Wow, it still works...
May. 5th, 2007 07:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prusikHistorically, the problem everyone has with a Newton is getting data on and off the thing. (Apparently, this was a problem even at the time.) I actually have that licked as much as I need to. I'm using it as an electronic notebook so I all really need is to be able to move text files on and off the thing. Thanks to a PCMCIA bluetooth card and appropriate Newton driver software, I can do that. (What's amusing here is that the reason why my Mac is bluetooth capable is because I checked that option by accident when configuring my PowerMac G5 at the Apple Store website. Who knew that three years later, I'd actually use it?)
However, using a Newton sometimes means running some very old software. e.g., syncing utilities, development software. There actually are syncing utilities which run on modern hardware so that's not that big a deal. Also, if most of my data are text files, manual backup via BlueTooth is good enough. Development software is much more tempting.
All I expected from the MP2000U is for it to be an electronic notebook. It actually does that really well. Surprisingly, it does this better than my Tablet PC running PenOffice, which is a later generation of the same handwriting recognizer. I suspect that there is some weird interaction between PenOffice and my Tablet PC screwing it up though. Otherwise, I'm left to believe that PenOffice is hardwired for only one screen orientation. That's unacceptable for any program intended to work on a Tablet PC. It's a good thing I found this out during the free evaluation period.
However, now that I know the Newton is useful, I'm going for bonus points. I'd like for it to be the only computing device I carry with me when I travel. Now, I don't think this is totally unreasonable. My computing needs when I travel are pretty minimal. I'll have an iPod and cellphone. So, I need something which can be an electronic notebook, and a basic web browser.
The electronic notebook bit is done. However, web browsers for the Newton are current as of around the year 2000. It's going to have problems with any web site whose content is not primarily in HTML. Oddly, if all I want to do is check the few web sites I read regularly and check my e-mail, this isn't a problem. Those web sites are a predominantly text. In particular, the web mail sites all have a plain HTML mode. The problem turns out to be SSL, or the lack thereof. Ideally, I'd like to log into my web mail sites via https. (Perhaps it doesn't actually make a difference. It makes me feel better though.) If there were an SSL for NewtonOS, then it's pretty likely I actually could get by with just the Newton when I travel. (My computing needs when I travel are pretty modest. Chances are, if I'm travelling, the reason why I'm travelling keeps me too busy to use whatever computer I bring with me.)
This brings me back to development software, which, of course, originally ran on a 68K based Mac running Systems 7 or 8. As it turns out, I still own one of those: a PowerBook 520c. Yes, the last of the Apple 68K laptops. I bought it in 1994 as I was finishing grad school. No, I'm not going to develop for the Newton on the thing. For one thing, the battery died a while ago so it operates only on the power supply. For another, if I do any Newton development, I'd rather it be on my PowerMac G5.
So, obviously, the thing to do is to emulate a 10-15 year old Mac on my 3 year old Mac. Since I have a PowerBook 520c, I even have legal Mac ROMs with which to do it. I just powered up my PowerBook 520c and it still works. In fact, I found some text that I wrote in 2002. I don't even remember using it in 2002. I only ran it for a minute, it still seems perfectly usable. I will not be taking the 520c anywhere though. For one, the battery died a few years ago, so it operates only on AC power. For another, by modern standards, the laptop is quite thick and heavy. I will be liberating some data from it, then putting it back in the closet I found it. Fortunately, it's new enough that it came with built in ethernet. I just have to find the appropriate AAUI connector so I can hook it up to my router. (I might have lost mine since I've moved a few times since I last connected the 520c to ethernet.)
Am I seriously going to attempt porting an SSL to NewtonOS? (Of course, it wouldn't be just an SSL. I'd also have to modify the open source web browser to support https.) I have no idea. Porting anything to an unmaintained 10 year old platform may be a complete waste of time. Actually, the guy developing the Newton emulator, Einstein, argued this on the NewtonTalk mailing list. He, quite reasonably, argues that the future of NewtonOS, if there is one, is Einstein and Relativity, a compatibility layer to allow Einstein to access the capabilities of the machine it runs on. On the other hand, there hasn't been a new release of Einstein in a while and all existing betas have expired. i.e., no one is actually running Einstein right now. So, if there is to be a future for NewtonOS, there needs to be a stopgap. And this would be a very limited stopgap.
(There would still be many, many websites that would be unusable for either hardware or software reasons. I mean, there is an open source flash player. In theory, one could port it to NewtonOS, then attempt to watch videos from YouTube on one's MP2000U. In practice, I don't know why one would do this except to see how well or poorly it works.)
Like I said, this is for bonus points. If all I ever use the Newton for is an electronic notebook, it will have done all that I need it for and all I expected to use it for. I'm not necessarily concerned that NewtonOS has a future, except that the handwriting recognition really does work pretty well for me. I'd really like to enter text at least as easily in the next computing widget I buy at this form factor or smaller. (The argument is, with an SSL, I may not have to buy another widget until handwriting recognition comes back into vogue, or someone develops something that works even better for me.) One could also argue that the first piece of software one ports to an unfamiliar platform ought not be system software. Also, I don't know that I could be committed to supporting it.
Oh, as for actual writing, I have one story still out, fate yet to be determined. I have three stories that I should send out but haven't because I'm currently rewriting one, with the other two in the queue. Finished the rewrite of "Away From Home" last night. I'm editing it now. (Also, it may not be named "Away From Home" by the time I'm done.) If I'm not actually selling anything, I've still learned an awful lot about writing.
However, using a Newton sometimes means running some very old software. e.g., syncing utilities, development software. There actually are syncing utilities which run on modern hardware so that's not that big a deal. Also, if most of my data are text files, manual backup via BlueTooth is good enough. Development software is much more tempting.
All I expected from the MP2000U is for it to be an electronic notebook. It actually does that really well. Surprisingly, it does this better than my Tablet PC running PenOffice, which is a later generation of the same handwriting recognizer. I suspect that there is some weird interaction between PenOffice and my Tablet PC screwing it up though. Otherwise, I'm left to believe that PenOffice is hardwired for only one screen orientation. That's unacceptable for any program intended to work on a Tablet PC. It's a good thing I found this out during the free evaluation period.
However, now that I know the Newton is useful, I'm going for bonus points. I'd like for it to be the only computing device I carry with me when I travel. Now, I don't think this is totally unreasonable. My computing needs when I travel are pretty minimal. I'll have an iPod and cellphone. So, I need something which can be an electronic notebook, and a basic web browser.
The electronic notebook bit is done. However, web browsers for the Newton are current as of around the year 2000. It's going to have problems with any web site whose content is not primarily in HTML. Oddly, if all I want to do is check the few web sites I read regularly and check my e-mail, this isn't a problem. Those web sites are a predominantly text. In particular, the web mail sites all have a plain HTML mode. The problem turns out to be SSL, or the lack thereof. Ideally, I'd like to log into my web mail sites via https. (Perhaps it doesn't actually make a difference. It makes me feel better though.) If there were an SSL for NewtonOS, then it's pretty likely I actually could get by with just the Newton when I travel. (My computing needs when I travel are pretty modest. Chances are, if I'm travelling, the reason why I'm travelling keeps me too busy to use whatever computer I bring with me.)
This brings me back to development software, which, of course, originally ran on a 68K based Mac running Systems 7 or 8. As it turns out, I still own one of those: a PowerBook 520c. Yes, the last of the Apple 68K laptops. I bought it in 1994 as I was finishing grad school. No, I'm not going to develop for the Newton on the thing. For one thing, the battery died a while ago so it operates only on the power supply. For another, if I do any Newton development, I'd rather it be on my PowerMac G5.
So, obviously, the thing to do is to emulate a 10-15 year old Mac on my 3 year old Mac. Since I have a PowerBook 520c, I even have legal Mac ROMs with which to do it. I just powered up my PowerBook 520c and it still works. In fact, I found some text that I wrote in 2002. I don't even remember using it in 2002. I only ran it for a minute, it still seems perfectly usable. I will not be taking the 520c anywhere though. For one, the battery died a few years ago, so it operates only on AC power. For another, by modern standards, the laptop is quite thick and heavy. I will be liberating some data from it, then putting it back in the closet I found it. Fortunately, it's new enough that it came with built in ethernet. I just have to find the appropriate AAUI connector so I can hook it up to my router. (I might have lost mine since I've moved a few times since I last connected the 520c to ethernet.)
Am I seriously going to attempt porting an SSL to NewtonOS? (Of course, it wouldn't be just an SSL. I'd also have to modify the open source web browser to support https.) I have no idea. Porting anything to an unmaintained 10 year old platform may be a complete waste of time. Actually, the guy developing the Newton emulator, Einstein, argued this on the NewtonTalk mailing list. He, quite reasonably, argues that the future of NewtonOS, if there is one, is Einstein and Relativity, a compatibility layer to allow Einstein to access the capabilities of the machine it runs on. On the other hand, there hasn't been a new release of Einstein in a while and all existing betas have expired. i.e., no one is actually running Einstein right now. So, if there is to be a future for NewtonOS, there needs to be a stopgap. And this would be a very limited stopgap.
(There would still be many, many websites that would be unusable for either hardware or software reasons. I mean, there is an open source flash player. In theory, one could port it to NewtonOS, then attempt to watch videos from YouTube on one's MP2000U. In practice, I don't know why one would do this except to see how well or poorly it works.)
Like I said, this is for bonus points. If all I ever use the Newton for is an electronic notebook, it will have done all that I need it for and all I expected to use it for. I'm not necessarily concerned that NewtonOS has a future, except that the handwriting recognition really does work pretty well for me. I'd really like to enter text at least as easily in the next computing widget I buy at this form factor or smaller. (The argument is, with an SSL, I may not have to buy another widget until handwriting recognition comes back into vogue, or someone develops something that works even better for me.) One could also argue that the first piece of software one ports to an unfamiliar platform ought not be system software. Also, I don't know that I could be committed to supporting it.
Oh, as for actual writing, I have one story still out, fate yet to be determined. I have three stories that I should send out but haven't because I'm currently rewriting one, with the other two in the queue. Finished the rewrite of "Away From Home" last night. I'm editing it now. (Also, it may not be named "Away From Home" by the time I'm done.) If I'm not actually selling anything, I've still learned an awful lot about writing.
