Newton FAQ
newtonfaq.com
Newton FAQ
1–10 of 34 posts
Re: Newton FAQ
#2Is it really a good FAQ if it doesn't explain _what_ it is as top level info? What is this?
There are no links to the original product (or whatever it is - hardware? Software? OS?) either in the first few minutes of navigation.
Re: Newton FAQ
#3In working on my Book III (basically, the early 90s), I've done a ton of research on handheld devices and the money pit they were. Newton is not going to be any more than a footnote.
Jerry Kaplan's book Startup tells the story about how Sculley stabbed GO in the back with Newton -- actually, both GO and General Magic. They got a lot of press and flopped miserably. And of course, let's not forget Momenta (as easy as that would be, given that they failed so fast).
Meantime, Palm finally figured out something people would buy and use, by scaling back expectations and building a device that did something valuable.
Re: Newton FAQ
#4Is it really a good FAQ if it doesn't explain _what_ it is as top level info? What is this? There are no links to the original product (or whatever it is - hardware? Software? OS?) either in the first few minutes of navigation.
Q: is this a website about Isaac Newton, the city of Newton, MA, or fig cookies?
A: No, none of those things.
Re: Newton FAQ
#5Is it really a good FAQ if it doesn't explain _what_ it is as top level info? What is this? There are no links to the original product (or whatever it is - hardware? Software? OS?) either in the first few minutes of navigation.
Q: is this a website about Isaac Newton, the city of Newton, MA, or fig cookies? A: No, none of those things.
That's why I don't like global variables...
Re: Newton FAQ
#6Is it really a good FAQ if it doesn't explain _what_ it is as top level info? What is this? There are no links to the original product (or whatever it is - hardware? Software? OS?) either in the first few minutes of navigation.
Weirdly it explains what an FAQ is but assumes you know what "Newton" is.
Re: Newton FAQ
#7Is it really a good FAQ if it doesn't explain _what_ it is as top level info? What is this? There are no links to the original product (or whatever it is - hardware? Software? OS?) either in the first few minutes of navigation.
my thought exactly. I spent a few minutes on the FAQ and I don't know what a Newton is. Some kind of Palm Pilot like device I assume?
Re: Newton FAQ
#8In working on my Book III (basically, the early 90s), I've done a ton of research on handheld devices and the money pit they were. Newton is not going to be any more than a footnote. Jerry Kaplan's book Startup tells the story about how Sculley stabbed GO in the back with Newton -- actually, both GO and General Magic. They got a lot of press and flopped miserably. And of course, let's not forget Momenta (as easy as t…
Startup is a really good book. People should be very wary of power of monopolies, MSFT also really messed with GO and General Magic.
The example of Palm vs Newton is great because it shows how clear goals trump excellent technology. Newton had this amazing OS where you could turn it on or off at any moment and preserve state. All data was available to all apps. And with that technology -- and probably some other choices-- and a great processor at the time (relative to Palm) it was useless because it was so slow. A handheld device cannot ever be slow. Palm did very little well and survived up until smart phones.
Re: Newton FAQ
#9Is it really a good FAQ if it doesn't explain _what_ it is as top level info? What is this? There are no links to the original product (or whatever it is - hardware? Software? OS?) either in the first few minutes of navigation.
Has the Apple Newton really fallen so far out of the public consciousness that this wouldn't be obvious? What about the Palm Pilot? Yes, I know the idea of PDAs has basically disappeared since the advent of smartphones (which are really just PDAs that also work as phones), but even so.
Re: Newton FAQ
#10I use my MessagePad 2100 regularly. It's a really wonderful device waaaaaaaaay ahead of its time.
I am considering getting a reMarkable to use as my "daily driver" replacement, and dedicating the Newton to my home office museum.