Newton
Latest
Ultra-rare Apple WALT up for grabs on eBay
TUAW readers who are into collecting Apple devices are going to love this eBay find: a prototype of an unreleased product from 1993. The Apple WALT (Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone) was introduced at Macworld Boston in '93, the same venue where the ill-fated Newton MessagePad first went on sale. WALT, like Newton, also had a touchscreen, a stylus, and handwriting recognition. It was designed to be a companion to a home landline phone, and was designed in cooperation with BellSouth. Built into WALT were services like an address book, fax (remember that technology?), caller ID, custom ringtones, and online banking. To interact with all of these services, users worked with a customized version of System 6 with a HyperCard GUI in place of the Finder. According to the seller's description, "Back in 2008 PC World published a list of the "Top 15 Vaporware Products of All Time". The W.A.LT. was #1." While WALT was ogled by the public at Macworld Boston 1993, the device never went into production. This prototype, complete with a full printed user manual (so much for ease of use), is being sold by eBay user russel400. The WALT is priced at US$8,000 -- note that you'd better be handy with a soldering iron if you want to get it back to working order, as it has a few "loose connections" that have rendered it unusable. Of course, you could also spend that eight grand on sixteen brand new third-generation iPads...
In which Steve once again predicts the future: the Newton and the iPhone
AllThingsD has an interesting story on their site about the Newton and a few specifics on the end of its short life. At the 1997 Worldwide Developer Conference (held the year Steve returned to Apple), Steve was asked about the Newton, and he said, "...if somebody would just make a little thing where you're connected to the Net at all times, and you've got a little keyboard. God, I'd love to buy one." In what will surprise approximately no one, he went on to describe how he hated the stylus, calling it a "little scribble thing." Another tidbit came to light when Sculley mentioned how the Newton's technology had carried forward to today. He said, "ARM not only was the key technology behind the Newton, but it eventually became the key technology behind every mobile device in the world today, including the iPhone and the iPad." There is more to be had from Sculley's perspective in an interview he gave the BBC, but the thing I found most interesting was how he kept saying Steve was ahead of his time. How the Newton was 15 years too early, and how the horsepower to keep up with laser printers was a year-and-a-half ahead of when Steve initially released the desktop publishing applications. For a bit of fun, check out how the Newton MessagePad 120 compares to an iPhone or iPad. To find out for yourself what Steve said, you can watch the video below.
Newton releases, development in 2011
The Newton is almost 20 years old now and still has a developer community actively creating new resources for the personal digital assistant. It's a labor of love that's chronicled at the My Apple Newton blog run by Tony Kan, aka Genghis7777. Just like everyone else this time of the year, Kan recently took a look back at 2011 and summarized all the new software, hardware and other resources released for Apple's first tablet device. The list isn't as long as the accomplishments of the iPhone dev team, but it's still impressive for a device released the same year Intel shipped the first Pentium processors. In the past year, the community has worked on a proof of concept version of the Newton OS emulator, Einstein, for iOS and Android, and an iPhone app that lets Newton owners install packages from an iPhone. They've also preserved some Newton apps and archived the Stillnewt website. You can read the rest of the list at the My Apple Newton blog. Even if you're not a Newton owner, it's worth a visit to support this group of fellow Apple fans. [Via 512 Pixels]
Sir Isaac Newton's notes get a digital makeover, coming to a browser near you
It isn't a rarity for the folks at the University of Cambridge to introduce us to some of their digital findings, and on this occasion they are delivering 4,000 of Newton's manuscripts right to your virtual door. These gems are part of an abundant collection of over 12,000 handwritten notes and hardcovers that the University holds under possession -- the plan is to make the entire selection digitally available "over the next few months." Amongst the scanned documents, you'll be able to find a plethora of his genius scribbles stamped on books that were used during his theory process, some of which are: Trinity College Notebook, Waste Book and the famed Principia Mathematica. Who said an OS would be Newton's only way through a mainframe?
Tweeting from a Newton
Getting old technology to do new things in a creative way is fun. Take, for example, Tony Kan of the My Apple Newton blog who details how he uses twittermail, to send tweets via email and Twitter's now defunct RSS feed to receive his incoming feed. Though Twitter no longer supports RSS, the link for your account is still live and kicking. Best of all, both services are available for free. Using a combination of services is one way to tweet from your MessagePad, but there are other ways, too. Some folks use Newtscape, a text-only web browser for the MessagePad, to browse Twitter's mobile website. Others like Ron Parker use email on the Apple Newton to both send and receive tweets. It's rudimentary, but works well on the iconic Apple device. Anyone else out there tweeting from legacy Apple hardware? If so, how do you do it? [Via Forkbombr]
Toy Story director is a Mac addict
Lee Unkrich is one of the creative minds behind the Toy Story series, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo. Those are, of course, just a few of his accomplishments. He's obviously a fairly important part of the Pixar creative empire, and his movies have inspired millions of people. He's also a self-proclaimed Mac addict. In an interview with Cult of Mac, Unkrich fessed up to his undying love of Apple products. His first was the Apple II Plus, which is about as much Apple street cred as you can hope to get. Unkrich says he's owned nearly every Apple product since that first machine, even the much-maligned Newton. He's remained a devoted follower through the good times and the bad and is looking forward to even more Apple advances in the future. To me, the most interesting bit came pretty early in the interview with Unkrich. When asked what he loved so much about Macs, Unkrich replied that it was Apple's "unrelenting quest to make beautiful, functional devices. [Macs] practically drip with the care and attention that went into their creation." Isn't that really the thing that inspires us Mac users? That solid, remarkable design and careful consideration of every aspect of the Mac experience. It's good to see the appreciation for Mac poetry shared by such a creative director. Edit: Edit to make Unkrich's role a little more clear -- MG
John Sculley gives an epic interview, says he was the wrong choice for Apple CEO
Comfy? Good. John Sculley has given one beast of an interview to Cult of Mac, and it's all about Steve Jobs. It's a follow-up of a sort to the candid words Sculley gave The Daily Beast in June, where he talked about how he wished things had worked out differently between him and Steve. In this new interview Sculley takes it all a step (and several thousand words) further, talking about the genius of Steve Jobs with obvious admiration. In fact, Sculley says that after Steve was ousted he basically attempted to run the company within the template for design and innovation that Steve had set down, and that Steve merely returned the company to his own original model when he came back in 1997. Outside of the very interesting examination of Steve's methods and talent, Sculley offers a multitude of tidbits. One particularly interesting story is of the Newton, which Sculley says actually saved the company from going bankrupt. Apple owned a 47 percent stake in the fledgling company that build the ARM processor for the first Newton, and when finances got tough Apple got $800 million out of selling its stake -- which easily offset the $100 million Apple "burned" on building the Newton. Of course that stake would be worth billions today, but let's not dwell on the past. We won't spoil any more of the interview for you, just hit up the source link and enjoy!
Einstein brings Newton OS to the iPhone, handwriting recognition and all
Palm OS on the iPhone? Check. Android on the iPhone? Quasi-check. Newton OS on the iPhone? As of today, that's a trio of affirmations. Developer Matthias Melcher has wisely used a good bit of his free time to port one of the world's forgotten-but-not-forgotten operating systems onto Apple's iOS platform, and while things are understandably sluggish right now, he's currently working on performance optimizations that'll hopefully have it running like a clock before long. He's also made the source code available to anyone willing to tinker with the emulator, and somehow or another, he's even managed to bring over the much-hyped handwriting recognition aspect. Don't believe us? Hop on past the break and hit play.
Einstein Newton emulator running on iPhone
This makes my green heart happy. Above is a video of the Einstein Newton emulator running on an iPhone 4. Newton OS lives! ... Well, sort of. You'll notice that it's kind of slow for now, though the project's developers say speed will improve. Still, it's a full Newton, with hand writing recognition and everything. They also intend to get it working on the iPod touch and iPad. If you want to get your hands on things right now, the source code is available here. Developer Matthias Melcher says he's going to submit the emulator to the App Store, but he's not holding his breath. Congratulations to Matthias for the successful port, Paul Guyot for writing the emulator in the first place (and keeping it open source), and everyone who contributed to the project. I hope to have this on my own iPhone 4 soon.
Apple Newton to be reborn as iPhone case
Isn't it nice when siblings get along? Here's an idea for using a dead, hollowed-out Newton Message Pad as an Phone case. Case hacker Charles Mangin has had success with other projects, like the Mac Plus G4, the Mac mini stuffed into an Apple Disk II floppy drive and the iNewt. So far he's only completed a "sketch" of the project, but given his past work, we're sure he can pull it off. This mod will obviously add a lot of bulk to the iPhone (and destroy a Newt), but who cares? The whole point is the fun and marriage of the old and the new. Plus, there's something oddly "right" about that image, no? Though it is funny to think Apple once released a stylus-based handheld, given Jobs' current feeling about that mechanic. We wish Charles good luck and hope he'll ping us when the project is complete. [Via RickMacMerc]
Entelligence: Five gadgets that could have and should have done better
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. For every VHS, it seems there's also a Betamax -- a gadgets or standard that just didn't live up to the expectations of the mass market at the time. Despite being loved by niche audiences, these folks just didn't have what it took to make it to the big time. Here I celebrate some of my favorite gadgets and technologies that just couldn't catch on with the populace at large.
'What is iPad?' spot deviates little from the days of Newton (video)
It's far from unusual to see Apple ripping off others when it comes to spots, and the same is true in reverse. But copying itself? Head on past the break to catch the similarities between Cupertino's freshest iPad commercial and an eerily familiar Newton ad from yesteryear -- something tells us the former will make a somewhat more indelible mark on the world than the latter, though. [Thanks, Jordan]
Macworld 2010: Telltale Games live in our booth
We're cleaning out the video files from the chaos of Macworld last week, and while we've already shared with you an interview that we did with Dan Connors of Telltale Games (who just recently announced that they're bringing their whole catalog over to the Mac), his co-founder Kevin Bruner also stopped by our booth live on the show floor to chat about gaming on the Mac and why Telltale has made the leap to our side. You can watch the interview in two parts after the link below. In addition to telling us about his company and their big Mac Revolution, Bruner also shared with us his own passion for Apple's machines, including how he went into hock to buy a Newton on day one, and what he thinks of the iPad as a gaming device. Click on to see our chat, won't you?
Live from the Apple 'latest creation' event
Will the Apple tablet finally, really be unveiled? We're at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco (see above) patiently waiting to get inside and get this thing underway! Keep reading after the break for the minute by minute coverage!
Doonesbury covers the tablet release
Cartoonist Garry Trudeau is of course no stranger to the constant expectations and travails of being an Apple fan -- he famously skewered the Newton years and years ago in his comic strip Doonesbury. And with the Appleverse on high alert for what could finally be the "second coming" of a revolutionary handheld Apple computer, he's at it again. Today's strip lampoons Apple fans who are hoping for a religious experience tomorrow, and Trudeau will likely be posting Apple-related work all week long. The satire is biting as always -- while I'm as big an Apple fan as the next guy, it's very true that many people are expecting a life-changing revelation, and in reality, all we'll get at most is a brand new piece of technology. A piece of technology that might change the way we do a lot of different things, sure, but if you're hoping for "miracles" over and above, you know, a new way to read newspapers or watch TV, I wouldn't hold your breath.
Pen input faces off against hardware and software QWERTY keyboards: there can be only one (maybe)
It's completely anecdotal and lacking in what some might call "scientific rigor," but we're digging the, ahem, relevance of Phil Gyford's little text input faceoff he performed for his blog recently. The piece pits an Apple Newton, Palm Vx, Treo 650, and Apple iPhone up against each other, with regular pen and paper and a laptop's full QWERTY keyboard thrown in for reference. The results may or may not surprise you, but (spoiler alert) after the MacBook Pro took top honors in blazing through a 221 word passage twice, the iPhone beat out the rest of the competition, with the three pen-related inputs (pen and paper, Newton MessagePad and Palm Graffiti) all taking up dead last. The iPhone, Treo and pen and paper all were relatively close in speed, and naturally your mileage may vary. That said, where do you think you fall? Drop in your results in comments (the full text he used can be found at the source link) or hit up the poll below with your best guestimate. We're dying to know! %Poll-40521%
Flickr (err, Etsy) Find: Iron Mac
Ok, so usually our Flickr Find feature is about photographic stuff, but this was so cool I had to share it anyway. Gizmodo (via SlashFilm) found this awesome MacBook sticker over on Etsy, and I think, though the Newton one is still cool, that we have a new winner for coolest MacBook sticker ever. Unfortunately, it's sold out, but I just love the way the logo is used in a pretty awesomely defiant B&W portrait of Iron Man. In other sticker news, Cult of Mac says the Steve Jobs sticker they found is probably the best one ever, but the funny Carmen Miranda mod on that page is excellent, too. I wouldn't normally just put stickers on my laptop -- it's too good looking already to muddy up with other graphics. But this Iron Mac sticker would be the sure-fire exception.
The Apple tablet that wasn't
TechCrunch has posted pictures of what they're calling an "unlaunched Apple tablet." In 1990, as the story goes, Apple was supposedly working on a pen-based touchscreen tablet called the Pen Mac that was actually extremely small for the time -- just about an inch thick, with a screen the same size as a Mac Portable. They were bringing a few different companies in on the deal, and apparently it worked well -- ran a full Mac OS, used a pen to control or let you plug in a mouse and keyboard, and there was even a smaller version called the PenLite (bulky by today's standards, but remember that this is 20 years ago now). So why weren't we all using tablet computers 20 years ago? TechCrunch blames John Sculley, who apparently thought the tablet idea was out, and the PDA idea was in, and we ended up with the Newton instead. I won't second guess him -- while it's easy to think that anything could have beaten the Newton, would the current Apple touchscreen tablet craze even be here if it weren't for the iPhone? And isn't Apple's smartphone just a hop, skip and a jump from their original PDA?
Apple hires former Newton guru as new VP of Product Marketing
The New York Times Bits Blog is reporting that Michael Tchao, a member of the team that brought the Apple Newton MessagePad to market, is going back to work for Apple after a 15-year absence. In Tchao's new job as Vice President of Product Marketing, he'll be reporting to Apple Senior V.P. of Product Marketing Phil Schiller. For the past 7 years, Tchao has been General Manager of Nike's Techlab, which has been responsible for the Nike + iPod line as well as the online integration that makes nikeplus.com so powerful. If you wanted to start doing a bit of speculating, it's interesting to note that Tchao was part of the team that was responsible for Apple's first tablet computer. Of course, the Newton platform wasn't exactly a huge success during its 5 years of life, owing primarily to its high price and (at least in the first versions) less-than-stellar handwriting recognition. Tchao wasn't in a marketing position at the time as the General Manager of Product Planning and Strategy for Apple's Personal Interactive Electronics group, and most of the marketing fumbles of the Newton era can be laid at the feet of the Apple execs in charge at the time. Tchao certainly has the street cred as a tablet computing expert, with 5 patents to his name during his time with the Newton team. Although we don't know for sure at this time if Tchao has been tapped to resurrect tablet computing at Apple, his background both at Apple and Nike Techlab shows that he not only has the technical background to shepherd a new product to market, but the marketing savvy as well. Welcome back, Mr. Tchao! [via Mashable]
Newton Peripherals' MoGo Mouse uglies up your netbook, hates your trackpad
It's one thing to sacrifice style for battery life via an extended cell, but it's another thing entirely to do this to your poor, innocent netbook. Newton Peripherals is causing all sorts of mixed emotions with its $99 MoGo Mouse, a stick-on mouse that measures in at five millimeters thick (including the holster). Granted, most netbook trackpads aren't worth the curiously textured material they're constructed from, but this just seems like an awfully short-sighted solution. After all, do you honestly think the average eBayer will be into buying a netbook with a mouse-infused lid? Doubtful.
