[muglo] Re: palm pilot

On Friday, May 30, 2003, at 08:59 PM, Alex wrote:

> well, I guess a palm is great if all youre doing is keeping names and
> dates. A newton, while bigger, is a excellent size when you're
> actually using it.... as in, writing on it.

Well, I think the Newton was right on track with where it was going, 
but Apple stupidly stopped developing it. With current technology, the 
Newton could be a highly competitive piece of technology. But Apple 
killed it. We could easily see Newtons with half the weight and no 
larger than the screen. And they'd probably use CompactFlash and/or SD 
for expansion - up to 4 GB in a CF card, 802.11b on a CF, Bluetooth on 
a SD or CF card, cellular modem on a CD card, etc.

As it stands, there are a lot of devices the come close to this... the 
Zaurus has the expansion (CF and SD), an excellent screen, all in under 
8 oz but a bit small of a screen - a compromise to make it Palm sized. 
As a final touch, it runs Linux and the OS can be configured, 
literally, any way you like. This is going to be my next non-laptop 
computer purchase.

Other options include larger tablets - much larger than the Newton. 
There are also sub-notebooks - a number of which weigh in at less than 
2 lbs and include a keyboard - on which you can type much, much faster 
than any form of writing. And the protected, fold-up design can be much 
sturdier than the screen-exposed PDAs and tablets when closed.

>
> I doubt that you can use graffiti on a palm to take notes in
> meetings/classes, etc. Can you write on a palm as quickly as on
> paper, and have the palm recognize that writing?
> A newton is just like paper....

Actually, yes. I can write on my Palm with Graffiti as fast as with 
paper. And I can write almost without looking. I often take notes on my 
Palm when my laptop isn't convenient or inappropriate.

>
>
>> The Newton is certainly an interesting platform, but it isn't
>> pocket-sized (if I recall, it weighs about 1 pound). The palm weighs
>> under 5 oz. I really appreciate the Newton and respect those who use
>> it, but I cannot honestly recommend it to most of my clients. And for
>> those clients who want more computer and are willing to deal with a
>> more complicated software, I usually can best recommend the Zaurus - a
>> Linux-based PDA with greater expansion options and more software
>> (virtually all *nix applications can be used with a recompile). A few
>> other comments:
>>
>> On Friday, May 30, 2003, at 08:21 PM, Alex wrote:
>>
>>>  Palm??? you cant even write on a palm... well, you can, but it won't
>>>  know what you said.
>>
>> The Palm has text input through Graffiti, a somewhat modified 
>> technique
>> for writing. Most people have no problem learning it in a matter of
>> minutes. So whether you could say that "you can't even write on a
>> palm.. you cant even write on a palm... well, you can, but it won't
>> know what you said." is somewhat debatable.
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes, the Newton is but syncing data isn't exactly like install Palm
>> Desktop and press the button on the Palm. Not high ease of use at all.
>
>
> hmmm.... I think the newton to mac/pc connection SW is pretty easy to 
> use.

Well, once set up, so many things are easy to use, it's just that 
novice users can be intimidated easily. Why doesn't everybody run neat 
open-source X11 apps? Installing Fink is quite simple yet too hard for 
users to deal with. So many free options are out there that would work 
great for many people - OpenOffice, Gimp, etc - yet they don't because 
downloading an installer for Fink and and installer for Apple's X11, 
then running them, dropping a few lines of text into a file and saving 
in in your user folder. Then just type "fink install openoffice" or 
"fink install gimp" and enter your password. It's not hard yet so many 
people *pay* for software that could do the exact same thing.

>
> The range of uses that newtons have far exceed all the PDA's
> currently for sale, and even some laptops. It really should never
> have been called a PDA... is is actually
> something very different.

As far as the functions of the Newton, it was certainly a very 
impressive piece of technology at the time. If you're willing to use 
special software and consider the "real" possibilities of a piece of 
hardware, I challenge you to compare the Newton to the Sharp Zaurus. 
You get regular handwriting recognition, amazing expansion, endless 
software possibilities (the OS can be completely flashed, other linux 
distros are available) including X11 and KDE. The expansion 
capabilities exceed that of the newton (more hardware is supported - 
ethernet, 802.11b, cellular data, bar code scanning, bluetooth, compact 
flash/sd memory, 56k modem, and more), the size is smaller, the screen 
is color, the processor is faster, and the software is more flexible 
(virtually anything can be run because the device runs the Linux kernel 
- even most traditional X11 desktop apps like OpenOffice, Gimp, etc all 
open-source and free). The biggest disadvantage is the biggest 
advantage: it's small size.


Galen P. Zink
Computer Consultant
Mac Specialist - Clark County, WA
(360) 687-9680 - main
(360) 601-2198 - cell


_________________________________________________

For information concerning the MUGLO List just click on

           http://muglo.on.ca/pages/members.html#Joinmuglo

Don't forget to periodically check our web site at:

           http://muglo.on.ca/

Other related posts: