[josiahpugh]

Does anyone know where you can download the alert sounds from the old Newton OS? I think they'd make great system alerts for Mac OS X. Especially "trill".

[Skip Breakfast]

I have those sounds somewhere. I'll look when I get home.

[David Esrati]

I had a Newton- couldn't carry it around-
forget all the bs with the handwriting recognition-
it didn't integrate that well with the mac- because there weren't the integrated programs like iCal, Address book etc.
Apple was an investor in ARM- which made the brains for the Psion handhelds- they were amazing- beat the hell out of my currnet Palm Tungsten- real word compatibilty, a real database- and an amazing calendar function with alarms that made sense.
It had a Mac like interface with pull down menus-
lasted 2 weeks on a charge- and was the size of a fat checkbook.
Never had good mac synch- integration - backup.
PSION ditched the handheld market about 2 years ago.
Apple could buy the PSION Revo- do a little rewrite- and have a killer PDA. It would sell like hotcakes- people with Palm's used to drool over my real keyboard- and the nice wide screen-
give it palm connectivity- and you would have a huge hit.
I always wonder if anyone from Apple ever reads these boards-
but, the lack of a real Mac palmtop has always been sucky....

my 2cents...

[83caddy16v]

After using a Tablet PC and hand writing recognition for some of our applications combined with our new Honda Odyessy's voice command navigation system, I'd like to see a small form factor, full OSX tablet with voice recognition/interaction with GPS functionality.

Two options: an LCD the size of an iPod or a 12" Powerbook LCD tablet
- built in iChat/cellphone - Nextel and Cingular/ATTW compatible
- video conference compatible
- hands free device for use in car or carried in a backpack.
- GPS and navigation software - built in database of restaurants, etc
- voice recognition
- handwriting recog. if the LCD size can accomodate
- keyboard/docking station for working at the office/home.
- 3-4 hr battery life
- slot loading DVD for travel (might kill slim form factor)
- iTunes compatible (mimic iPod functionality)
- 2-3 lbs

If an LCD could roll-out, flip or fold out from within a iPod sized device that could be interesting, slide the screen back in when done and then back into your pocket. Maybe that is more along the lines of an organic LCD screen.

Ok, rewind back to 2005. Lets continue the stock price climbing above $60/share with continued product improvements.

[macdaemon]

iphone.org own by Apple Computer

[Loren]

[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.]

Which old Newton? The early MessagePads were perfectly pocketable. The 2100 was not, it was a brick. But even that had magic.

[ 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.]

They could call it "Brookline" (neighbors Newton in Massachusetts.) I pleaded with Apple for a PDA that could run QuickTime and HyperCard in color. (Hey, it was years ago, lay off! It;'s still a good idea.) Adding Palm compatibility would only be a plus, with thousands of software titles out there. Why reinvent the wheel you already invented? Half of Palm's engineers migrated there from Apple anyway.

And did anybody mention here that Steve tried to buy Palm at one point? That would have been very nice. Today the Treo 650 would have an Apple logo on it. And I'd get Verizon Wireless service because they're supporting QuickTime. A lot of my dreams for a handheld have arrived, although the screen is still too uselessly shy for document work. Love the Tungsten T3 solution. We need more Star Trek stuff like that.

Standalone PDA's are defintely becoming a niche market. Five years ago I bought everyone in the family a handspring Visor. Today, noone will look at a swamp thing green screen. Today, your PDA should have that nice half VGA screen previously mentioned, and it must be a smartphone. It must have Bluetooth connectivity so phreaks can go snarfing and rip off your address book in passing.

Just gotta have these things tied into the product. And it must meet Jeff Hawkins' (and Sculley's) Pocket Test. Apple's certainly up to it if Steve recognizes something compelling in the market. Some if us here already do!

- Loren
Today's FCP HD 4.5 keytip:
Depending on selection, Command-Option-L for video opacity or audio gain!

The FCP HD KeyGuide�: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

[indigoimac]

Forget the Newton, what I want is a 9 or 10 inch PowerBook. I'll even settle for a G3.

[VadersCape]

I wish Apple would do something like the OQO:

http://www.oqo.com/

only better ... as if it wouldn't be!!!

[Jeffois]

I looked at the Treo, but I just got a Samsung i500...it's a Palm-based, flip phone, with the traditional stylus/graffiti area. I LOVE it. I can see how that's the wave of the future, and I agree that the stand-alone PDA is going to shrink as a market. It syncs via iSync no prob at all, and functions perfectly as a Palm device. I love my iPod, but as another poster indicated, I often need/want to make changes to my contacts and my calendar while away from the computer, so the iPod isn't enough for me for that sort of thing.

[worldtechguy]

Qonos

Is this what some of you are talking about? The Qonos looks like what the doctor ordered. Combine it with a phone/pager/iPod and it's "heaven in the hand".

Now, how much would you pay?

[vpolmac]

As a former Newton 120 owner and curent Clie NX 80 owner, www.oqo.com is the answer to the Newton desire except it runs XP instead of OS X. Get Apple to change that and we're looking at APPL $123 and a stock split. One of the founders of oqo is a former Apple employee from the PowerBook unit. The form of the hardware along with the feature set are top notch.

Despite all of this speculation and lust, I'm inclined to think that Apple will not persue this market. It's most likely that the latest instance of patening of handheld technology was in fact an effort to protect intellectual property rights, as previously stated.

[madmaxmedia]

I've had a few PDA's in my time- Palm 3x, HP Jornada 568, a couple of Sony CLIE's, a Tungsten C, even a clamshell NEC MobilePro.

My new PDA is my 12" Apple iBook. For those who truly need a pocketable computer it won't do, but the iBook is small, light, and sleeps well (close enough to instant-on.) I had to sell the Tungsten to come up with the iBook funds, and I chose the iBook.

My cell phone can store all my PIM information, which was honestly about 75% of my necessary PDA usage.

I don't think Apple will bother entering a declining market like PDA's. Unless they can really, really bring something new to the table. Something that will be qualitatively different or better than a smart phone or a small notebook computer.

Most people don't really NEED a PDA, when they can store info on a cell phone, and a notebook computer provides a much better computing experience (keyboard and screen.) It's great to have a Dell x50, but it still pales to a small notebook computer in terms of the display.

[webb3201]

Each time I look at the new iPaq 4700, I think of the Newton. It has the look of a Newton with current technology. Man would I love a modern version of Newton OS, still my favorite of all of the top PDA operating systems.

Kevin

[torifile]

Originally posted by webb3201:
Each time I look at the new iPaq 4700, I think of the Newton. It has the look of a Newton with current technology. Man would I love a modern version of Newton OS, still my favorite of all of the top PDA operating systems.

Kevin

I agree on all counts.

[Group51]

You won't believe this, but I had a dream about this last night, it involved Steve Jobs talking to an engineer who wanted to make a tablet PC. It went something like this:

Steve J - What should a Tablet PC look like? It should look like those tablets in Star Trek, 1cm thin, just a touch screen and no buttons. But there's a problem, how do you enter data into it? Well you've gotta have a keyboard right? Well, that's what all the tablet PCs have, and guess what, they end up being laptops - that's just dumb.

Engineer - but you can use a stylus and handwriting recognition, cant you?

Steve J - it doesn't work for me, it doesn't work for everyone - that's why they have keyboards, anyway there's another reason, its got to have a G5 in it, and the thinnest we got a G5 Mac to is 2 inches - its too thick.

Engineer - but why does it need a G5? I don't understand?

Steve J - if its going to be a full PC, its got to be as fast as the iMac.

Engineer - A full PC? Can't we put a cut down version of Mac OS X on it?

Steve J - No no no no no! There's no such thing as a cut-down OS, look at Windows CE, looks like Windows, smells like Windows but it can't run Windows apps. That's just crap. Do you know how much money Apple spent developing the Newton OS? And for what? Compare that for what we spent putting Aqua on the iPod - we can't afford to do two OSes at the same time.

Engineer - But but, wait, OK. Just a screen then, like a terminal client from your Mac.

Steve J - No one will buy it, unless you can enter stuff into it, and the best way is a keyboard. Until there's something better than a keyboard, there's no market for this. See, this is why the iPod doesn't have a touch screen, its good so far with viewing your information, I won't ruin it with crappy input. And what is the point of big PDAs? What question is it meant to answer?

Engineer - Well, the point of the Newton was that you couldn't take your Mac with you, and you didn't always want to take a big expensive PowerBook with you, what if you dropped and broke it.

Steve J - We answered this question already. Its called iBook.

[Group51]

Originally posted by starman:
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

Same here. I used a Palm V. Then I got a Nokia 6600. Now the 6600 is my PDA. It sounds bizarre, even to me, but its true.

(former OMP, 120, 2000 Newton user).

[TimmyDee51]

Originally posted by webb3201:
Each time I look at the new iPaq 4700, I think of the Newton. It has the look of a Newton with current technology. Man would I love a modern version of Newton OS, still my favorite of all of the top PDA operating systems.

Kevin

God has spoken and his answer to your prayers is "Paul Guyot".

[goose]

Now if Apple could put something together like this...

http://www.dynamism.com/sl-c3000/

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by goose:
Now if Apple could put something together like this...

http://www.dynamism.com/sl-c3000/

Why, they aren't selling well and for almost the same price you can have a full featured laptop.

[goose]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
Why, they aren't selling well and for almost the same price you can have a full featured laptop.

It seems to be selling well in Japan. When I was last there, almost every store was selling these things (even the 711-like store around the corner). Would think that these places would only pick them up if they were a good seller.

As for the price. Yeah, t is pretty high for a PDA. However, the prices probaby has factored in the Yen conversion rate, the cost of importing it in, and the wow factor. I've seen people pay way more than street price in their local markets for items that are not yet availale in the US (cell phones, the Skyline GT-R, and more).

[Saad]

Originally posted by Vader�s Pinch of Death:
My guess it is just some bull to raise hype. iWalk anyone?

The iWalk has been rumored ever since the iMac:
http://mlagazine.com/modules.php?op=...article&sid=81