My first experience with Newton was in 1997. I had just started traveling full time for work and was given a Palm Pilot, but felt it was sorely lacking. I was able to get a discount on an MP2K kit (with case and keyboard) from a vendor and it (along with a couple dozen AA batteries) became my new best friend. From impressing people taking notes (with drawings) during meetings, being able to send email and messages (Yea! Mobitext and Ardis) during meetings, to doing budgets/documents/databases to playing solitaire, it did (almost) everything I could think of – except Lotus Notes at the time. I was always amazed at how it could decipher my abysmal handwriting into anything coherent. I even traveled without my Franklin organizer after a few months, it felt like sacrilege at first, but I found I could always print an agenda if I needed and it was so much more versatile.

My oddest moment was waiting for a flight at BWI and hooking my Newton’s PCMCIA card modem into the pay phone at the airport and syncing it. I had people hovering around me wondering what it was and what I was doing. Someone finally asked if it was a TTY and I got to give an impromptu demo, they seemed impressed.

Since compatibility is a problem with modern standards, like SSL & WPA, and not needing to complicate my life anymore than it already is, my Newts were retired in the mid-late2000’s, shortly after my old SE/30 gave up and I could not get syncing to work with my new intel MacBook. I’m waiting for the day when my three year-old daughter is older and I can show her what Dad used.

Meanwhile, my iPad is ok, but it’s nowhere near a substitute and I do not feel as productive – even with the millions of ‘apps’ available.

Cheers to Sculley though.