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| The Newton, The First PDA |
Anecdotes about the development of the Newton, the world's first PDA. (11 stories) 
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 LISP: The root of Newton Toolkit
Newton ToolKit started life as a LISP prototype that was used in early Alpha 3rd party developer kitchens
Date: August 1992
Author: Maurice Sharp
Topics: NTK,Third Party Developers
Rating:  (5.00)
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Getting In on the Ground Floor
A young third-party developer describes his enthusiasm about the Newton launch. From Usenet.
Date: August 1993
Author: Paul Potts
Topics: The Newton Launch,Third Party Developers
Rating:  (3.00)
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 You're Not Supposed to Lose Data
A third-party developer writes on Usenet about the philosophy behind the Newton's data store.
Date: November 1993
Author: Paul Potts
Topics:
Rating:  (4.00)
 ne of the design goals of the Newton was to make it so that the user wasn't at risk for losing data. The system has a backup lithium battery which should be able to maintain the contents of memory for many years. Losing the contents of memory when the main batteries go dead is unacceptable performance. In fact, I've run mine down *many* times, to the point where the Newton goes dead or won't start up, and never lost the data in memory. *It's not supposed to happen.* The battery going dead is not some weird anomaly, it's normal, everyday behavior. The system doesn't say that you might lose data when the battery gets low, it just says you should change them soon. If you've lost all your data because the main battery went dead, there is some problem with your Newton; maybe the backup battery isn't live or making proper contact; maybe there is a hardware or software problem. I'd talk to SOS-Apple and try to get it fixed.
If letting the battery go dead puts you at risk for losing all the data in your Newton, Apple didn't meet its design goals, and the Newton is certainly not friendly enough to be used by ordinary people, who make mistakes (like leaving it on overnight, letting it get cold, forgetting to carry spare batteries, don't have the opportunity to change the batteries right away, etc). Assuming that the result of a user error should rightly be all data loss is typical of poor design, not good design. If this were really the case, I'd say we all should return our Newtons immediately!
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Newton Jabberwocky
What recognizing "Jabberwocky" teaches us about the Newton's handwriting recognition algorithms. From a Usenet posting.
Date: December 1993
Author: Paul Potts
Topics: Handwriting Recognition,The Original MessagePad,The Print Recognizer
Comments: 1
Rating: (4.00)
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Like a Bug Under a Microscope
A third-party developer recounts his brief involvement with an early Newton development effort.
Date: March 1994
Author: Paul Potts
Topics: Third Party Developers
Rating: (5.00)
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A MessagePad Memory Primer
There is more than one kind of memory in the Newton. A third-party developer elaborates on Usenet.
Date: April 1994
Author: Paul Potts
Topics: Third Party Developers
Rating: (4.00)
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A Kick Under the Table
A third-party developer recounts further adventures with startup Fry Multimedia, trying to sell Newton development.
Date: June 1994
Author: Paul Potts
Topics:
Rating: (3.00)
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Newton Applications Use Heap Space
The Newton's radically different application architecture could occasionally be surprising to developers. Notes posted to Usenet by a third-party developer.
Date: August 1995
Author: Paul Potts
Topics: Third Party Developers
Rating: (4.00)
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The Alternatives are a Real Step Backwards
A third-party developer reflects on the death of the Newton. From Usenet.
Date: March 1998
Author: Paul Potts
Topics: Third Party Developers
Rating: (5.00)
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A Free Newton with Your Plastic Pen, Sir?
How I learned of the Newton and fell in love. By a third-party hardware developer.
Date: undated
Author: Frank Gruendel
Topics: The Original MessagePad,Third Party Developers
Rating: (3.00)
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Faxing is Easy!
Hardware developer Frank and his second half use the Newton's faxing feature for the first time.
Date: undated
Author: Frank Gruendel
Topics: Newton features,Third Party Developers,The Original MessagePad
Rating: (3.00)
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