newtontalk-digest V2 #1069"dvvr\TEXTR*chE^|^|YSubject: newtontalk-digest V2 #1069 Date: 6/12/99 10:36 PM Received: 6/13/99 1:02 AM From: newtontalk-digest, owner-newtontalk-digest@esosoft.com Reply-To: newtontalk@esosoft.com To: newtontalk-digest@esosoft.com Questions about the list? Send email to . The NewtonTalk website is http://www.newtontalk.com. ***** This month of NewtonTalk is sponsored by: Dash Board, the ultimate Newton button bar and hierarchical menu system developed by Five Speed Software, Inc. WWW: http://www.fivespeed.com newtontalk-digest Saturday, June 12 1999 Volume 02 : Number 1069 Ntlk Option firstfone gsm card ["Marcel van der Boom" ] Ntlk Re: What System [Kurt Amacker ] Ntlk Top 10 Signs that you're an absolute Newton PowerU [Wremsson@aol.com] Ntlk Can PDA's survive? (Long!) ["Dr. Peter Rand" ] Ntlk Re: EZ access [RobertRuff@aol.com] Re: Ntlk Organizer synching [RobertRuff@aol.com] RE: Ntlk More News on The P1 (& Sidekick?) ["Kyle H. Powderly" ] Ntlk Re: notes to desktop ["Paul F. Butler" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 14:08:30 +0200 From: "Marcel van der Boom" Subject: Ntlk Option firstfone gsm card Hi, I have an option firstfone gsm card to test for a couple of days. Has anybody gotten this card to work in the Newton. Do I need a special modem script? Any help is appreciated. Marcel ------------------------------ Date: Sa, 12 Juni 1999 15:01:00 +0200 From: Kurt Amacker Subject: Ntlk Re: Infra-Red to mobile phones stack for a Newton implementation. Subject: Ntlk Re: What System 2100 and wanted to find out how I could determine Subject: Ntlk Can PDA's survive? (Long!) These are some of my thoughts on the current state of affairs in the PDA market.. Peter Can PDA's survive? So much is happening in the market for PDA's right now that it's hard to figure out what kind of machines we'll be using in just a year or two. Current technological developments are increasingly blurring the traditional lines between notebooks, PDA's and organizers. Notebooks, such as the Fujitsu Lifebook Biblio, are getting so small that users seriously have think twice about the justification for getting a PDA. Cellphones are also gradually incorporating basic organizer functions such as managing address, agenda and other information needed on the go, and some cellphones now even have the ability to fax, email and browse the web. Thus it appears that the market for PDA's is slowly being squeezed from above by ever-shrinking notebooks, and eroded from below by increasingly powerful cellphones. Will PDA's be able to survive this double threat from above and below? At present, nobody really knows. However, it's interesting to see how these market pressures are now influencing the strategies being pursued by PDA manufacturers. To me, it seems like five factors are increasingly dominating PDA developments: 1) desktop connectivity/compatibility issues 2) size 3) wireless communications 4) stand-alone capabilities, and 5) multimedia functions These factors are obviously being dictated by consumer preferences. Some want a simple device they can slip in their shirt pocket, while others are willing to accept a slightly larger size to have true stand-alone computing capabilities. The three major PDA systems currently competing on the market are a good example of how manufacturers are trying to find an optimal mix of the above five factors to appeal to consumers. It now seems obvious that there is no one machine that will appeal to all users. The Palm IIIx and VII series offer a high degree of desktop connectivity, a small size, good communications abilities but only limited stand-alone and multimedia capabilities. As a result, Palm users complain about the lack of color screens and multimedia abilities. As much of the Palm's functionality is already incorporated in the new generation of cellphones, at some point it seems likely that cellphone and Palm technology will merge into a single phone/organizer device. The Casio E-100 epitomizes the state-of-the-art for stylus-based WinCE devices. The color screen, fast processor and digital music abilities clearly make it the best device now on the market for multimedia applications. Desktop connectivity is improving, and third-market developers are rapidly churning out compatible hardware and software to take advantage of the unit's color screen and fast processor. Like the Palm, the Casio E-100 is more of a desktop companion than a full-fledged computer, and appeals to those interested in combining organizer functionality and desktop connectivity with multimedia capabilities such as digital music, gaming and color photography. Relatively little has been written about the unit's suitability for more mundane work-oriented applications such as word-processing, email and Internet (in fact, I haven't found _anything_ in this regard). The Psion Series 5 (which seems almost unknown in the US) represents the third and final approach being taken on the PDA market. Not nearly as small as the Palm or as colorful as the Casio E-100, the Psion Series 5 (the only unit mentioned here with an integrated keyboard) tries to offer full-sized computing power in a relatively small (jacket-pocket sized) package. Psion fans claim the built-in word-processing, spreadsheet and agenda functions easily rival - or even surpass - their desktop counterparts. The newest model, the Psion Series 5mx, has email, fax and frames-compatible browsing software built into ROM. Its ability to receive Word 97 email attachments and easily transfer formatted Word and Excel documents back and forth from a desktop make it the most independent workhorse of all the above systems. So will PDA's survive? I hope so - I think they're great. As long as notebooks, however small, don't have an instant-on feature and battery life that allows at least a full day of work, I'm not interested. Likewise, a cellphone/organizer without serious word-processing abilities is, for me, just a toy. So at present, neither notebooks nor cellphones seriously challenge the PDA's unique ability to provide their owners with a full day's worth of entertainment and serious work in such a small, easy-to-carry size. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 14:41 -0400 From: blue73@cityisp.net Subject: Ntlk Newton MP2100 $500 NEWTON 2100 upgrade by apple all documentation and boxes 1keyboard 2meg mem card 4meg mem card 33.6 modem upgradeable to 56k ACT on 3.5 floppy 2 write wrights lots of software 1 upgrade cd PRICE is not negotiable $500 plus fedex cod I have changed platforms and no longer need .the newt. REPLY TO lbotkin1@tampabay.rr.com thanks Larry Botkins 813-629-6909 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 14:58:08 -0400 From: James_Charney@FirstClass.choate.edu (James Charney) Subject: Ntlk Extras takes forever to open Hi, I've never had any problem opening my extras drawer until now. I finally braved a full Brain Wash of my MP 2100--did both a card to card backup and a NCU backup and restore--and all worked well (!!). As part of the process, I moved all my data from my old 12 Meg storage card to a new 24 Meg card (I'm using the smaller card now just for backups). Now, with the 24 Meg card in place with most of my packages and all my data, the Extras drawer takes easily 30 seconds to open--when before it opened immediately. I have no more apps or data in my MP then I did before--just on a larger card. It also is very slow to scroll through the list of packages when Extras is open--also a new development. Any idea why this is happening--and how to speed things up again!? (i tried a reset--no improvement!) Thanks, Jim Charney ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 18:15 -0600 (MDT) From: Christopher Browne Subject: Ntlk Best ISP for Newton - ------------------ >Any suggestions for an ISP (National) that I could use with the Newton to >browse the Web - ------------------ I am using IBM Net with great success. The settings are built into the Newton. There is also a set up guide at: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/1772/ibm.html It is an international ISP with about 1500 dial-in numbers worldwide. You can download a text list of them from the IBM Net site and make a Newton book of them for when you travel. Chris Browne Auckland, New Zealand irie@ibm.net ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 20:41:45 EDT From: RobertRuff@aol.com Subject: Ntlk Re: EZ access Anybody, I have installed EZ access on my MP2100 (upgraded), it disapears often and somewhat defeats the purpose dose anyone have any suggestions? RobertRuff In a message dated 6/11/99 2:44:31 AM, robertbenschop@bigfoot.com writes: << (solutions to avoid the extras: SartBar from standalone.com, commercial or Tasks from Softwareburo Mueller combined with EZ access, not as elegant but freeware) >> ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 20:53:51 EDT From: RobertRuff@aol.com Subject: Re: Ntlk Organizer synching I'm also interested in using Claris Organizer dose anyone know where I can find it? RobertRuff ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 21:38:40 -0400 From: "Kyle H. Powderly" Subject: RE: Ntlk More News on The P1 (& Sidekick?) Just finished rereading for the third time the latest issue of "Pen Computing" magazine, and thought I would engage in n light of the discussion on the new P1: ** Editor-in-Chief Conrad Blickenstorfer mentioned in his column that "100 lucky people left the show [DemoMobile99] with bog grins on their faces as they had been chosen guinea pigs to test a major new device." (p. 5) ** Later, in the Pen News column on DemoMobile99, the writer said, "100 lucky guests received preview units of a device that officially doesn't exist yet..." Maybe it's all those long unused instincts working overtime now that I am no longer a news reporter (a career long left behind) but something makes me really think this is the new Apple P1, and it could be more than we imagine, and nothing like Newt. Hear me out... "...a device that officially doesn't exist yet..." Why would they use a phrase such as that? Only an established company with a track record in the handheld industry would require a denial of the existence of one of their products. No first-timer in the field would want to keep a wrap on things this tightly. That would mean either 3COM, Microsoft (and their HPC/PPC minions) or Apple has something under wraps. 3COM still has yet to fully roll out the PalmVII, so they would not be 'field testing' something, the WinCE community is all awash in their self-generated warm fuzzies over the new color PPCs (whoop de doo; color only intensifies the fact that the WinCE GUI is cluttered and needlessly complicated), which leaves Apple, and the fabled P1, speculated to show up sometime between now and the end of the world. This phrase smacks of the sort of top-secret cloak-and-dagger that surrounds all things Apple. For people's exhibit 2 I give you the secrecy surrounding the iMac until it was unveiled by Mr. Jobs. In addition, PCM repeatedly uses the word "lucky" in connection with those who were chosen to test this Product X. I may be making more of this than necessary, but Messrs. Blickenstorfer and David MacNeill (Sr. Editor) are both avowed Newton aficionados, and if I remember correctly both Dr. B and Mr. MacNeill were both in on the initial testing of the OMP. Would it be unreasonable to think that they would believe anyone elected to test a new Apple product would be a very lucky person indeed? Let's draw the line across: the Apple Insider article. First, they said that Apple apparently has been showing their new Consumer Portable to certain higher education boards under a NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). So they ARE being secretive here. If no one can talk about it, it doesn't exist... Now here's where it gets interesting: the Insider article mentions a 'sidekick.' I'm not entirely sure since I read through like 30 Digests at one sitting, but I think it was Douglas Fuss, in his post about the resident experts of this list designing and building a new PDA, who mentioned the idea of a PDA attached to a larger portable unit. Say, something along the lines of an eMate with laptop capability that has a small section of it removable for use as a PDA. The laptop configuration is P1, the removable PDA is the sidekick. Or maybe the jabaneros peppers in the burritos I had for dinner are playing with my mind. My rumor-mongering has a point - with over 1000 of us on this list, there is bound to be someone who was at or knows someone who was at DemoMobile99, and can shed some light on this. Did anyone see this non-existent new product, and can share a little with this rabidly hungry group? Of course, there could very well be someone ON the List who has one of these devices, and is watching all of us slobbering like Pavlov's dog, completely amused by the strangeness of it all. I gotta stop eating those peppers... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 21:19:00 -0400 From: Tony Valentine Subject: Ntlk: Newton Madd what has happened to the Newton Madd web site? Kenneth, will the site be up any time soon. Tony Valentine MP130 w/ Eudora 1.1 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 21:39:19 -0600 From: "Paul F. Butler" Subject: Ntlk Re: notes to desktop Hi, Just picked up a Newton 130 and am totally new to the Newton scene. I love it but am wondering what's the best way to transfer notes to my Mac. Just exporting them via NCU doesn't keep the formatting of the original note. Has anyone tried NoteThing? Also, what is recommended as the best date manager? I've been trying TimeTrax and find it very good but have heard quite a few people mention DateMan. Thanks Paul ____________________________________________________ Paul Butler Director of Adult Education Diocese of St. Paul 4410-51 Av. St. Paul, AB T0A 3A2 tel:(780) 645-3277 fax:(780) 645-6099 butler@nfld.com ------------------------------ End of newtontalk-digest V2 #1069 ********************************* Questions about the list? Send email to . The NewtonTalk website is http://www.newtontalk.com. ***** This month of NewtonTalk is sponsored by: Dash Board, the ultimate Newton button bar and hierarchical menu system developed by Five Speed Software, Inc. WWW: http://www.fivespeed.com