Any Newton Owners Still Around?

[ThisOldMacHead]

Being a Mac user for 25+ years and an Apple user for even longer, I take great pride in using all of my older systems. I also enjoy taking my portable, retro-tech out to use in public whenever possible and nothing garners so many comments and questions as does my trusty, old MessagePad 2000. I bought this Newton on close-out in 1998 and still have the box with all the original documentation, disks, and accessories. I used it daily from '98 to '07 when I finally replaced it with the original iPhone.

While it doesn't get nearly as much use these days, I still enjoy breaking it out from time to time. Maybe it's just me... But I get all warm and fuzzy using this 18 year old brick, especially when utilizing "modern" technologies like wifi, to browse "modern" sites like MacRumors!

So how about everyone else... Any other closet Newton users?

 

[MacTech68]

I never got a chance to get into NewtonOS. Pretty poor market penetration over here.

That said, I do have an eMate, but it stays in the cupboard and has done since I got it.

Pretty impressive what those old girls can still achieve today.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

I used a Newton 120 with a Portable StyleWriter as my mobile business' invoice-and-receipt-printing system as late as 2007. Still have them all.

 

[calden]

I used to really enjoy my Newton 2100 and was even extremely upset when Apple discontinued the line. However I quickly bounced back when I bought a Psion 5 MX and than a Psion NetBook. They were just better devices in almost every regard. I still use the Netbook today, when at home as a remote terminal and a Big Brother client to manage my servers. I also like to take it on long trips as the battery life is just incredible and it still does pretty much everything that I still need a current computer to do. When I had to travel to Australia for work the guy next to me who had a Samsung Tab Pro kept teasing me about how ancient my NetBook was and how poor I must be. About 6 hours into the flight his tablet of course died and I kept going. I have a bunch of game emulators installed so I played my games, even brought along my Sega USB controller. Watched movies, finished of a proposal, played around with the application builder and created a little report maker, etc. When the battery finally died, the guy turned to me and said, looks like your now in the same boat as me, nope and just inserted in a fresh battery, in which I have 4. At the end of the flight the guy asked me where he could get one, I exchanged info with him and sent him a link to a guy in the UK who refurbishes them. He sent me an email about a week later and said that he to had gotten one and loves it. He now uses it more than his tablet.

It's funny, as I watch mobile technology progress I can't help but think that in a lot of ways we have moved backwards a little when it comes to actual productivity. Sure, things like social media, content consumption, gaming are light years ahead now but using your mobile device to get work done I think has become worst over the years. Take the first iPhone for instance, when it was first released it was hailed as evolutionary and the next step of mobile computing. I absolutely hated my first iPhone, it couldn't do 10% of what I was doing with my already 3 year old Nokia 9500 Communicator at the time. It actually wasn't until the iPhone 5s and iOS 7 that the platform even started to catch up, let alone surpass what I was doing in 2004 with my Nokia 9500.

 

[splorp]

There are still hundred of active Newton users (and aficionados) on the NewtonTalk mailing list.

I should know, I’m the list dad.

Believe it or not, there’s still a small development community as well. Working on things like an internet wifi board, the Einstein emulator, and documentation for NewtonScript.

 

[Algus]

I've got an HP Jornada around here somewhere. I loved PDAs and Pocket PCs in the late 90s/00s! I always wanted to get a Dell Axim but by the time I was in position to be able to afford one, the iPhone had made its debut and Pocket PCs were basically dead, having all been replaced by smartphones.

I was still in grade school when the Newton was widely available so pretty much at the mercy of my parents as far as tech went, heh.

 

[CooperBox]

This thread has re-kindled a desire to eventually get one of these fascinating Newton MessagePads.
One of the problems is, I get the impression they didn't sell too well in Europe, and consequently when they do appear in the market place here, the asking prices appear rather 'silly'. I've seen the same MessagePad 120 appearing for quite some time, with the box and some software for the equivalent of $200. My gut feeling is that this is excessive, and as it seems to get re-listed from time to time, I guess other prospective MessagePad seekers think the same way.
If it was a 2000 model perhaps I may pay that amount in excellent working condition. But what do I know? Not a lot I guess.
Now, if it was a MassagePad.........

 

[elemenohme]

All I have left from my many Newton devices is the wooden prototype unit that I got at one of the Newton Developer Conferences in Cupertino and a button from the introduction at Macworld that says "I saw it. I did it. I want it."

 

[A.Goldberg]

I have a MessagePad 120 with original box, fax modem, and a desktop connection kit.

I don't know what to make of the Newton OS. On one hand, it's awful, on the other, it's way ahead of its time.