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NewtonS' Lutions
Answers and practical Advice on Apple's Newton
Vol. 1 # 1 August 1, 1993
1
Ode To Techno-Lust
By ThomasA28
With all of this is in mind, I propose the following "poem."
I am an American
I am a child.
I want it.
I need it.
I deserve it.
Buy it for me.
Now!
By the way, I hope to be first in line next week. See you there.
2
A Quote from John Sculley
We are on the threshold of one of those very exciting moments in
history. Just as the personal computer shaped our world in ways
that we couldn't have imagined 16 years ago, the PDA has the
potential to shape in ways that we can't yet imagine.
I believe that PDAs, not as isolated devices, but incorporated
into pervasive, intelligent networks -- will eventually be not
only nation-wide but even global. They are going to have a huge
impact upon health-care delivery, in both the quality and the
cost; a huge impact on education reform; a huge impact on
re-engineering the work place. I think potentially that the
high-speed networks will eventually be enabled by devices like
PDAs for the average person.
Those networks can have as much impact on population distribution
as the interstate highways did back in the late 1950s, as they
moved people from the cities to the suburbs. I think you're going
to see people now be able to move from the suburbs to anywhere
they want to live and be and work. The PDA can be one of the most
important enabling devices because it fits into both ends of
those networks. And you can take them wherever you are. More and
more of these devices will be wireless-based devices. They will
get smaller and smaller as all electronics products do, and
they'll obviously get less and less expensive as time goes on.
And they'll be able to do more and more things as people apply
their inventiveness to create this industry.
Welcome to Newtons' Lutions
Welcome to the premier issue of Newtons' Lutions. This news-
letter is dedicated to providing answers and solutions to
using Newton in practical every day situations. This premier
issue primarily answers questions about Newton and gives
details about this amazing new machine.
Newtons' Lutions was designed using Syntax by Dialectic Systems.
We certainly appreciated their participation in making this
exciting new presentation media available. This excellent
product is distributed as shareware. For more information on
Syntax, Choose File - Open - SynHelp.Syn.
Newton and the light bulb logo are trademarks of Apple Compu-
ters. We are in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Apple
Computers. All information contained in this newsletter is
believed to be correct and accurate, but we accept no respon-
sibility for it.
Some of the information contained in this newsletter comes from
messages posted on America On Line 's Hardware - Palmtop forum
and is copyrighted material of AOL. Used by permssion.
We appreciate your input. Email JohnR238@AOL.COM with your
questions and comments.
ComputerLand of Augusta
3
1824 A-2 Wylds Rd.
Augusta, GA 30909
(706) 738-7980
(706) 738-7991
Contact - John Rigdon
Senior Account Manager
For an update on Newton from Apple, call 1-800-7NEWTON.
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ode To Techno-Lust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A Quote from John Sculley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Excerpts From John Sculley's Talks
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Newton Press Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Product Specifications for Newton . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
First Newton Titles From PIE's Starcore Publishing Group . 18
A Comparison With The Sharp OZ-9600 . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How Did the Idea for PDA's First Originate? . . . . . . . . 22
How is the Newton different? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
When will Newton impact the consumer market? . . . . . . . 24
What are some of the variations of PDAs we can expect to
see? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
What price point is critical for PDA's? . . . . . . . . . . 25
Won't Sharp be Competing with Apple? . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Why do People Need PDA's? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Does Newton Always Recognize Handwriting?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
What Applications come with Newton?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
How do you Store Information in Newton?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
What features make Newton's hardware architecture unique?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
What does Newton sell for?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
What comes in the box for the $700 range?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5
What About Add-On Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
What are the Standard Configurations? . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Dave's Wish List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
A Hands'On Review of the Newton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6
Excerpts From John Sculley's Talks
What the Heck is a PDA
Newton is a very good example of what we mean by transitioning
Apple into a systems and solutions company that personalizes
products for professionals. And Newton will be a family of
products, just as the project with Toshiba is a family of
products.
Newton products will incorporate interactive intelligence. So
those of you who have read about Newton, or have seen it, know
that it has a new concept for user interface design which is all
about intelligent assistance. It has a very rich
telecommunications architecture, because we believe that
information in visual form, is important in all communications,
especially telecommunications. Newton will initially use pen and
gesture, but the big deal is not the pen input, even though it's
pretty useful for taking notes. In the future we expect to add
other input technologies, including speech.
Personal Interactive Electronics is about personalizing
electronics for professionals in the context of systems and
solutions. This is true whether we're looking at the Newton
family of products or the new product family that we're
developing with Toshiba. We really think that there's a chance
to build entirely new kinds of solutions that are different from
what people are familiar with today. And it goes beyond
introducing devices in consumer channels. We want to jump start
what we call PDAs, or Personal Digital Assistants, and a good way
to do that is to go out and sell to the people who already know
us. In that case, we have an installed base of 7 million
Macintosh users, and these people tend to be interested in
technology. They believe technology will take stress out of
their lives, they love innovation, and they love neat stuff. A
good example is the PowerBook. We went from standing still, when
we introduced the PowerBook back in November, to an expected $1
billion in worldwide sales during the product's first year.
We've gone from not even being in the notebook business to a
number one spot in many of the major markets around the world for
notebook computers. We like to build neat products, and the kind
of people who know us like neat products. So we think we can
jump start PDAs by going to these constituent markets and
bringing them new products like Newton, or the multimedia player
products we're developing with Toshiba. We also want to build
systems and solution franchises. And the example might be
paperless publishing. Earlier this morning, I referred to the
three-part plan that Apple laid out a year ago when we entered
into our agreements with IBM. And I said we had a strategy that
focused on gaining market share, developing our business in large
enterprises, and innovating technologies for the future. These
are really additive with each other. We're asking, "How do we
put these together to create customizable systems and solutions
7
that, particularly, will focus on professional markets?" We
will sell media servers in 1993. We can connect Macintoshes to
those servers or to other personal computers. We can also
connect a PowerBook with a modem as we can today, but we'll also
have PDAs such as Newton that will use wireless technology to
access that same information. Or we'll have PDAs such as the
media players that can use CD-ROM technology, or electronic books
that are PDAs that can use PCMCIA flash memory storage. So
there'll be many different ways in which we can take our PDA
devices and connect them into servers and into Macintosh systems.
Let me give you a couple of examples. First, this example
looks at a mobile assistance system, and in this case the
solution is sales automation. A sales representative out in the
field working with a customer will be able to take an order entry
and then send it back to a server or a database using wireless
communication. Information can then be verified back to the PDA,
or it can go on through a LAN out to a Macintosh; and then it can
go from a Macintosh to a PDA over a wireless system for
verification. A lot of the technology we've created is designed
to be highly customizable so that we can personalize systems and
solutions. We think that there's an opportunity to build
sustainable franchises, much like we were able to do with desktop
publishing.
Another example is in the area of color imaging systems. I think
color imaging is one of the next frontiers. There will be a
tremendous amount of innovation going on with color imaging.
Here's an example of a paperless publishing solution built around
the color imaging system. In this case, you would have an image
capture; you'd be able to bring the image back through a network
to a media server and a database, then be able to move images.
We're doing a lot of work with very sophisticated high-resolution
images that can move over long distances using
telecommunications, or it can go into small local area networks,
over Ethernet, let's say, to a Macintosh. Then again, those
images can be moved back over electronic transmission to a
display. The display might well be the kind of product that
Toshiba and Apple are developing together. Those are a few
examples of how we can start to look at Personal Digital
Assistants in the context of solutions, and what we're really
trying to do is to focus on personalizing visual information.
The two key themes that you'll see reoccurring at Apple in the
1990s are mobile assistants and color imaging. What we hope to
contribute is great user interface technology and the ability to
integrate systems. Because we are a software-driven systems
company, we will look at ways in which we can use our software
know-how to make the integration of these systems particularly
effective from the user standpoint. We are heavily involved in
pervasive communications. Almost everything we do at Apple in
research and development is in some way tied to communications,
networking, or telecommunications. And we're very interested in
moving into an era where solutions can be customized. More and
8
more the differentiation between vendors will be at the solutions
level. Therefore the ability to customize solutions and
personalize them is one of the big opportunities in the 1990s.
So as we look out to this mega-industry, we see many transition
points occurring. The first ones are already happening. The
world is rapidly accepting that there will be an entirely
different set of opportunities in a digitized world, one where
telecommunication becomes extremely important. It's happening in
cable, in satellite, over copper wire, over fiber optics, in
wireless, and it's happening around the world. We believe that
the opportunity to create entirely new kinds of solutions and
systems won't be designed by any one, single industry by
telecommunications, computing, consumer electronics, or media and
publishing alone. All of these industries will have to find ways
to work together. One of those examples is clearly what we're
trying to do with Kaleida. Other examples include the alliances
that we're forming with Toshiba and with IBM. So as you look at
Apple in the 1990s, think of us not just as a PC hardware
company. Think of us as a company that drives innovation into
systems and solutions.
Five years ago, I wrote a book about a product vision that I
thought could change the world. Earlier, I had learned that it
takes about 15 years for technology to incubate: from the time of
the invention until it has a chance of becoming a commercial
success. So I began visiting and observing many technologies that
were incubating in research laboratories around the world in
hopes of identifying what kinds of truly revolutionary products
we might see out in the 21st century. I called this product
vision the Knowledge Navigator. I remembered a conversation many
years ago that Steve Jobs, Dr. Land the inventor of the Polaroid
camera, and I had about new products. Dr. Land said that, "We
really don't invent new products, but the best ones are there
already, only invisible, just waiting to be discovered". If we
had conducted market research 10 years ago and asked what would
the ideal personal computer be like, most people probably would
not have been able to describe a Macintosh. There was little in
the past that would have given them any context to think about
it. But when we showed people the first Macintosh they
immediately understood it and wanted one. Later, I asked George
Lucas, creator of Star Wars, if it would be possible to simulate
the experience of a product even before it technically existed by
using special effects. This way people could see the product
concept and judge it long before we could actually build it.
There has been some criticism in the past of a video that Apple
created about a futuristic product called the Knowledge
Navigator. It was a small portable computer that acted as a
personal assistant, going so far as to show a human face on its
screen which responded to spoken commands. That video spurred
criticism that Apple was hyping a product that wasn't yet
invented. Again, some people are skeptical that Apple is up to
9
that same hype with its PDAs. Can you respond to that skepticism?
Mr. Sculley: That video, called the Knowledge Navigator,
which was put together based on a concept I wrote about back in
1987, has probably done more to set the technical direction of
Apple for the last five years than any other single event. When
we showed that video of what we thought personal computing could
be like in the early 21st century, many people thought it was
marketing hype. That was only five years ago. We have now
demonstrated almost all of the technologies that were key to
creating the Knowledge Navigator. {The Knowledge Navigator}
gave our technical people a focus and it set some very ambitious
goals. The basic concepts of the Knowledge Navigator were not
built around the traditional idea of the personal computer as a
tool, but around the idea of an assistant. It was very
communications-dependent, capable of handling very media-rich
data. Those are exactly the under pinnings of the PDA. As I
mentioned earlier, as recently as a year ago before we announced
the PDAs, most people were thinking that the next generation
products beyond PCs were going to be a tablet with a pen input.
That has not been a concept that turned out to be as rewarding as
people thought. And it's actually the ideas from the Knowledge
Navigator, five years ago, that are shaping the PDA industry
perhaps as much as anything. When we show the Knowledge
Navigator tape today, it doesn't seem outrageous to people
anymore. Because when we first showed the Knowledge Navigator,
the concept of displaying multimedia on a computer screen was
unknown. The concept of having a communications-intensive device
that was very mobile was unknown at that time. And these ideas
are so familiar to us today that they don't even seem innovative
anymore. Which just shows you how quickly technology changes, and
how quickly our context of the world changes. So, if you look at
the Knowledge Navigator in 1992, it's taken very seriously. And
technologists now look at it as a pretty good indicator in terms
of the direction of where Apple is going, as we do internally.
As regards the melding of the telecommunications, media and
computer industries; Here's what I've said and here's what
sometimes has been misinterpreted. What I've said is that the
computer and the consumer-electronics industries, we estimate,
will be about a $1 trillion industry, combined, 10 years from
now. And that will all be based upon digital technology. Consumer
electronics today is almost entirely analog technology. Computers
are digital. The media and publishing industry, which includes
everything from films to videos, music to magazines, books and
newspapers, we expect world-wide, will be about a $1.3 trillion
industry. Almost everything that is created 10 years from now
will be in digital form. The telecommunications industry, we
estimate world-wide, will be about a $1.2 trillion industry 10
years from now. Over the next decade, we will see that industry
make the transition from analog to digital technology. That will
expand the capabilities of both wire-based, including fiber
optics and copper networks, and wireless communications to have,
not 100 times or 1,000 times the capacity we have today, but at
10
least 10,000 times more capacity. That's because digital
technology allows you to use compression. This means that the
combination of those industries going digital and the convergence
of what is happening in digital technology -- with
miniaturization, the tremendous expansion of capacity over
networks and the tremendous availability of media-rich content --
is going to create the opportunities for new kinds of industries
like personal digital assistants to be a very large business.
I've never suggested that PDAs are going to be a $3.5 trillion
business. What I've said is that there's going to be a $3.5
trillion digital-based-technology mega-industry that combines all
of these industries, and that new industries are going to emerge
out of it, like the PDAs, which are going to be very large
industries. I don't know the size of what the PDA industry will
specifically be in that period of time. The story of Apple
Computer -- the way it was founded, the way it grew, the
computers it made -- is the quintessential Silicon Valley
computer company story. Does this new technology you're talking
about signify the end of Apple Computer as we know it today?
Mr. Sculley: No, not at all. In fact, the way Apple's PDAs had
been invented is almost identical to the model in which the
Macintosh was created, or the way the Apple II was created -- all
by highly motivated and extremely talented teams who are
passionate about what they are trying to create. And they're
looking for real breakthroughs. We have several PDA teams
working on several different PDAs. And they are staffed by some
of the most imaginative, talented people in the entire Silicon
Valley. And I might add that there are an increasing number of
start-up companies in Silicon Valley that are also working on
PDAs or products or businesses related to PDAs -- which is,
again, very much in the Silicon Valley model. If anything,
the PDA is a great shot in the arm for Silicon Valley. Because
we're watching Silicon Valley go through a transformation, where
the traditional businesses of silicon foundries have essentially
moved out of Silicon Valley. And a new generation of
entrepreneurs is emerging. We are also seeing that the largest
computing companies are at least beginning to take part of their
research and development and marketing budgets and put it against
PDAs. Intel Corp. said they are working on technologies for PDAs.
You can see that Apple is obviously putting a high priority
against it. Hewlett-Packard is also putting a high priority on
these kinds of devices. So I think it's a tremendous shot in the
arm for Silicon Valley. And its a chance for us to build on our
greatest strengths, which are innovation, entrepreneurship and
the things that are deeply rooted in this valley.
Here is what a Knowledge Navigator in the early 21st century
might look like. The Knowledge Navigator as a vision gives a
good idea what future technology will be capable of, and while 4
years ago when I first showed this concept video many
technologists thought this was science fiction, today we have
actually solved many of the most important technological
challenges. My dream is to bring the first generation Knowledge
11
Navigators to the consumer market in the 1990's. First of all,
don't think of the Knowledge Navigator as a personal computer.
The Knowledge Navigator is a very sophisticated Personal Digital
Assistant or PDA. Ease-of-use is greatly advanced with the use
of speech, simple gestures and what we call intelligent agents
who run around inside the system finding things, reminding you of
something or answering questions. In this concept video we made
the agent look like a real human being so the metaphor is a
conversational one. But our first agents will probably be
invisible intelligence implemented in software. There are some
other very important technological concepts shown in the
Knowledge Navigator which will be extremely interesting for
possible future consumer products.
For example:
Multimedia - interactive picture phone, animated maps and the
anthropomorphic intelligent agents, like the fellow in the red
bow tie...
Networked information services - Dial-up electronic service,
dramatically improved bandwidth sufficient to move television
quality images and information content packaged into
transportable files.
Miniaturization - Form factors become very small as flat panels
replace CRT's and rotational storage is transformed into IC
cards. I talked earlier about the convergence of personal
computing and consumer electronics. Personal computers are
general purpose products which require some level of skill to
operate and they can do intelligent things like build models,
find and display interesting stuff and give the user feedback .
On the other hand, most consumer electronic products have a
particular defined usefulness. They are not so generalized as
personal computers and they are relatively inexpensive. Personal
Digital Assistants or PDA's can be the meeting ground for the
convergence of these two industries. The Knowledge Navigator is a
very sophisticated PDA.
But let's think of some simpler examples:
1. Executive Organizers that fit in the palm of your hand and
keep track of telephone numbers, calendars, things to do lists.
2. Wireless communicators with other useful built-in functions.
Remember, digital technology let's us do things we couldn't even
dream of with analog technology.
3. Electronic Books: In fact, Apple's PowerBook 100 is the first
generation of this new kind of product. Voyager is publishing
several best selling titles for Apple's PowerBook.
12
4. MultiMedia Players: We are going to see an incredible
expansion of CD-ROM multimedia titles for personal computers over
the next year and this should stimulate the market for consumer
interactive multimedia players. Marvin Minsky, the MIT professor
and father of Artificial Intelligence once said, "You don't
really understand something unless you understand it more than
one way." So let's look at what we can expect to see in the
future in this country with digital networks. President Bush
signed into law in December of 1991 the High Performance
Computing and Communications Act. Essentially what this will do
is appropriate about $6 billion over the next 4 years to be spent
by federal laboratories to develop the key technologies for a
nationwide high speed digital network. The original intent was
to connect research laboratories and technical universities so
they can do experiments with massively parallel computers to
study: violent weather systems, sub-atomic simulations, genetic
engineering and other grand science projects. As Chairman of the
CSPP "or the Computer Systems Policy Project" an organization
composed of 12 CEO's of the U.S. computer industry, I believe
that this effort can have even far more benefit for the nation if
it is expanded to deliver: Health services, long distance
learning for education, work at home and intelligent
manufacturing to name a few ideas. Think of this high speed
digital network as one of the most important underpinnings that
will give our Nation s industries and workers competitive
advantage in a global, dynamic, information intensive economy.
Think of this network as a way to use technology to help us close
the education gap between our students and those of other leading
industrialized countries like Germany and Japan. Think back to
the end of the World War II when America created new institutions
that became the underpinning of our industrial economy, our
interstate highway system. The Atomic energy Commission. NASA.
Network television to name a few. Think of a high speed
nationwide digital network able to connect every school, every
library, every business, every government agency, every home,
every person where ever they are. And the issues at hand are
probably more regulatory than technical to create this new
infrastructure.
The Digitals are coming! So is pervasive networking that will
dramatically increase the range of home-delivered services. And
Apple intends to be there as a leader in this segment of the
consumer electronics industry through constant innovation and the
best possible ease-of-use technology. We are choosing a path
which builds on our strengths and at the same time shares some of
our best technologies with some of the world's best consumer
electronic companies. We hope to become one of the great
innovators and agents of growth in digital consumer information
products in the 1990's. Thank you and we look forward to being a
part of your industry.
13
Newton Press Release
First Newton--The MessagePad--Hits The Market
Contact: Christopher Escher Apple Computer, Inc. (408)
974-2202 First Newton--The MessagePad--Hits The Market
CUPERTINO, California
--July 30,1993--
Apple Computer, Inc. today announced that the first product based
on its innovative Newton technology--the Newton MessagePad--will
ship on Aug. 2, 1993. The Newton MessagePad is a handheld
communications assistant that allows people to gather, manage,
and share information with tremendous ease and spontaneity. By
combining rich communications capabilities with technology that
actively assists people in getting work done, Apple has created a
new class of personal digital assistant (PDA) devices-- one that
lets people communicate ideas with greater speed, clarity, and
effectiveness. The Newton MessagePad is also a rich platform for
a wide variety of new applications and software titles that take
advantage of its unique technology, convenience, and usability.
The Newton MessagePad is the first in a family of products based
on Newton technology: others will be introduced in the future by
both Apple and its licensees. "We believe that Newton will be
seen as the defining technology of the digital age," said John
Sculley, Apple chairman. "It will be a focal point for the
coming convergence of industry sectors such as computers,
communications and consumer electronics. Communications is a key
component of this new emerging industry and the Newton MessagePad
demonstrates how this capability can be powerfully yet
intuitively built into a handheld device. I look forward to a
full lineup of products and services based on Newton
Intelligence, not just from Apple but from innovative, creative
companies around the globe." The Newton MessagePad is based
on the concept of Newton Intelligence, which is a combination of
software and silicon. Newton Intelligence is what makes Newton
understandable, friendly, intuitive and useful. It is the "soul"
of the Newton MessagePad that allows the product to "learn" the
user's preferences and requirements. For example, the user could
receive a wireless message from a colleague to attend a meeting
and Newton could automatically place the appointment in its
calendar. More importantly, Newton Intelligence actively assists
users in completing their tasks. It "learns" users work habits
and patterns--and then implements them on cue. Whether it's
printing a letter in an accustomed format, or faxing a message to
a client's office, the MessagePad learns over time to adapt to
the user's preferences.
--Communication Capabilities
Because of Newton technology's robust communications
architecture, the MessagePad comes with a wide variety of
powerful communications capabilities. The Newton Communications
14
Architecture is highly modular. This means that when new
applications and services become available, they can easily be
added and supported in an integrated, plug-and-play manner. The
communications capabilities in the MessagePad allow users to
send, receive, and share information through virtually every
communication method in the workplace today-- through telephone
lines, wireless networks, and computer networks.
--Faxing. The MessagePad can act as a handheld facsimile (fax)
machine--allowing users, with the optional modem, to send
facsimiles to virtually any fax machine in the world.
Additionally, Newton Intelligence makes the process of sending a
facsimile simple: With the press of one button, the MessagePad
automatically formats the output, adds a cover page, and places
the facsimile in the system's Out Box, awaiting connection to a
telephone line. It is anticipated that future products in the
family will additionally offer the capability to receive fax
messages.
--Wireless Messaging. Users of Newton MessagePad are expected to
have access to a wireless messaging service with both national
(U.S.) and local access. This service will deliver alpha-numeric
paging and messaging capabilities to users of the Newton
MessagePad. This service is expected to give the users a
fully-featured method of keeping in touch that is totally
integrated with the MessagePad. (Full details of this service
will be available in the near future.)
--Electronic Mail.
MessagePad users will be able to send and receive electronic mail
messages to and from other MessagePad users who are NewtonMail
subscribers--or just about any computer, by using the NewtonMail
service and the optional modem. NewtonMail is a subscriber-based
service to be offered by Apple that is an extremely cost
effective way of communicating across the United States and the
rest of the world. Availability of the NewtonMail service will be
announced at a later date. Over time, it is anticipated that
NewtonMail will be expanded to offer a wide range of information
such as news, weather and financial information as well as the
potential for online transactions.
--Beaming.
Making use of its built-in infrared function, the MessagePad can
send--or "beam" in Apple engineer parlance -- quick messages to
other Newton devices across a one meter distance, without any
wiring or cabling. This capability is ideal for the quick
exchange of items such as business cards, meeting notes, maps, or
appointments.
--Printing.
15
The MessagePad can print any document it creates--notes,
drawings, addresses, maps, letters--on most popular dot matrix,
portable inkjet, thermal and laser printers. These printers can
be either connected directly, or accessed through a local area
network.
--Desktop Connections
The Newton MessagePad can share information--quickly and
easily--with millions of personal computers. Using the optional
Newton Connection package, users can transfer, synchronize, back
up, and update information between a Newton MessagePad and a
Macintosh personal computer or a personal computer running the
Windows operating system. Newton Connection is based upon a
technology Apple calls "Smart Synchronization," which
automatically updates information between a MessagePad and a
personal computer. Any changes made to the information on the
Newton--or on the personal computer--will be automatically
synchronized and updated between the two when they are connected.
Newton Connection also includes a set of complementary Newton
applications intended to let users create, view, and edit Newton
information on a personal computer, even when the computer is not
connected to a Newton. Newton Connection is planned to be
available in the following versions for either Macintosh or PCs
running Windows: The Newton Connection Kit, which backs up and
restores information; and The Newton Connection Pro Kit, which
gives complete file to file synchronization. The product allows
creation of a "virtual Newton" on the desktop. Availability
for Newton Connection products will be announced at a later date.
Keeping in Control
The Newton MessagePad also includes a collection of capabilities
that help people capture and organize an array of information in
the way that suits them best. The system can capture and file
notes, sketches and other details on file, ready for almost
instant access. Built-in calendars, alarms, and reminders help
people keep track of busy lifestyles. Its built-in address book
holds hundreds of names and addresses. The MessagePad's advanced
recognition architecture not only understands printed and cursive
script, but also cleans up drawings and diagrams, making them
easier to understand and communicate. Applications, Titles,
Developer Support More than 20 developers are announcing
products for Newton MessagePad, including CE Software, Claris
Corp., Fingertip, Great Plains, Integrated Systems, On
Technology, Pastel and Pastel, Slate and Strategic Mapping. These
products range from specialized realtor systems to titles for
sports enthusiasts. Many more developers are in the process of
creating innovative new applications for the system. In addition,
Apple's PIE Publishing group, Starcore, announced six titles
ranging from financial assistance to interactive city maps. (see
16
associated releases).
--Licensing
From the beginning, Apple had signaled its intention to broadly
license Newton technology. This activity has resulted in
agreements with leading corporations around the world, including
Sharp and Kyushu Matsushita Electric in Japan and Motorola in the
United States. Siemens/ROLM will also be incorporating Newton
technology in its forthcoming NotePhone product. For customers,
it is anticipated that this licensing effort will mean that
software, titles and accessories can be used across a variety of
products from these and other corporations.
--Distribution and Availability
Initially the Newton MessagePad will be available in limited
volume at Apple Computer resellers in Boston and New York. During
the week of August 2 Newton MessagePad will also be sold at
MacWorld Expo in Boston. By mid to late August, it is anticipated
that the product will roll out across the United States, and will
be available in more than 2,000 computer retailers and consumer
electronic stores. Availability in some international markets
will follow in September, with localized versions following
through 1994. Pricing There is no suggested retail pricing
for the Newton MessagePad. Individual retailers will price the
products according to their specific solutions offerings. However
Apple expects the Newton MessagePad to be priced from $699 to
$949, depending on configuration:
-- Newton MessagePad with AC Adaptor
-- Newton MessagePad Communications System
(Newton MessagePad with AC Adaptor and External Modem)
-- Newton MessagePad Professional Communications System
(Newton MessagePad with AC Adaptor, External Modem and Newton
Connection Pro)
-- Apple Messaging Service: Formal pricing to be announced
upon availability.
-- Newton Messaging Card: pricing to be announced
-- NewtonMail: pricing to be announced
-- Newton Connection Kit: pricing to be announced
-- Newton Connection Pro: pricing to be announced
Product Specifications for Newton MessagePad and Accessories
Newton MessagePad Hardware Architecture
-- ARM 610 processor at 20 MHz
-- Apple custom system ASIC
-- Low-power, reflective LCD display (336 x 240 pixels)
-- Transparent tablet with passive pen
-- 4MB of ROM
-- 640K of RAM
17
-- One PCMCIA type 2 card slot
-- LocalTalk compatible serial port
-- Low-power, half-duplex, infrared transceiver (9600 baud at 1
meter)
Size and weight
-- Height: 7.25 in. (184.75 mm)
-- Width: 4.50 in. (114.3 mm)
-- Depth: 0.75 in. (19.05 mm)
-- Weight: 0.9 lb. (0.4 kg
First Newton Titles From PIE's Starcore Publishing Group
CUPERTINO, California
--July 30, 1993--
The recently introduced Starcore publishing group within the
Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) division at Apple Computer
has announced six new titles for the Newton MessagePad. Some of
these titles are delivered on PCMCIA cards that fit into the card
slot at the top of the MessagePad; others are on a diskette,
which can be downloaded as required from a personal computer.
All titles are expected to ship early in the fall.
"This announcement underlines the fact that the Newton business
is not just about hardware," said Ken Wirt, director of
publishing, PIE Division. "We have been working closely with
developers in this venture, and we are extremely pleased with
this first portfolio of titles. I believe that Starcore is now
well positioned to contribute significantly to the acceptance of
the Newton family as the principal standard for the PDA market."
The first titles from Starcore Publishing include the following:
-- Fodors 94 Travel Manager: Top U.S. Cities. Includes 500
locations per city, including restaurants-- detailing the type of
cuisine, the credit cards they accept, and other travel
information and business services--hotels, sights of interest,
airport information. Covers eight cities, with detailed
interactive maps highlighting destinations and routes. Suggested
retail price: $119.95.
-- Fortune 500 Guide to American Business is an enriched
electronic version of the Fortune 500 and Service 500, giving a
rich source of information on all aspects of America's largest
companies. Compares information on topics including sales per
employee, five-year financial performance histories for sales,
profits and earnings per share. Users can take advantage of
sophisticated search and sort options, compare performance of
companies and prepare graphs (using five years of data on two
companies) and custom calculations. Suggested retail price:
$99.95.
18
-- Dell Crossword Puzzles & Other Games contains hundreds of
puzzles, as well as Cryptograms and Word Searches. Suggested
retail price: $79.95. An abbreviated version of this product
also comes in a diskette-based version, with suggested retail
price: $49.95.
-- Money Magazine Financial Assistant includes calculation
templates to evaluate a number of the most common financial
decisions. Categories include investments, loans, budgets,
property transactions and so on. Suggested retail price: $99.95.
-- Money Magazine Business Forms makes it easy to fill out the
most used financial forms, including expense reports, project
plans and loan calculations. It has 12 templates. This product is
delivered on diskette. Using the optional Newton Connection, just
the form required can be downloaded from the personal computer.
Suggested retail price: $39.95.
-- Columbo's Mystery Capers - - more than 40 brain teasers
complete with graphics and text-based clues. Each humorous
mystery opens with a text introduction and an illustration of the
scene of the crime. Players use the stylus to uncover the
potential clues which reveal important details. Suggested retail
price: $79.95.
Apple has been working actively with information providers and
publishers to develop titles for the Starcore portfolio, which is
intended to include products in the categories of general
reference, business/professional, education and entertainment.
The opportunity for publishers is considerable, according to
Kenzi Sugihara, of Random House, who cooperated with Apple to
publish the Fodors Guide title. Sugihara, who is vice president
and publisher at Random House Reference and Electronic
Publishing, commented, "What we are seeing is the opportunity for
publishers to reach a very broad section of the population: We
are giving a whole new group of people the information and
entertainment they want in a new, accessible format." As well
as Random House, other developer partners for the Starcore titles
include: GeoSystems (a subsidiary of RR Donnelley & Sons),
Pensee, PenMagic Software Inc., and Blank, Berlyn & Co.
19
A Comparison With The Sharp OZ-9600
While You're waiting for Newton... Well, Apple has announced the
Newton. It has shown a nonworking mockup. It has touted its many
futuristic features. It has been called the Communicator of the
future. I believe it! The problem with the future, however, is
that it is always in the, ahh, "Future." I mean, if it wasn't, it
would be the "Past" or the "Now." I don't want to wait for the
"Future!" That's why I've ordered my Personal Communicator,
"Now." Sharp Electronics, the company that is going to build
the Apple Newton, is already selling a personal digital assistant
(PDA) that "is almost the same machine except that it lacks the
handwriting recognition capability found in the Newton." The
Sharp PDA is being marketed as an extension of the highly popular
Wizard Organizer series and is designated the OZ-9600. The
OZ-9600 claims many of the same features as the Newton. Wireless
communication between units, pen/touch screen capability, etc.
The ability to write on the screen is limited, however, to "ink
capture." This means that you can write or draw on the screen and
the Wizard will capture the image, which can then be saved or
attached to another file. Unlike the Newton, the Wizard has a
small QWERTY keyboard. I personally consider this an advantage.
Others may disagree. The Sharp Wizard OZ-9600's other features
include:
Graphic icons and menus
Word processor functions such as formatting, tabs,
bold, italics, underline, page preview and direct
transfer to printers.
Integrated filing system - categorizes and groups
related info into folders for touch-access.
An optional infrared receiver plugs into your printer's
parallel port to allow remote printing.
IC card port accepts existing Wizard applications (such
as spreadsheets and language translators) and
RAM cards.
Time and database management. These functions include
"To Do" lists, calendars, schedule mode with
unlimited alarms, business card directory,
calculator, outline function, 3
telephone/user files (which are actually databases
with 16 user definable fields each.
A screen size of 53 characters by 30 lines.
VT-100 and TTY terminal emulation. (Which I intend to
use to check my email.)
The OZ-9600 will connect directly to a Mac with Sharp's MacLink
software and cable, just like my "old" OZ-8000. However, until
the MacLink software is upgraded (in the "Future") I'll be
limited to transferring those functions which the '9600 has in
common with the '8000.
Don't misunderstand me. I intend to buy a Newton. It'll be a
20
second generation Newton, though. With the pressure that Apple
has put on themselves with all the hype, I believe that, like the
Quadras and PowerBooks, there'll be a revised version about six
to eight months after release, with many new features. Then I'll
probably put the Wizard on the shelf right next to my Psion
Organizer, Atari Portfolio, and the rest of my techno-toys.
From America On Line
Message posted in January, 1993 by KevinR
21
How Did the Idea for PDA's First Originate?
The Newton project first began about four years ago. It was a
realization that Apple helped define personal computing with the
beginning of the Apple II {computer}. "We helped define
graphics-based computing for the popular Macintosh {computer}
platform, and we wanted to be in on the ground floor of what came
after that. So we set up a project team to investigate new kinds
of technology that could be far more intimate than what personal
computers were. At that time, we really didn't know where it was
going to lead us, other than we thought miniaturization was going
to be important. We felt that devices were going to get more
mobile and there would be new input technologies. From that, we
have come up with, what we think, is a new industry more than a
new product. And we see that as really being a personal digital
assistant. We think it {PDA} is even more personal than a
personal computer. We think that it's going to take advantage of
the revolution in digital technology. {Electronic} networks are
going from analog to digital. Content {information} is going from
analog to digital. Computing devices are becoming not only
smaller but much less expensive. The convergence of these events,
we think, is giving us the conditions for this entirely new
industry to be created. The assistant side of it is perhaps
the most interesting side, because you get to content-rich
devices. The problem is not getting access to information, it's
finding an easy way to deal with a tremendous amount of possible
information that you might want to use. So the idea is to
have a product that's smart enough to go off and find the things
that you're interested in, letting you work in shorthand in terms
of communicating with it. By understanding those shorthand
commands and gestures, it can actually do useful things. It is
something that is very different than the personal-computer
architecture. So out of all this, we started to see that
this wasn't the personal computer any more. The personal computer
was driven by the basic idea of creating a general-purpose
product that would essentially fit on the desktop and that would
run applications that were not dissimilar from what people had
already been doing, such as word processors, spreadsheets and
even data-base applications. The personal digital
assistants were something that had to become more focused on
communications in its architecture. It had to become better able
to handle media-rich content, which meant the assistance side of
it. And it had to be more focused-purpose as opposed to
general-purpose than the personal computer was. This was really
something that wasn't immediately obvious to us when we started
the project. It's something in which we gained more and more
experience. While working with these new technologies, we
started going through an evolution. This thing was taking a very
different shape compared to a personal computer. Which shouldn't
be surprising because the personal computer wasn't about making
mini-computers smaller. It was a very different vision. It
shouldn't be surprising that the PDA is a very different vision
22
than a personal computer.
Why Introduce the Newton now?
Timing is everything in this industry. You really have to have
the technology at a point where it will do the things that people
expect it to be able to do. The technology is being pushed by the
success of notebook computers. We're seeing a natural evolution
toward miniaturization with the success of the notebook- computer
market, which is now several billion dollars in size. It's also
going to get a push with the consumer-electronics industry, which
is really at the moment stuck in the mud. Most
consumer-electronics companies are having a very tough time right
now, as they start to look to digital technology as a potential
avenue for growth in consumer products. It will drive the cost of
components down, along with more emphasis on miniaturization.
That's going to be very beneficial toward PDA devices, because
PDA devices will leverage as much off of what happens in the
consumer-electronics industry as it will off of what happens in
the computer industry. Even though I don't see the market as
initially one of consumer-electronics products, there's no
question that we can benefit from what the consumer-electronics
industry will do with this technology. They, in turn, will be
looking at PDA-type technology that they can convert into
consumer products. You will see digital consumer products over
the next several years even though they aren't exactly what we
and other companies are building for commercial markets. Which is
why you see us in an alliance, working with companies out of
Japan, with Japanese consumer-electronics companies. They're
taking it more to the consumer field. We're taking it more to the
commercial field.
How is the Newton different?
PDAs are not something that are exclusive to Apple. PDAs can
embrace a large number of new kinds of products that many
companies are planning to offer. But what I think {the idea of
PDAs} does is that it gives a context for understanding new
products. They aren't just making calculators more powerful. It's
not just taking a Sharp Wizard and putting it on steroids. It
really is an entirely different paradigm for what computing
technology can be used for. I think that we may well see some of
these products like Sharp Wizards and palm-top computers evolve
more toward what I've been describing as PDAs for very simple
reasons. Digital networks will become pervasive, and we are going
to see intelligence on those networks that will enable PDAs to
become far more useful than calculators on steroids or organizers
on steroids are today. We're clearly going to see more and more
content being created in digital form. It's quite clear that
content owners are very interested in finding ways to
electronically publish their contents. Another characteristic of
23
the PDA is that we will see an entirely new class of ISVs --
independent software vendors. The ones that write applications
for personal computers aren't necessarily going to be the same
ones who will be writing the mainstream content-rich applications
and solutions for PDAs. It may well be people coming out of the
publishing industry, out of the entertainment industry, out of
the information-services industry. They may well be the ones
writing the most valuable applications and solutions for the PDA
market. In fact, some people have criticized Apple because we
are not out evangelizing the traditional ISVs in the industry for
personal computers. The reason is that we are focusing most of
our efforts on people who own content or people who are
interested in communications. Not people who do traditional
spreadsheets and word processors.
When will Newton impact the consumer market?
I think the big misconception about PDAs is that they are going
to start out as consumer products. I believe that if you look at
the adoption curve for new technology -- everything from color
TVs to VCRs, camcorders, fax machines and cellular telephones --
that the adoption curves take years before you start to get large
critical-mass volumes. In the case of the fax machine and
cellular telephone, these technologies began with commercial
users. And now they are starting to move out into the consumer
marketplace because they are finally reaching price points and a
broad enough acceptance that people know what they are and what
they are used for. And the price points are more in the range of
what people expect consumer products to cost. PDAs, I believe,
are going to have their first success in commercial markets. It
would be a number of years, probably in the late 1990s, before we
start to see real consumer markets emerging for PDAs. Even
cellular telephones today are just starting to break into
consumer markets for the most part. Most of their sales are still
from {business} users, not from consumers. I think we'll also
see PDAs playing an important role in education because it is
such an important user of personal computers. The type of tasks
that PDAs are well suited to are ones that are going to be very
appropriate to education. So you'll see Apple marketing PDAs in
education, as well as to commercial users. But that's not to
say there aren't early adopters out there, those who will want to
have PDAs for themselves. But what we see as the big market
opportunity is connecting PDAs into systems for commercial users.
Our focus at Apple is we integrate a PDA with a Macintosh
{computer}, with a server {computer} and over a network -- to be
able to solve some particular useful task for commercial
customers. That's where our first attention is. And I think it
will be in that area for several years. We think that is a very
attractive, high-growth and potentially powerful market.
What are some of the variations of PDAs we can expect to see?
24
I think that from the commercial-market standpoint, we have with
large corporations a tremendous need to deal with mergers,
reorganization, downsizing and things that require organizations
to rethink the process of work flow through the organization. To
do more with less, to deal with training and to deal with
documentation. Take, for example, companies that require huge
amounts of documentation. The ability for a maintenance worker in
the field to carry that {documentation} around on a small device
using optical media storage can be very appealing. There are
field forces who are very interested in being able to compress
the time between the presentation and the order entry with the
customer, and delivering the order back to the factory. It has
implications for things like sales forecasting, parts retrieval
from inventory and inventory turns. As the world gets more
focused on time-to-market as a competitive advantage, we think
that what the PDA has to offer for work flow assistance can be
very valuable, particularly as organizations become more
customer-focused and customer satisfaction becomes a higher
criterion. If you combine the flexibility of an organization,
time-to-market, customer satisfaction and the PDA as a front-end
device connected over a network and back into information
systems, we think {PDAs} are going to be an extremely important
market opportunity over the next several years -- just as the
personal computer developed into a very big market, particularly
during the 1980s. That was all done in the space of a decade. I
think in the space of a decade, you're going to see an equally
big market for PDAs.
What price point is critical for PDA's?
For the commercial market, the issue is less price and more
mobility and customization to do the kinds of tasks that
particular commercial customer is most interested in. My guess is
that these devices are going to cost under a $1,000 for the most
part. Not to say that there won't be some that will be more fully
functional and will cost more. But for commercial customers, a
product in that price range seems quite reasonable. The
interesting thing is that if you go back just a year ago, most of
the personal-computer industry was focused on building
tablet-form factors -- personal computers with pen inputs. And
there were predictions being made that by the fall of 1992, there
would be hundreds of thousands of these machines sold by many
different vendors and that they would be used by commercial
customers. There is very little evidence that ever occurred. We
have also seen in that period of time a really major shift in
terms of the vision and strategy of a large number of world-class
manufacturers, and what they were saying a year ago and what
they're saying today. A year ago, they were talking about putting
pen input in computers, and the focus was on {Microsoft Corp.'s}
Windows for their pen input and on Go Corp.'s pen-input
technology. We don't hear as much about that today. Now the
focus is on hand-held devices -- more communications, more
25
intelligent assistants. Basically the idea is what we started
talking about with PDAs in the early part of 1992. And I think
the industry is on the right track this time. I expect that
there will be a large number of manufacturers -- Japanese,
American and European -- that are going to get into the PDA
market. There are some that are going to focus on the network
side of it. We'll look at value-added networks, intelligent
networks. There are some that are going to focus on the device
itself. There are some that are going to look at it as the
logical extension of the telephone -- that is, a mobile cellular
telephone. There are others that will look at it as the logical
extension beyond computers. There are some who are going to come
at it from the stand point of content and provide new
services. It's becoming clearer and clearer that there is a
new industry that is emerging with very significant world-class
competitors in it. This is all good because it means the industry
has a real likelihood of being created in a relatively short
period of time.
Won't Sharp be Competing with Apple?
Absolutely, I think it will be competition for Apple. The first
thing we had to do when we seriously looked at licensing out some
of our technology was that we had to significantly improve our
own time-to-market. We had to significantly improve our own
expenses in our system, our own sales and marketing system,
because we had to be able to compete with other companies who are
going to be our competitors. The reason we're optimistic
that we can compete is that we are a systems company. We can
leverage strengths in the education market, small-business
market, in a growing success with our PowerBook {notebook
computers}, and in a large corporate market. As a systems
company, we had an advantage in that we think we understand how
to connect PDAs with personal computers, with server computers,
and to deal with user-interface issues over a network as well as
anyone in the world. Japanese companies have a greater
competence than we do with device technology, but probably not as
much experience as we do with systems.
Why do People Need PDA's?
The way you convince people is that you go out and take a problem
that is real and you solve it in a compelling way. And that's why
I think that the opportunities for PDAs will begin in commercial
markets and education, where there are real problems and real
tasks that can be solved in a compelling way with a PDA. Only
after you reach critical mass and only after you start to see
costs come down and capabilities expand in successive
generations, will we then start to see consumer-like products
emerge. That's why I see that the consumer opportunity is real.
But it's really several years out in the future. It's not
something that's going to happen any time soon.
26
27
Does Newton Always Recognize Handwriting?
That's one of the neat things about Newton. It adapts to you.
It gets better at working the way you work. It actually learns
your handwriting.
28
What Applications come with Newton?
Several come with Newton. Just tap the appropriate icon.
1. Personal information manager.
2. A daily planner / calendar
3. A TO DO list manager
4. A four function calculator with tape
5. An in and out box for sharing information with others.
6. A formulas table for loan payment calculations,metric
conversions, monetary exchange rates, etc.
29
How do you Store Information in Newton?
Newton automatically stores information that is entered in its
underlying data base. This relational data base is organized
around date, name, location, and graphics. This allows any
Newton application to access data regardless of where it was
created. It also allows developers a great deal of flexibility
in designing third party applications.
30
What features make Newton's hardware architecture unique?
1. A built in RISC processor. This is roughly analogous to an
80486-20 DX or a 68040.
2. Very low powered. Able to run for days on 4 AA alkaline
batteries.
3. There is also a lithium battery which maintains the static
RAM should the standard batteries become fully discharged.
4. A built-in local talk network connector.
5. An infra-red window - like a TV remote control for exchanging
information with other Newtons.
6. A built-in PCMCIA (pim-see - don't forget you saw it's
pronunciation here first) slot.
7. Reflective super-twist screen. High resolution - 85 DPI, 240
x 336 pixels
8. Stylus input. - Can use any kind of pointed device to touch
the screen
31
What does Newton sell for?
Based on the options you buy, the base Newton system should come
in for under $700 to under $1000 with several peripherals.
32
What comes in the box for the $700 range?
The Newton message pad
2 stylus's. You get a third when you send in your registration.
a protective slip case / cover
AC adapter
PCMCIA card that introduce the Newton and give you a guided tour
PCMCIA card for handwriting training
Owner's manual
Warranty / registration card (1 year warranty is standard)
a video tape that walks you through features, benefits,
capabilities of Newton
33
What About Add-On Cards
One of your best bets for card information is to phone Tim
McClosky at Active Data (mention you heard about him here on
AOL). His number is 800-223-0503 (or 714-997-7718). Tim really
knows a lot about cards.
The SRAM cards are fast, require a battery, but don't drain your
palmtop unit. At this point they MAY be a little more stable
technology. Obviously, they and their data rely on the battery.
Let that die, and there goes your info!
Prices for new SRAM cards will run from $190 for a 1 meg to as
much as $500 for a 2 meg card. When I bought mine from Active
Data, I paid a little under $300 for the 2 meg. He had a sale
going on then, and prices have gone up recently for some cards.
EduCalc shows 2 meg cards from $320 - $500!
For general purpose, the sram is a little faster if that is
important to you. If you mainly want something to store lots of
data, and slight speed loss (may not even be noticeable) and
increased palmtop battery drain won't trouble you, consider the
For general purpose, the sram is a little faster if that is
important to you. If you mainly want something to store lots of
data, and slight speed loss (may not even be noticeable) and
increased palmtop battery drain won't trouble you, consider the
For general purpose, the sram is a little faster if that is
important to you. If you mainly want some for general purpose,
the sram is a little faster if that is important to you. If you
mainly want something to store lots of data, and slight speed
loss (may not even be noticeable) and increased palmtop battery
drain won't trouble you, consider the Folash unit.
34
What are the Standard Configurations?
The initial Newtons will be offered in 2 connection kits, a pro
and a regular. The regular connection kit allows you to transfer
data between a Windows or a Macintosh system. It includes the
same synchronization technology that apple has used for its
PowerBook Newton Neile synch utility.
->MessagePad unit with modem and connection kit - Order Number is
H0006LL/A (Mac) and H0030LL/A (windows)
The pro connection kit allows you to import/export data directly
from your windows or Macintosh applications. This is only a
software difference, the hardware is still the same.
-> Order H0004LL/A (Mac) OR H0029LL/A (Windows)
A messaging PCMCIA card will be offered by apple. Essentially it
is a wireless alphanumeric pager that integrates with your newton
apps.
The Fax Modem which comes with the MessagePad transmits at 2400
data and 9600 fax. It has V.42bis compression and the standard
assortment of protocol support.
The print Pack allows the MessagePad to print on non-AppleTalk
printers (that feature is included). It works with dot-matrix,
portable, parallel printers.
35
Dave's Wish List
The following is a compilation of posts from America On Line.
Your additional wishes and dreams are appreciated.
I had a long drive over the weekend and thought about the
practical applications that I had for a NEWTON-like device.
While I'm sure that the even the first generation of the NOTEPAD
will be very cool (and practical), the following is my guess of
things that will be left out of the first generation NEWTONS;
things that could
be added to make my NEWTON NOTEPAD more useful to me.
Dave's "Top 10" Things Apple left out of the Newton NotePad
1. On-board DSP for built-in modem/FAX functionality, for speech
synthesis, and well, why not voice recognition.
2. Built-in printer (similar to those calculators with printers
built-in), even for just "print screens" from the NotePad while
on-the-go.
3. Real "buttons" on the NotePad's case so that I can play Tetris
and other games.
4. Add'l circuitry to allow the NotePad's screen to double as a
miniature LCD TV so I can watch the BULLS while at work.
5. A COLOR LCD so that my NotePad applications (and TV) can be in
color.
6. A suite of common application software, scaled down
appropriately for the Newton, including: WordPerfect, Lotus
w/Graphing, a Dbase that I can program, and scripting language.
7. Built-in Almanac, MAPS (US, etc) with the lexicon that's
supposed to be already built-in.
8. CD-ROM reader, so that the NotePad can also be a CD ROM "book
reader"
9 A second PCMCIA slot, because the first one's always full.
10. LONGER, longer, longer, battery life. (Because you_know_this
will be an issue from Day 1.)
Boy, I can't wait for the second generation of NEWTON devices...
36
Subj: I'd still like more
Date: 93-06-29 20:12:33 EDT
From: Blackwdp
YOU obviously don't understand the potential of such a device.
If you'll read my note, I reference that I want a suite of common
applications scaled appropriately for the NEWTON.
WORDPERFECTish: I don't expect the full functionality of WPC
6.0/DOS. I would like to see something with a little more power
than TEACH TEXT. I want a "word processor" appropriate for
note-taking (maybe I should say "outlining plus notes") at
meetings, conferences, etc as well as writing _simple_ business
letters to be faxed out would be nice. And, oh yeah, since the
NEWTON is intuitive and has my rolodex, I'd like it to be able to
"merge" the appropriate name, address, fax number, etc into the
document. Is that too much to ask? I don't want to
produce a technical manual in word processing on the NEWTON.
Spreadsheeting: Lotus is installed on every PC (90+ on my floor)
in my office. HP even thought it essential to include on their
PalmTop device. While, again, I don't need the full
functionality Spreadsheeting: You obviously don't work in a
business environment. Lotus is installed on every PC (90+ on my
floor) in my office. HP even thought it essential to include on
their PalmTop device. While, again, I don't need the full
functionality Spreadsheeting: You obviously don't work in a
business environment. Lotus is installed on every PC (90+ on my
floor) in my office. HP even thought it essential to include on
their PalmTop device. While, again, well you get the idea -
Lotus 3.4a, being able to do some fairly complex calculations
(future value, amortization) would be handy. And merely being
able to graph these numbers to an exec or VP at a meeting would
be handy. Sure, I could go out and get a PowerBook to do that
too, but again it seems a little over-kill when all I really want
Lotus for is a glorified programmable calculator with simple
graphing of number sets.
I realize a lot of the market for such PDAs are for "electronic
organizing", but if you've got the CPU horsepower there, you
might as well exploit it for additional applications. Other
folks may not have the same needs that I do, nor realize the
potential at hand. With notebook computers getting smaller,
cheaper, and more
powerful, there's going to have to be some reason to sway buyers
to go the PDA route. Otherwise, why not get the PDA software to
run on a notebook pc under PenPoint OS??? If it's just fancy
electronic organizing you want, go out and get a glorified
Casio/Boss- type unit. I, however, have my sights set on a
next generation, powerful PDA. (Remember, Motorola is targeting
its PowerPC chip toward portable computing devices, not to
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exclude PDA-like devices.). Don't narrow the Newton technology
to just the NOTEPAD; haven't you read that the NEWTON technology
will be migrated to other hardware platforms, including "PCs"?
My guess is that we'll find a vast range of NEWTON devices in the
next
few years. (Didn't someone already state that there will be at
least (3) "Newton" devices released by Apple in August?)
I don't know, maybe I'll change my mind once I have a Newton in
my hands for some time, but IMHO, there's more that can be
exploited from such devices. Guess I'll just have to wait till
August...
PS - I really think the lack of a DSP
is a big mistake. Knowing the
potential advantages, I'd pay the
difference in cost. I bet we see
them in the near future.
It will be interesting to see if you can have graphics migrate
from Mac scrapbooks to newton faxes etc. And what about 8 bit
picture images (in color even if they only display in black and
white). Will wide spread Newtons make Duos less desirable? How
long before grey scale newtons. And really does 192k of user ram
remind you of any familiar underpowered computers.
I swear anything less then 4 meg on any platform is not enough!
But then I do graphics.
awaiting the release.
Free Willy!
Free Newton!
Lou
(Actually $899 Newton)
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A Hands'On Review of the Newton
Chu, Apple's Director of Product Planning and Scott Petry,
Product Manager in the Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE)
division gave additional information and a demonstration of the
Newton Message Pad. The pad has one PCMCIA II slot for an
Alpple-labeled 2 MB flash card or pager card. A third party
fax/data modem card and several other cards will be ready when
the Message Pad is released.
Apple has done a great deal of work to make it easy for the user
to manage and exchange information needed on both, office systems
and Message Pads. Newton Connection Kits for Macintosh and
Windows will automatically synchronize data and backup everything
on the Message Pad to a home system. Translation capabilities
will be provided for converting Newton data to popular desktop
applications. The
Newton Connection Kit Pro will work directly with popular PIM
(Personal Information Manager) applications on the desktop
platform.
While a Message Pad owner is on travel, a secretary may enter new
appointments into the Newton Connection Kit or the user*s PIM
application, and this new data will automatically be downloaded
to the Message Pad the next time the user calls in or lines the
Pad to the Mac's serial port. And the desktop systems will be
updated with additions, changes, or deletions made on the Message
Pad.
The Mac application has Synchronize, Restore, and Install Package
menu selections and Datebook, Name file, and Notepad options. For
those who are not using a compatible Macintosh application,
simple dialogue forms allow entering data for all of the Newton
'Rolodex' fields. Many users will find it easier to use the Mac
keyboard to add a bunch of addresses than to hand-write them all
on the Newton.
I was not overly impressed with the Newton hand-writing
recognizer, and they did not even attempt to demonstrate the
cursive-hand-writing recognizer! Recognition seemed to be
somewhat slow, and during the demo it converted the word
Mactivity to 'elasticity', even though Scott said he had entered
the word into the dictionary beforehand. There are two text
recognition modes: word recognition and character-for-character
recognition. If everything fails, a tiny image of a keyboard can
be displayed and the *keys* can be tapped with the Newton stylus.
MacWeek reported on other recent demonstrations that were marred
by recognition difficulties. It seemed to me that the recognition
technology still is not as good as one would expect and probably
needs another year or so of work. In my opinion, Apple should
stop putting so much emphasis on the recognition technologies in
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its product descriptions. Customers may be oversold and
disappointed with the product. The Newton Message Pad is a very
impressive product with many other useful features, which in
their own right will justify the cost to many potential users.
More disturbing than the hand-writing recognition problem, the
demonstration model also had difficulties with gesture
recognition. In two or three cases Scott had trouble marking the
end of a note by moving the stylus horizontally across the entire
width of the pad. Instead of getting a note terminator including
date-and-time
stamp and scroll controls, his gestures was simply interpreted as
a horizontal line, a graphic element being part of the current
note.
When the Newton Message Pad is turned on, the note pad screen
becomes visible and is ready for hand-writing recognition.
Graphics do not require a mode change. Individual notes can take
up as much space as necessary on the *endless* Newton *paper
roll.* Hand-written words and sketched graphic elements get
converted to text fonts and smooth geometric elements after a one
to two second delay as the user continues with input.
If a note includes the phrase, *Dear Bob,* for example, the user
can highlight *Bob* and select the routing slip icon. If there is
more than one Bob in Newton*s name list, all of them will be
displayed for user selection. Routing options include printing,
faxing, sending via e-mail, and beaming to other Newton(s).
Beaming is done over an infrared light beam.
When the user selects the fax transmission option, the Message
Pad offers to automatically reformat the note as a 8 x 10 letter,
generating recipient and sender addresses, and punt. If the user
selects the fax transmission option, the Message Pad offers to
automatically reformat the note as a 8 x 10 letter, generating
recipient and sender addresses, and putting the result into the
outbox. As soon as the Newton gets connected to the phone line,
the fax will be dispatched.
The object oriented database of Newton tags each piece of data to
find it independently of the application. Mail merging and
linking of address book entries with the appointment calendar is
transparent and in many cases completely automatic.
Any developer can write applications that use the underlying DB*s
capabilities. Newton always is communications aware and has a
universal in-box.
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Address book 16
Beaming 15
Calendars 16
CE Software 16
Christopher Escher 14
Claris Corp 16
Color imaging 8
Dial-up electronic service 12
Distribution and Availability 17
Electronic Books 12
Electronic Mail 15
Ethernet 8
Executive Organizer 12
Fax 15
Fingertip 16
George Lucas 9
Great Plains 16
Integrated Systems 16
Interactive intelligence 7
John Sculley 14
Kaleida 9
Knowledge Navigator 9, 11, 12
Licensing 16
Marvin Minsky 12
MessagePad 14
Miniaturization 12
Multimedia 7, 12
Network 12
Newton Connection Kit 16
Newton Connection Pro Kit 16
Newton Intelligence 14
Newton Titles From PIE's Starcore Publishing Group 18
NewtonMail 15
On Technology 16
Pastel and Pastel 16
PCMCIA 8, 18
PDA 8, 11, 12, 14
Personal Digital Assistant 11, 12, 14
Personal Digital Assistants 7
Personal Interactive Electronics 7
Picture phone 12
Print 15
Sales automation 8
Sharp OZ-9600 20
Slate 16
Star Wars 9
Starcore 16, 18
Steve Jobs 9
Strategic Mapping 16
Voyager 12
Wireless communicator 12
Wireless technology 8
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