I thought something like this would be coming out. When Apple got Inkwell, Address Book, iCal, iSync, and all that, I imagined a PDA-type device based on the iPod form, but with a larger color touch-screen.

When the iPod came out, no other MP3 device could store as much on it. If Apple released a PDA device like this, it would beat out the other PDAs (at least storage wise as there currently isn't a PDA that can store as much).

Heck, I would be down for a 5 GB (or more) PDA with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi that could sync to iTunes, Address Book, iCal, iPhoto, Mail, play QuickTime movies, use Safari to view WAP/HTML pages (and use Safari 2.0's RSS feeds), and mount to my desktop as a hard drive for easy file transfer and storage. Hmmm, maybe even handle Keynote presentations and (if Apple releases a new version) AppleWorks for document/spreadsheet handling.

[ApeInTheShell]

Don't you think there is a point where organizing becomes futile on a PDA?

Eventually you are going to sync it to the computer for new contacts, calendars...etc. The iPod does this wonderfully and you don't have to worry about inputting things with a stylus.

I would like the iPod to work with the Airport Express though

[midwinter]

Originally posted by ApeInTheShell:
Don't you think there is a point where organizing becomes futile on a PDA?

No, not really.

Eventually you are going to sync it to the computer for new contacts, calendars...etc. The iPod does this wonderfully and you don't have to worry about inputting things with a stylus.

But sometimes, MANY times, I do need to input information when I'm not at my computer. If all you need is a calendar, an address book, and some alarms, then yes, the iPod is all you need. But if you need to modify your calendar, write down dates at the end of meetings, leave notes to yourself, etc, then the iPod is no comparison. Believe me. I have an iPod and an iPaq.

I would like the iPod to work with the Airport Express though

My iPaq works fine with it.

[new newton]

Some people don't seem to know the limits of small pieces of hardware. How many times has someone suggested things like "a stripped down OS X" or the ability to do things that actually require a full-blown computer?

[V12]

newton had a great idea yearsa go but like everyone already said the pda market is over saturated, take the sony clie market; great pdas, but after 2 years in the pda market they're already gone.

I would like to see apple release sometihng like the sony U50 http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/notebo...y_vaio_U50.htm

basically a handheld iBook with a complete version of OSX

[Graymalkin]

Technologically the Newton was an awesome system because it was an independent computing platform. It wasn't simply an accessory for a Macintosh or PC but a whole platform of its very own. This unfortunately is what largely killed the Newton in the market. People really wanted something like the Palm Pilot, a handheld computer that was designed to be an adjunct to a full fledged PC.

That isn't to say I dislike Newtons (I own three of them) but they weren't necessarily the right system for the handheld market despite their pretty awesome features. I think the Tungsten T5 is showing off the next big paradigm of handhelds. It acts like a storage device when connected to a computer but as a normal handheld when taken mobile. This concept is in a similar vein to the iPod. When hooked to a computer it acts as an accessory and when unhooked it becomes its own independent device that can survive entirely on its own.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

I am quite sure that within 2-3 years there will be almost no consumer PDA's left on the market in North America. If anything they will become an even smaller Niche for business'.

PDA's are going to merge into cellphones.

[new newton]

The PDA preachers of the early-90s were right, they just didn't realize what the killer app for PDAs would be--having a cell phone built in. Look at what Palm is doing with the Treo, and extrapolate a few years. It's the future.

[midwinter]

I know that Jobs and others have been predicting that the cell phone/PDA markets would converge, and I realize it's starting to happen now, but I just have a hard time envisioning it.

[osxisfun]

why?

the treo 650 is (except for that darn data bug) the bee's knees. It probably epitomizes the merging of cell phones and PDAs the best.

[midwinter]

Originally posted by osxisfun:
why?

the treo 650 is (except for that darn data bug) the bee's knees. It probably epitomizes the merging of cell phones and PDAs the best.

I should have clarified: I have trouble envisioning the endgame of all this. The Treo is a neat gadget, sure, but I just keep wondering if the end of it all is when the keyboard disappears. Data entry on cell phones is a pain in the ass, and it's not much better on a PDA.

It's just that cell phones keep getting smaller and smaller while PDAs need to retain size to be usable. Maybe if the PDA were a clamshell it'd work better.

I don't know. Like I said, the two gadgets just seem to be at odds with one another in terms of form factor.

[osxisfun]

i see.

yes. i think the low end will always be dominated by the disposables.(small inexpensive phones)..

[Graymalkin]

I think the next generation of PDA-phones will be more like the Sony-Ericsson P800 and P900 than the Trio 650. The SE PDA-phones are designed more like phones than PDAs but maintain nice phone functionality and aesthetics which is very important for their market. As the electronics for the components become more efficient and use less power I think we'll see more PDA-phones loaded with Bluetooth and WiFi. While 3G data communication will end up being scores faster than GPRS/EDGE/1xRTT that we've got right now it won't be ubiquitous for a while and people will demand non-billable methods of communication*.

The Tungsten C was a pretty cool handheld but was only equipped with WiFi. The Tungsten T series have Bluetooth but no WiFi capabilities without using expansion cards. PocketPC based Smartphones like the Motorola MPx200 lack Bluetooth, WiFi, and an effective means of data entry entirely. With a combination of such features a PDA-phone manufacturer could really kill the competition were a device decently priced.

*Verizon has made a serious mistake in this arena already. They've begun to sell the Motorola v710 phone which comes loaded with a 1MP camera, Bluetooth, POP mail, and IM capabilities. Verizon however shipped these phones with Bluetooth effectively crippled so people had to transfer their pictures over Verizon's data service in order to charge them. They also disabled the IM and POP mail functions so people were limited to using Verizon's services and theirs alone.

[DVD Plaza]

Originally posted by midwinter:
2) The Newton screen is green and black, which can be difficult to read in high-light situations. The iPaq screen is color, high-res, and really amazingly clear.
...
Basically, it boils down to this: the Newt is 10 year-old technology being compared to current tech.

Isn't that what you've just done? Critised the Newton for not having a colour LCD over 10 years ago?

We might as well start critising your beloved iPaq for not having an organic screen... so what that such a screen hasn't been invented yet?

[midwinter]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
Isn't that what you've just done? Critised the Newton for not having a colour LCD over 10 years ago?

We might as well start critising your beloved iPaq for not having an organic screen... so what that such a screen hasn't been invented yet?

I suppose you're kidding, but no. That's not what I'd just done. What I'd done was respond to this:

How is it better? I'm not trying to flame, I'm just genuinely curious for some details (how you used your Newton, how you use your iPaq, what's better about PocketPC, etc.)

I carefully pointed out that the iPaq is superior in many, many ways to the Newton.

[new newton]

The real shame with the Newton is that the OS never got a chance to shine. It's a beauty, and perfect for the handheld genre. Nothing has come close to touching it. Imagining what it would have become with another 6 years of development and today's hardware is fun.

[midwinter]

Originally posted by new newton:
The real shame with the Newton is that the OS never got a chance to shine. It's a beauty, and perfect for the handheld genre. Nothing has come close to touching it. Imagining what it would have become with another 6 years of development and today's hardware is fun.

Yes. I agree with this entirely, even though I found the Raskin-ish interface pretty unintuitive. Once I got t he hang of it, though, it was pretty neat.

[torifile]

About 5 pdas removed from my Newt 2100 and I'm still longing for it. I'm currently using a Dell x50v. It's a pretty machine and if it didn't run windows (with all it's inherent flaws and sheer stupidity), I'd love it.

I'm thinking about putting linux on this thing if it ever comes out for it...