Comments on: UPDATE: Sign of the Times: From Pen Computing to RV http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/ Sun, 27 May 2012 08:45:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: ArchiMark http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420169 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:48:05 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420169 I just purchased his album off of CDBaby with downloadable MP3 option….so, have his album now….

Also, I emailed David last night wishing him well, letting him know how much his columns meant to me, that I was purchasing his album, and letting all my tweeps know about it…

He emailed me back today thanking me for the good wishes and letting me know that he’s determined to get through this troubling time and make it in music…

So, all of you that loved his columns, please show your support by getting his album!

]]> By: borax99 (Alain C.) http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420168 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:23:52 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420168 This kvetching is all well and good, but I do hope everyone is checking out David’s site. Sounds like the fella needs a helping hand… and his columns were very very useful to the Newtonian tribe !

]]> By: James Kendrick http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420167 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:55:27 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420167 ritePen, written by the Evernote people. They are the ones who did the Newton HWR.

]]> By: Decade http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420166 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:20:01 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420166 No, James, the iPhone is only incredible if you’re used to cell phones. For me, the iPhone is merely impressive.

The crippled Cocoa programming environment of the iPhone just can’t compare with what NewtonScript could do.

MacOS X is powerful, but the paradigm of shutting down a program and launching another, and waiting for it to load, seems incredibly primitive. The NewtonOS was built for speed, on a slower device. Due to the prototype-based object-oriented environment, even built-in applications could be extended, without waiting for brittle C-based extension APIs.

]]> By: borax99 (Alain C.) http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420165 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:59:28 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420165 Good one JK …

but …

Nahhhh, remember how improved HWR was on the MP2K ?

So current state of the art: Capacitive touch, check. Vivid colors, check. Now give me Calligrapher 9.0, or Inkwell 2009, or whatever you want to call it….

Wonder if the rumoured Mac Tablet will ever show up ?

Still won’t buy it though …

8-D

]]> By: James Kendrick http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420164 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:29:31 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420164 “but the current state of the art clearly shows that, if Apple had kept the Newton platform going, we would have had an incredible, full-colour device with a high-contrast screen by now… argh.”

Would that be the iPhone 3G S? :)

]]> By: borax99 (Alain C.) http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420163 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:03:02 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420163 I consider myself a Newton O.G. – owned a version 1.0. Words and period Doonesbury cartoons cannot do justice to how badly the HWR sucked on that device ! Still have its carcass around the house somewhere.

Then hope dawned again with the Newton Message Pad 2000, fondly known as the MP2K. One little hardware refresh later (MP 2100), and Jobs killed it. Still have that carcass around the house, too.

I don’t live near Cupertino, or you can bet I would have been protesting at Apple’s door. To this day, I refuse to shell out even a thin dime on anything Apple, and this includes iTunes. I will go check out David’s music, all right (I too followed his Pen Computing column religiously), but I would rather get a physical CD than put a penny in Apple’s coffers.

Not that I’m bitter or anything…

8-)

but the current state of the art clearly shows that, if Apple had kept the Newton platform going, we would have had an incredible, full-colour device with a high-contrast screen by now… argh.

Pen Computing was one of my all-time favourite tech mags. While I appreciate blogs like this one very much, (they are my new lifeline) I can’t help but hark back to the thrill of find a new issue of Pen Computing on the newsstands and rushing out of there with my nose already in the magazine checking out the new features !

]]> By: Juan http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420162 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:11:32 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420162 I forgot to say: happiness cannot be measured in square feet.

Also, why do you Americans still use that ackward measure, square feet? It is quite difficult to convert to square meters without a calculator, and I just cannot realize how much is 300 ft^2 – after googling it, it is small but not ridiculous: 27 m^2

]]> By: Juan http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420161 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:08:42 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420161 Once and again I read about these stories and I still resist to believe them. I live in Spain, and as in the rest of Europe, if you break your ankle in an accident or something and you don’t have a private assurance, Public Health System take cares of you for free. I feel really bad when I read about a rich country which don’t want to take care of their citizens when their luck is over.

Come on, ruined after an accident? It is totally outrageus.

At the same time, thanks for the story, James. It put gadget passion in its place… far below important things in live.

]]> By: Aaron http://gigaom.com/mobile/sign-of-the-times-from-pen-computing-to-rv/#comment-420160 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:39:47 +0000 http://jkontherun.com/?p=37500#comment-420160 Pen Computing was one of my favorite print magazines. At a time when I was also reading PC Magazine and other mainstream mags like it, it stood out because of thoughtful and interesting reviews (not simply rehashes of the spec sheet). In addition, they started a “case study” feature at one point that really set the mag apart–showing real people using real devices that had been featured in the magazine. I had originally bought it for the Psion/EPOC column, which never really took off like I’d hoped it would, but the rest of the mag was superb.

Since it’s fun to walk down memory lane, here is my own PDA journey:

1) Sharp WiZ–Japanese PDA that had tons of great features (most notable for me was the excellent dictionary and handwriting/Kanji recognition)

2) Psion Series 5–never was there a more usable keyboard on a pocketable machine, excellent apps

3) Handspring Visor Deluxe–curse you Springboard!!!

4) Sharp Zaurus–if the Angstrom projects still actively supported the SL-5500, I’d still be using it today

5) Fossil PDA watch–used only occasionally, have been thinking about resurrecting it again. What do you want for $49 on TigerDirect?

6) Palm TX–great machine, still use it as a web pad of sorts

7) Samsung Blackjack–oh how I loathe Windows Mobile, even harder to synchronize on Linux than Palm products

Next: Palm Eos or new Android device on AT&T. . .

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