As of writing I am awaiting the arrival of my first Newton ever. I have
never owned or evened handled, for more than a few minutes in some
electronics barn, a PDA!
Once I understood the concept behind the PDA I knew I needed to have one.
Once I realized I needed to have one, it only took a few moments to figure
out that it had to be a Newton. The reason for these conclusions are as
follows:
1) I'm a scribbler. At work my desk is a blizzard of post it notes.
Telephone numbers scrawled here and there, on the backs of envelopes, note
pads partially filled with half sentences and addresses . . . you get the
picture. And can I locate one of these information packets 15 minutes after
creating it? Maybe.
More likely not. You get the picture more clearly.
2) I suffer from Macophilia. Love my current desktop, love reading about
what's coming next. I love surfing aimlessly from one Mac related site to
another. MacCentral, MacAddict, lowendmac, etc. etc. What's the latest
hardware? New OS coming soon . . .
3) I am a gadget freak. More specifically I am an Apple gadget freak. I'm
not sure exactly why this is, but I can tell you, I have only a passing
interest in other brands of gadgets. Sure I looked at the Palm line, then I
figured out I didn't want to spend several hundred dollars for an electronic
addressbook. (Hyperbole for emphasis? Perhaps)
Once I decided Newton, it narrowed quickly to a 130 or 2*00 series. The
price of the 130 was attractive relative to the 2*00, but the difference in
processing power was enormous. It just seemed to me that the 2*00
represented a major evolutionary step beyond the earlier models, and I began
to want one very badly. The more I read about it, the more I wanted . . .no
needed one. Why even the scribes from the other 97% of the puter world had
to admit the 2000 series Newt was one funky digital companion. Not that I
care what they think . . . I must have read that one in the dentist's
office.
Soon after making up my mind I began to perform the usual exercises in
rationalization. I'm sure most of you are familiar with them, even though
you have been deprived by His Jobsness of needing to think up new ones for a
MessagePad 3000. "This will help me get organized." " I'll be more efficient
at work" " I can get those 243 pens out of my glove box" " I won't have to
keep looking through the receipts and scraps of paper in my wallet for
important telephone numbers"
And forget about the "spousal justification training" I underwent. How
about " Now I'll always remember our anniversary honey!" I can't recall any
others at the moment. (It's almost sad really)
Having lurked around Ebay for ages, studying the selling prices of the
various Newts, I began to despair of ever finding a 2100 for much under
about $1000 CAN. That's the other big bummer. All the really cool stuff
demands hard, cold US currency. With the exchange hovering around a buck and
a half (Loonies to Washingtons), I was having to spend extra time in
rationalization mode. To cut to the chase, I casually tossed a low ball bid
in on an upgraded 2000 package, fully expecting it to get stomped in the 2
days remaining in auction. As it turned out . . . .
I 've now been tracking that puppy on ups.com like a nervous granny.
Somewhere between San Antonio and Windsor, the object of my obsession moves
ever so slowly towards my door.
What I find so strange about the whole process, is not only how excited I am
to actually get my hands on it (far too excited for a grown man I should
think), but also how I feel as if I will be somehow joining something.
Becoming a part of some larger community of . . . of . . . of what? Of
likeminded weirdos who badly need to get a life? ;) Perhaps.
More likely it is the larger sense of people who have been brought together
by an expresson of technology. A technology that somehow allows and
encourages its user to feel both connected and liberated at the same time.
On top all this, judging by the kinds of things Newton users say when they
speak of their machines, the Newton seems to become an extension of
personality or at least lifestyle. A mass produced device that somehow can
enhance the user's sense of being unique and individual. This is a rare
thing indeed. Too rare, because this was part of the promise of personal
computing. At least in Cupertino at some time it was.
I hope readers will forgive the length of this post. I'm sure this all
sounds a bit over the top, but when I surf what remains of the online Newton
universe, and read both what and how people talk of this device, I'm
convinced I'm not alone.
Here's to everyone on newtontalk! And here's to the brown van showing up at
my door real soon!!
"Any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from
magic"
Arthur C. Clarke.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Feb 01 2000 - 00:01:36 EST