Old vs New

[zuben el genub]

Watch Apple's Old Newton PDA Try To Keep Up With an iPhone

This applies equally to Palm. I fire up the Sony Clie from time to time and I find it really decent except for screen size.

Palm could do wifi. Newton, Win CE, and Palm could do movies and use other entertainment. You could print from them. Astromist for Palm (now Apple only) could control a telescope. Palm had a rudimentary payment app. The games were pretty good, too.

You didn't have live view. If you didn't have a keyboard you needed to learn Graffiti. You needed a stylus for a touch screen. You didn't have NFC, but you had IR. IR worked. I used to do our broadcast calendar and save it as a pdf. Used IR to put it on everyone's Palm. Desktop sync worked pretty much like KIES does now. The Sony UX-50 was a clamshell with a keyboard.

A lot of the ideas aren't new - just better and newer technology and refinement.


L

 

[mikedt]

I had a Windows CE based GPS satnav about 10 years ago. Actually it was full blown CE, memory card, WiFi, Internet Exploder, could play movies, music, view photos, install software and games on it. I found it was rather fiddly to use though, because it was using the Start menu with a stylus on a resistive screen. A UI definitely not meant for fingers, because it was trying to be like a miniaturised desktop XP. If I still had it, no doubt it could still function and find some usage today.


I know the Apple Newton, because a company I worked at was using them for a while with their field staff, for job detailing etc. There was also a British, pen based PDA as well in the early 90s, the Amstrad PenPad, which was a sort of budget Newton wannabe. But it wasn't very good, which was usual for Amstrad, and much of what they did was cheapo and mediocre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PenPad
This thing was rather poor and unusable at the time, I wouldn't even think of trying to use one today.

 

[nickdalzell]

There was once either a Cnet or PC Magazine article (not sure if it were intended as a joke or not) that tried putting the iPhone 2G against the Newton. they used a cellular card in the Newton and compared capable apps (contacts, calendar, etc) with the iPhone's versions.

The Newton ended up winning.

All i know is i had one long ago, next to a Tandy Zoomer PDA that had similar features, and i was not really impressed at the time. i had a 56K modem card but it never worked right (none of the apps it could use were supported at the time including an old AOL app) and it tended to freeze, crash or just outright refuse to take any text in its recognition setup very well. i remember it eating batteries easily.

I suppose had it had proper support at the time it might have been a successful product, but Steve Jobs wasted no time in redacting any and all traces of the product from the lineup. when the first iPhone was being advertised, people here did say something about it being the 'Second coming of the Newton' and insisted in not buying.

I did have a set of HP Jornada Pocket PCs with a GPS setup and its corresponding apps, but given the convoluted nightmare it was, tons of cabling, a suction cup mounted GPS antenna that refused to stay affixed to the windshield, and horridly out-of-date apps today, i would not even bother with it compared to my new Garmin Nuvi unit i use today.

I do have my first Android device ever purchased, an old Kyros tablet running Android 2.1 Eclair, and other than being impressed that the sealed battery still holds decent charge (i am not sure if this speaks of the longevity of sealed batteries) i really come to appreciate current iterations of Android today. that version was a horrible nightmare when new, and even worse today if you update any of the Google apps on the thing. the only benefit it has is still being capable of using Android Market, which still works 100% while Google Play Store only works 50% of the time i use it.

 

[Dngrsone]

I have a Palm T|X, and it works pretty well, compared to the Samsung Galaxy S2 that replaced it.

I have an S4 now, and the Palm is a little slower on the uptake...

 

[jefboyardee]

I miss Grafitti... but I kept losing the stylus.

 

[EarlyMon]

I miss Grafitti... but I kept losing the stylus.

I haven't used this in forever but, here you go -

Check out "Graffiti Pro for Android"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.access_company.graffiti_pro

 

[mikedt]

All i know is i had one long ago, next to a Tandy Zoomer PDA that had similar features, and i was not really impressed at the time. i had a 56K modem card but it never worked right (none of the apps it could use were supported at the time including an old AOL app) and it tended to freeze, crash or just outright refuse to take any text in its recognition setup very well. i remember it eating batteries easily.

Never heard of that one, but was it like typical Radio Shack, i.e. often cheapo products, but sell them for high prices.

The Amstrad PenPad was cheapo, and that appeared about the same time as the Apple Newton, but it was absolute crap and was soon killed.

 

[jefboyardee]

Check out "Graffiti Pro for Android"

Missing it and actually wanting it back are two different things, but I'll try it later this week.

 

[zuben el genub]

There was also the Sharp Zaurus.

 

[jefboyardee]

Missing it and actually wanting it back are two different things, but I'll try it later this week.

Okay, I tried it and couldn't believe how incredible it was, way back when. Now it's just a trip down memory lane.

 

[nickdalzell]

There was a time i could use some old ancient computer or early version of Android to load these forums up and browse all nostalgic style. but now the new XF forces me to use a 'modern' browser. bye bye Windows 98 Toshiba Satellite Pro

MikeDT, the Zoomer was a Newton knockoff. it ran GeOS i think, had a lot of features including the CF slot and email, browsing, but touch response as well as handwriting recognition was every bit as bad if not worse than the Apple Newton.



Had a nifty built-in cover to protect the screen, though.

 

[mikedt]

Can see the problem. FWIW the traffic police were going to book me for causing an obstruction and holding up traffic on the expressway, bye bye 1928 black Ford Model T.

 

[nickdalzell]

I could have kept my 1984 Fifth Avenue (i loved the sound of the old Dodge starters) but at 18MPG and the inability of it to start in cold enough weather, had to scrap it. can't sell the things. nice cars but they sell used at like $450.





I have a sort of hypocrisy. i adore two conflicting things. old and new. there are times i'd love to own an old machine, car, TV, i drool over old Multiplex units with built-in TVs, i love the button tufted woodgrain interiors of older cars. but i also love modern things, like new Android tablets, smartphones, and the much more modern interior (not to mention all features working) of my 2005 Saturn.

While it looks cheaper overall and sounds cheap cranking over, it is sure nice to know i can get out in temps below 0 and know that it won't bomb out trying to start. my Fifth Avenue refused to start in temps below 30 degrees F, it would just sit there cranking, hitting every other time, until the battery went dead. you might get it going by pouring gas down the carb, but you'd get worse gas mileage in cold.

gotta love the consistency and ability to start in any weather and know it won't suck gas like a vampire. i took my Saturn ION to NC and MS and TN and not once did it flinch. i'd be afraid my Fifth Avenue would fall apart doing that--if my bank didn't first!