Dan Benjamin’s Newton

Uh, time for a new wrist wrest, there, buddy.

If I could find a suitable replacement for this Wrist Pad™, I’d do it. That being said, this one if way overdue for a scrub.

Back in July, Dan Benjamin and John Gruber mentioned the Newton (and alluded to yours truly) at the tail end of the third episode of their podcast, The Talk Show. You can listen the audio snippet here.

One of the stipulations of getting on the show was to provide Dan with a technological point of reference, that being an actual, functioning Newton device which he could compare and contrast with an iPhone. The easy part was agreeing to the transaction. The tough part was the interpretation of that darn word “functioning”.

After several weeks of diddling with software, reconditioning battery packs, installing drivers and finally getting a creaky 3Com EtherLink card to talk to my Mac … it’s done. Dan’s Newton MessagePad 2100 is packaged and ready for shipment, along with all of the necessary digital assistant accoutrements.

What you see is what you’re getting.

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Comments

D'Arcy Norman says:

dayum. what about MY podcast discussing iPhone vs. Newton? I'd mention you twice, even.
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

rgibsonphoto says:

I remember those things. Sweet. Good on ya for all the work!
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

Dan Rubin says:

Hmm, guess I'll need to dig mine out and have an Apple PDA-fest...
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

morgant says:

I'm finding that Bluetooth is really the way to go with the Newton these days. It's too bad there are never extra Pico Bluetooth cards sitting around in North America to send to Dan as well.
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

Hivelogic says:

I'm totally psyched I am to be getting this.

I owned a Newton back in the day (the second model they released I think) and I loved it. Never should have sold it.
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

Stephen Hackett says:

man, I miss mine. my iPhone is sweet, but the Newton was just amazing.
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

dvsjr says:

G-dog Is the wireless newton driver from "driver labo" out of the question now? Any info you've heard? If registration is closed, Im guessing getting a new Newton wireless driver is not gonna happen. I have more Newts (and some eMates) I could monkey around with but I stop right here at the closed driver. What have you heard?
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

splorp says:

@D’Arcy You got pod, I got cast.

@Mr Gibson A lot of people remember them, but it’s amazing how many people see one now and wonder if it’s something new from Apple. It doesn’t have the “i” aesthetic, but they still seem undated to me.

@Mr Rubin Get on it, Dan. I’ll even help you set up your own handheld web server.

@Morgan I probably would have gone the Bluetooth route, but alas, I haven't ventured into that tech yet myself. Sounds like the timing may be right, however, as Eckhart Köppen is making strides with his Blunt 2.0 Bluetooth protocol stack.

@Mr Benjamin I like to think I’m playing the part of Mr. Roarke in an episode of Fantasy Island that stars obsoleted hardware platforms.

@Stephen Never use the past tense. The Newton still is amazing.

@David Hiroshi open-sourced the WaveLan driver code during the Worldwide Newton Conference this past July. I know several people are looking at it, including Paul Guyot and Eckhart. A bit more information can be found in Morgan’s WWNC 2007 Roundup post.
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

morgant says:

@David The open-sourced version of the WaveLAN drivers that Grant linked to also contains an unlocked copy of the driver, so no registration required.

I haven't tested the unlocked version myself, but that's because I already have a registered copy installed and don't use my WiFi all that often. Bluetooth is just easier for sending small snippets of data to-and-fro and doesn't drain the battery as quickly.

@Grant It'll definitely be good to see Eckhart's Blunt 2.0 when it hits beta. Until then, his current version of Blunt is actually pretty stable for me.
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

stevenf says:

Ooh, a keyboard case. I don't have a keyboard case.

Or an AA tray come to think of it.

Time to start a podcast! I'll call it FRANKBACK
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

splorp says:

Or “Frank ’n’ Sense”. Har.

If you’re in need of a keyboard case, ping me … I can prolly dig one up.
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

Doctor John Smith says:

You know, I keep seeing that kind of wrist rest everywhere.
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

splorp says:

If you find a source for new wrist rests like this one, please let me know. I’m dying for a replacement … and a couple of spares.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

methodshop.com says:

i spent weeks getting my old Apple Newton on the Internet. once i did... the thrill was gone. i havent touched it in over a year
Posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )

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Dan Benjamin’s Newton

Comments

D'Arcy Norman says:

rgibsonphoto says:

Dan Rubin says:

morgant says:

Hivelogic says:

Stephen Hackett says:

dvsjr says:

splorp says:

morgant says:

stevenf says:

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Doctor John Smith says:

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methodshop.com says:

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