[Macintosh]

There is sooooo much want for an Apple PDA from all types of people from analysts to mac users to investors. I have noticed articles in new Mac magazines talking about the possibility of an Apple PDA and I think it is likely to happen within a year or two.

Is an Apple PDA a need or a desire? I think Apple should create a PDA when it can squeeze the iBook's current technology into a visor edge sized enclosure. That would be usefull.

[rambo47]

I think there's a great opprotunity for Apple to score big with their own PDA. Yes, the market is saturated with them now, but the right design, using an updated Newton OS, could really take off. First among the Macintosh faithful, but branching out to other folks as well. Imagine Apple including a PDA with the purchase of a new high-end Power Mac. OS X support would be huge seeing how well OS X seems to be selling.

I envision a form factor like the Palm V, only 1 1/2 times as long for extra screen size. Color screen with resolution like the pocket pc's. No physical buttons, but rather software buttons on a hidable dock like on OS X. Like the Newton, the ability to rotate the screen 90� into landscape mode. Stick with the StrongArm processor so folks could install alternate operating systems. The wintel folks could use WinCE is they choose, thus broadening the unit's appeal. I'd pay up to $700 for one of those.

[Han's Hands on Leia]

Originally posted by rambo47:
<STRONG>I envision a form factor like the Palm V, only 1 1/2 times as long for extra screen size. Color screen with resolution like the pocket pc's. No physical buttons, but rather software buttons on a hidable dock like on OS X. Like the Newton, the ability to rotate the screen 90� into landscape mode. Stick with the StrongArm processor so folks could install alternate operating systems. The wintel folks could use WinCE is they choose, thus broadening the unit's appeal. I'd pay up to $700 for one of those.</STRONG>

How about just a soft Graffiti area. Also the dock on the Newton is better then the one in OSX (for a PDA).

You might be willing to pay $700 for this PDA but Apple has allready seen that people will not pay a premium for the best hardware, just look at the Newton.

They would have to sell this new sucker for less then the iPaq and around the same as the Palms.

[TimmyDee51]

Originally posted by Han's Hands on Leia:
<STRONG>

How about just a soft Graffiti area. Also the dock on the Newton is better then the one in OSX (for a PDA).

You might be willing to pay $700 for this PDA but Apple has allready seen that people will not pay a premium for the best hardware, just look at the Newton.

They would have to sell this new sucker for less then the iPaq and around the same as the Palms.</STRONG>

What?!?! Have you ever used a Newton before? From your post, I gather not. First of all, the "Graffiti area" would limit one of the Newton's best features, real HWR, not some half-baked code language like Graffiti. Let me tell you, writing whole sentences across the screen is wonderful.

Also, the Newtons were actually premium hardware themselves. I own a 120/2.0 and a 2100 (upgraded) that I bought used. Both have served me well and hold up marvelously over time. Seriously, the Newton is so much more than you think. Use one before you trash it.

[ 07-02-2001: Message edited by: TimmyDee51 ]

[maxelson]

Originally posted by TimmyDee51:
<STRONG>

What?!?! Have you ever used a Newton before? From your post, I gather not. First of all, the "Graffiti area" would limit one of the Newton's best features, real HWR, not some half-baked code language like Graffiti. Let me tell you, writing whole sentences across the screen is wonderful.

Also, the Newtons were actually premium hardware themselves. I own a 120/2.0 and a 2100 (upgraded) that I bought used. Both have served me well and hold up marvelously over time. Seriously, the Newton is so much more than you think. Use one before you trash it.

[ 07-02-2001: Message edited by: TimmyDee51 ]</STRONG>

Timmydee, I'm with ya. I own a 130 and a 2000. I. Will. NEVER. Give. Them. Up.
Newton was a true PDA. Graffitti and Handwriting rec cannot be compared. I figure the ONLY disadvantage to a Newton is the size and weight. I got over it a long time ago. Fortunately, there is still a small and dedicated army of developers and enthusiasts out there who keep things moving along.
Easiest way to convince a Palm user is to just do stuff on your Newton and have folks watch. I have converted many users- even helped aquire Newtons for those who saw... and liked.
I do not typically use such cheesy sentiments, but this one applies: Long Live Newton!

[austeros]

i would kinda get mad at apple if they do release one in the real near furure, since it would represent resources not being used to get OSX to a point where we can laugh at the winXP crowd

seriously though, i would love to see them take the pda to a new level, give it a better processor (wasnt the newtons faster?), a ibm microdrive, and a version of dataviz's maclink plus that would allow us to convert a file instantly on a palm (would be really cool)

heres to hopeing

[Han's Hands on Leia]

Originally posted by TimmyDee51:
<STRONG>

What?!?! Have you ever used a Newton before? From your post, I gather not. First of all, the "Graffiti area" would limit one of the Newton's best features, real HWR, not some half-baked code language like Graffiti. Let me tell you, writing whole sentences across the screen is wonderful.

Also, the Newtons were actually premium hardware themselves. I own a 120/2.0 and a 2100 (upgraded) that I bought used. Both have served me well and hold up marvelously over time. Seriously, the Newton is so much more than you think. Use one before you trash it.

[ 07-02-2001: Message edited by: TimmyDee51 ]</STRONG>

I own the original Newton that I bought on the first day that it came out. I also own a 130 and a 2000, they are sitting right here next to me on my desk. So yes, I have used it

If the Newton was so great then why did so few people want to buy one?

1) It was very BIG and did not fit in your pocket. It got bigger with each model.
2) It was very expensive and it got more expensive.
3) The handwriting recognition was bad and it got much better.

If Apple does come out with a PDA I think the only way they could do it is to tie into the Palm OS somehow so that it can run all Palm apps.

OSX on a Palm or handheld is the stupidest idea I have ever heard. OSX barely fits on a 15' screen with 1024 x 768 rez. OSX barely runs on a G4 with half a gig of RAM. Not to mention its bad power management.

A smaller screen will not be good for �writing whole sentences across the screen�.

I LOVED the Newton but I am not blind to its flaws. It failed for a good reason.

I want another PDA but the hardware needs to be no bigger then the iPaq and the software should be a cross between Palm OS and Newton 3.0.

[a7777777]

Han's Hands on Leia i totaly agrey it would be nice to have OS X on a PDA but its like saying lets put OS X on a Apple 2 .
If apple was to make a new PDA just look what it has to go up against Handspring and Palm the two top PDA companies.
If apple did make one they would have to go through more than its worth. There doin great with the iMacs,G4s,ibooks.
There 2 stores the one in Ca and the one in Va made over 600,000 dollars on there first day.


If anyone needs help with anything email me at [email protected]

[ 07-05-2001: Message edited by: a7777777 ]

[usedmac]

All right, another Apple PDA thread! I made this mockup back in like september. Tell me what you think. I'm not an Illustrator whiz like some people, but I think you'll get the idea of what I'm shooting for.
Click here -&gt; iPad

[ 07-05-2001: Message edited by: usedmac ]

[Matsu]

iPad. The feminin napkin for mac users. Forget protected memory, we offer real security.

[topdown5]

Okay, so OS X is too complicated to run on a PDA. Palm OS is truly lacking when it comes to the UI.

I think Microsoft really hit the target with PocketPC. It's a stripped-down version of Windows. And with programs such as PocketExcel and PocketWord, the PocketPC works seamlessly with a real PC.

So, how about PocketX? Bright colors, fancy icons, and lots of power. It can come with stripped-down versions of Apple Works, iTunes, Quicktime Player (for small movie files). Hell, Microsoft could created PocketOffice for it. Throw in a version of Quicken, and you've got a great machine.

I'd buy one.

[itomato]

If Apple wanted you to tote OS X around with you, they'd rather see you with an iBook.

A good (IMO) PDA (Newton2) needs to be:

Fast,
Pocket sized,
Equipped with a screen large enough to be usable, but not so large that it ruins the portability of the thing,
Simple enough to allow you easy access to all its functions,
Able to run for hours on a single charge.
Able to use any of the thousands of PCMCIA devices on the market.
Absolutly, without a doubt, able to decipher plain handwriting.
OS X would cancel just about all of those out.

A new Newton OS with a Palm OS compatibility card would do the trick.
AFAIK, the guts of the iPaq and other WinCE, PocketPC or whatever devices are about the same feature and component-wise as what could be used for a new Newton, and keep the size down. The only thing missing is PCMCIA. Not a big deal, really, as long as you can have built-in ethernet/AirPort and CF for storage expansion. They've got an ARM CPU @ 200+ MHZ, color screen (though not quite big enough), CF, sound, etc. Seems like a good basis for a Newt to me! Even if it's just an Apple branded iPaq running Newton OS 3.0...

First off, let me say that I switched from a 2100 to a Palm Vx. Only did it for one reason, that my Newt was too big for me to carry all the time. God, do I miss it!

Apple could have the PDA market by the balls if it did this:

Palm Vx size, no buttons and larger screen
Newton OS
Not color, but excellent resolution and readability.
SD card slot for extra storage
IR
Syncing as good as Palm
SA 200mhz or so processor

Take a 2100, and ditch the PC card slots and make it much smaller. No need for a microphone, or that silly dongle.

Newton is the very best system for a PDA. Nothing comes close, and I'm convinces that nothing will for quite some time. The Palm I have now is so clunky, in comparison.

There's a wealth of Newton developers out there that have switched to Palm and PocketPC. Many of them would be happy to update their old work, and get revenues from that.

Apple could sell such a machine for $400, and sell a lot of them. The OS would just need to be updated for the screen size reduction (perhaps not, if the rez is kept high) and memory slot.

Newton is still years ahead of the competition. The only reason that it's not making millions for Apple (or someone else) is that Steve Jobs hates John Scully. For being such an idealist, Jobs is doing the world a disservice by keeping Newton in the deep freeze.[/LIST]

[Spheric Harlot]

[2ble post]

[ 07-06-2001: Message edited by: Spheric Harlot ]

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by &lt;New Newton&gt;:
<STRONG>Newton is still years ahead of the competition. The only reason that it's not making millions for Apple (or someone else) is that Steve Jobs hates John Scully.</STRONG>

Er...I believe the real reason it's not making millions for Apple is because nobody was buying them.

For whatever reason (probably because few people saw the need to buy an expensive palmtop computer when all they needed was something to replace their filofax).

Note that I'm not putting down the Newton - at all. But claiming it was a matter of Jobs hating Sculley while ignoring the fact that Apple was losing millions of dollars is a tad silly.

-chris.

[Composer]

I think there's another reason the Newton failed. It's too small, It's too big. Too small to carry around like a laptop, and use like one too big to fit in your pocket or purse. If Apple does ressurect the Newton, it'll either be a pocket sized PDA (I doubt), or a tablet based computer (I believe).

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
<STRONG>Note that I'm not putting down the Newton - at all. But claiming it was a matter of Jobs hating Sculley while ignoring the fact that Apple was losing millions of dollars is a tad silly.
</STRONG>

Well, how about we interject some facts.

Newton, Inc. had nearly completed it's spin-off at the time of Jobs pulling it back into Apple. It was generating enough revenue to be self-sufficient, which was the plan all along. Besides making millions of dollars, which would have come a year or two later.

The 2000 was being aggressively marketed towards vertical applications, and was finding quite a bit of success.

In early 1998, the PDA market hadn't yet matured. They were still seen as curiosities, and how you naively discribe them as an electronic rolodex.

When the 2000 was released in 1997, it was years ahead of its competitors in both OS and applications. It was also built on the best hardware available, but not the smallest. A 2100 is still noticeably better in most all regards towards OS and application integration than current PocketPCs and Palms.

Apple simply didn't wait for the marketplace to catch them. The R&D was done on the 2000/2100, and the initial marketing was proving very successful. It was a great machine for many vertical markets.

Steve Jobs is pety in ways that you choose to ignore. His dislike of Sculley is well-rooted in his history with Apple. The Newton was John Sculley's baby, and the PDA was his contribution to computing. Jobs wanted Apple known for only one thing after his return, that being the Mac. Newton was finally starting to pay off, after hundreds of millions lost to the early years.

To suggest that Newton was killed for financial rather than personal reasons if foolish, and displays a lack of knowledge of both the economics and politics/personalities involved.

Perhaps the best proof of the above lies in the fact that Newton is still languishing in Apple's vaults, while there have been numerous attempts on the parts of different organizations to purchase or license the technology from Apple. Apple simply refuses to deal, giving up revenue that would be simply had from technology it has no plans to use.

In the end, Sculley wasn't Jobs' victim. We are, as we're forced to use much less elegant and useful devices as time goes on. Simply because of a confrontation in a board room over a decade and a half ago.

[spinfits]

Originally posted by &lt;new newton&gt;:
<STRONG>

Well, how about we interject some facts.

Newton, Inc. had nearly completed it's spin-off at the time of Jobs pulling it back into Apple. It was generating enough revenue to be self-sufficient, which was the plan all along. Besides making millions of dollars, which would have come a year or two later.

The 2000 was being aggressively marketed towards vertical applications, and was finding quite a bit of success.

In early 1998, the PDA market hadn't yet matured. They were still seen as curiosities, and how you naively discribe them as an electronic rolodex.

When the 2000 was released in 1997, it was years ahead of its competitors in both OS and applications. It was also built on the best hardware available, but not the smallest. A 2100 is still noticeably better in most all regards towards OS and application integration than current PocketPCs and Palms.

Apple simply didn't wait for the marketplace to catch them. The R&D was done on the 2000/2100, and the initial marketing was proving very successful. It was a great machine for many vertical markets.

Steve Jobs is pety in ways that you choose to ignore. His dislike of Sculley is well-rooted in his history with Apple. The Newton was John Sculley's baby, and the PDA was his contribution to computing. Jobs wanted Apple known for only one thing after his return, that being the Mac. Newton was finally starting to pay off, after hundreds of millions lost to the early years.

To suggest that Newton was killed for financial rather than personal reasons if foolish, and displays a lack of knowledge of both the economics and politics/personalities involved.

Perhaps the best proof of the above lies in the fact that Newton is still languishing in Apple's vaults, while there have been numerous attempts on the parts of different organizations to purchase or license the technology from Apple. Apple simply refuses to deal, giving up revenue that would be simply had from technology it has no plans to use.

In the end, Sculley wasn't Jobs' victim. We are, as we're forced to use much less elegant and useful devices as time goes on. Simply because of a confrontation in a board room over a decade and a half ago.</STRONG>

Time out, chief. Your "facts" are a bit skewed. Am I to believe that Jobs disregarded financial concerns (remember Apple in a death spiral) when he decided not to suport TWO operating systems?
Be claiming it to be ego or personal hatred for Sculley is childish. Newton technology was kept because it has real value - recall that Jobs tried to buy Palm, Inc.

[TimmyDee51]

spinfits, don't discount New Newton's statements. In fact, they are quite on the mark. While the Newton was a money hole at first, it was becoming profitable upon Jobs' return. Also, the vertical markets to which he speaks were there, just not as visible in the consumer space. There are many large corporations out there who used Newtons, from pharmaceutical companies all the way up to Disney and the Navy. For these volume buyers, the Newton 2100 was the perfect solution of laptop power at a palmtop size.

Also, with Newton, Inc. spun off, Jobs would not have had to have "supported" two operating systems. As a separate entity, Newton, Inc. would have been the equivalent of FileMaker, a subsidiary which has met with success. Had the Newton been around longer, it could have capitalized on the maturation of the PDA market. In fact, it is rumored (maybe confirmed) that a smaller, Palm-sized Newton was in the works when the company was axed.

Given all of these facts, why is it unreasonable to call Jobs childish in this instance. Why axe a profitable product? Why try to buy Palm Inc. when you have the best PDA OS? The answers point to Jobs' singlemindedness and little else. While this doesn't carry over into other aspects of Apple, it is evident here.

New Newton, don't do it. Go back to your Newton. It's not that heavy. Just try it for a day. I bet your palm becomes a paperweight after that.

[Woggle]

OK, here's a suggestion, any one remember the Zoom Pad from Zenith(think that was the name)? It was a slate computer that mirrored your desktop using a PC card. It was for Windows only, but what it did was the PC card transmitted your desktop to the slate, and a pen with onscreen keyboard allowed you to use the computer from anywhere withing range of the transmitter.

Seeing anything interesting?

Hows about a new Newton(iSlate?), pen based tablet form computer that can use AirPort to do the same thing near your computer, or through an AirPort network, dial out and remotely access your computer? The ultimate laptop, eliminate the keyboar and trackpad, use a microdrive(drives? How big are those suckers?) build in Firewire and Ethernet and there you have it. Perhaps downsize the screen a little, and make an OS X lite(or a visually similar lightweight compatible OS) and you have the ultimate portable, smaller than a laptop, but big enough to do real work.

[Han's Hands on Leia]

Originally posted by &lt;Switched back to Newton&gt;:
<STRONG>New Newton, don't do it. Go back to your Newton. It's not that heavy. Just try it for a day. I bet your palm becomes a paperweight after that.</STRONG>

The Newton 2000 does not fit in your palm or in your pocket. This is a briefcase computer back when it was smaller then the bulky laptops.

[TimmyDee51]

Originally posted by Han's Hands on Leia:
<STRONG>

The Newton 2000 does not fit in your palm or in your pocket. This is a briefcase computer back when it was smaller then the bulky laptops.</STRONG>

I don't know about you, but my 2100 fits in my hand. While it may not fit in my pocket, do I really want to be shoving an expensive piece of equipment into my pocket? No. When I need my Newton, I usually have the need to carry other things, and bingo, into the bag it goes along with the other stuff (it's well protected, of course ).

There's that and I'd rather sacrifice overall size for a usable screen. I couldn't stand a Palm screen -- too damn small.

[Han's Hands on Leia]

Originally posted by TimmyDee51:
<STRONG>

I don't know about you, but my 2100 fits in my hand. While it may not fit in my pocket, do I really want to be shoving an expensive piece of equipment into my pocket? </STRONG>

Yes you can hold it in your had but it is about twice the size of it. I have a huge hand and the Newton still feels big holding it. Do I want to carry around a bag just so I can have whip out the Newton to look up a phone Number or a appointment. No. And the end user seemed to think the same as I do, that is why the sold so poorly and was canned. Great if Apple found a market in the Army and Pharmacies, but that is obviously not enough.

I think that the Newton 2.0 was the best computer OS ever created. It is a shame that the bulky hardware at the time was not up to par with the OS. I think most of the blame should go to the designers though who didn�t quite know what to design the Newton for.
Your personal, pocket assistant. Or your handbag/briefcase assistant.

[ThinkInsane]

Can anyone think of a reason, why after all of these years without a new revision of the Newton, Apple Care suddenly started supporting them last Saturday? Well, I can think of one, but maybe it's just too good to be true....
http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ulti...c&f=7&t=000625

[tacojohnellenich]

see my new post farther down the page, I took this image off to decrease loading times!


[ 07-09-2001: Message edited by: tacojohnellenich ]

[CJFlynn]

Originally posted by spinfits:
<STRONG>

Time out, chief. Your "facts" are a bit skewed. Am I to believe that Jobs disregarded financial concerns (remember Apple in a death spiral) when he decided not to suport TWO operating systems?
Be claiming it to be ego or personal hatred for Sculley is childish. Newton technology was kept because it has real value - recall that Jobs tried to buy Palm, Inc.</STRONG>

There are other facts to consider in this discussion.
Apple was hemorrhaging money and Mr. Jobs solution was to focus all energy into the "dual product to dual market" approach (one desktop and one portable each to the consumer and to the professional markets...which has been pretty successful. In fact, the deviation to that formula, the Cube, was spectacular but did not work out.)

As important, the StrongArm processor was being taken over by Intel, but not without a political problem in the purchase of other assets from DEC just prior to DEC's sale to Compac. There was a lot of back and forth, and one of the forths was a statement from Intel saying that they would not be developing the product anymore. (Much of the design team had left ARM for other design firms.) I can just imagine the reaction when managment realized that they could be held hostage by Microsoft's evil twin...and the twin was already saying that they were going to be cut off.

With all the nonsense of losing money everytime a clone was sold, as well as the dead-end that the operating system was developing itself into, dumping the Newton made sense. It was not primary to bringing Apple back into the future.

I say this being the owner of two units as well.

Just another note, as I own a Palm as well.
The package may fit into a pocket, but the screen is too small. Graffitti is usable in only a retro sense.
A new package has to be progressive like the Newton was (is).

C J

[rambo47]

I like Tacojohnellenich's design. I'd buy one in a heartbeat. For an OS I'd like to see a revised Newton OS with Aqua interface. The thing has to be pocket sized to sell. Longer than the Palm V by an inch, but same with and thickness. No physical buttons, just the dock. Hidable dock, like OS X. Yeah, baby!

[PMG4DP]

I would by an apple PDA in a heart beat. But i don't know how Apple could release a totally new OS to run on it. Programs would be slim, and apple might even limit development just to the mac platform. What apple should to is release a Palm OS based PDA. but change the OS around to their liking
,but still allow us to run Palm software.

[ 07-08-2001: Message edited by: PMG4DP ]

[austeros]

i wouldnt worry about too much software, come on there are tons of mac shareware programmers out there that would love such a gadget to program for, we would just need a good set of conduits for them to write for. get me documents to go and pocket quicken and i will be happy.

[tacojohnellenich]

This thing is small- about the size of a Palm m505, the user can add devices with the USB port- mice, UPC scanner, whatever they would like, even a CD burner and burn a CD with pocket iTunes. The Video out is like the video out in the headphone jack on the ibook, so you can do short presentations with pocket appleworks, and with Newton X os- you can run all of the old newton software! The wireless hotsync works over the airport network, but if someone doesn't have an airport network they can use a USB cable. Also with the compact flash slot the user would be able to add a 1Gb IBM microdrive, for MP3 storage or whatever. It would be priced at around $599- not bad when you look at the features you are getting. More ideas?

[CJFlynn]

Originally posted by spinfits:
<STRONG>

Time out, chief. Your "facts" are a bit skewed. Am I to believe that Jobs disregarded financial concerns (remember Apple in a death spiral) when he decided not to suport TWO operating systems?
Be claiming it to be ego or personal hatred for Sculley is childish. Newton technology was kept because it has real value - recall that Jobs tried to buy Palm, Inc.</STRONG>

There are other facts to consider in this discussion.
Apple was hemorrhaging money and Mr. Jobs solution was to focus all energy into the "dual product to dual market" approach (one desktop and one portable each to the consumer and to the professional markets...which has been pretty successful. In fact, the deviation to that formula, the Cube, was spectacular but did not work out.)

As important, the StrongArm processor was being taken over by Intel, but not without a political problem in the purchase of other assets from DEC just prior to DEC's sale to Compac. There was a lot of back and forth, and one of the forths was a statement from Intel saying that they would not be developing the product anymore. (Much of the design team had left ARM for other design firms.) I can just imagine the reaction when managment realized that they could be held hostage by Microsoft's evil twin...and the twin was already saying that they were going to be cut off.

With all the nonsense of losing money everytime a clone was sold, as well as the dead-end that the operating system was developing itself into, dumping the Newton made sense. It was not primary to bringing Apple back into the future.

I say this being the owner of two units as well.

Just another note, as I own a Palm as well.
The package may fit into a pocket, but the screen is too small. Graffitti is usable in only a retro sense.
A new package has to be progressive like the Newton was (is).

C J

[WL2100]

Try this...

Steve Jobs email

...also, why has everybody forgotten Gil Amelio??? Not only did he bring back $teve Jobs but only Gil was able to 'cut the fat' from Apple's waist. BTW, do you know how much profit Apple made selling their shares in ARM??? Sure made Apple's profit sheet look good while $J rode the pony! Gil also helped to spin-off Newton Inc., why?...it was a business decision until $J pulled it back to kill it. $teve J. doesn't know how to balance a balance sheet if all he needed was to push 'one' button. He pushed out Steve Woz. when Steve W. couldn't think 'big and profit'. Companies are NOT just 'dollars and cents', companies have board members that are human beings with feelings, therefore these people act on their 'feelings' up to the point it's illegal. Remember the Texaco lawsuit??? How the executives were constantly racial against blacks for many years until proof showed their actions. CEO's are the biggest babies in the world. Even now Apple($J) won't discuss the 'millions' lost on the Cube's R&D and advertising cost.

...BTW, I will buy a 'Cube', when it's under US$499.99, take a picture with a screen shot of NCU downloading a .pkg(old version) into my AMP2KU and send it to [email protected]!!!!

[usedmac]

This takes a while to load but since nobody has responded in this thread lately, this'll be at the end and it won't screw up the page. I did this mockup last september.

[Han's Hands on Leia]

The idea of Aqua and OSX running on anything with a smaller screen then the iBook is a ridiculous idea.

[new newton]

Not only that, but there's way too much frame on that and not nearly enough screen.

The idea of X (any sort of stripped-down version, even) running on a 230mhz G3 strikes me as funny. All you'd have is a slow, very hot on the hand hunk of junk. Not to mention one that eats batteries...

Hand-helds need to be responsive, light, small, and be designed firmly with the idea of function over features and form. If it's not usable, it won't be useful.

[pi]

I've been thinking about what would make a new Newton viable, and it comes down to several things.

It would need to be a smart messagepad, start up quick and still outdo Palm and WinCE, but it would also need to be a terminal. you could have it run a GUI terminal to X, it would then take advantage of the other computer for all of the processing.

It would need:
Networking

• Ethernet
  Airport
  IRDA
  Modem

Notetaking

• HWR
  Voice
  Pics (drawn & photo)

'Ntertainment

• Video
  Audio
  Interactive

For the OS X terminal, it could have zoom functions, and regularly use the smallest icons. It would even be okay in B/W, some people would prefer that to the more garish colors of Aqua.

In summary: Newton 3x00 just needs more of what would've gone on if it weren't scrapped.