[NTLK] Advancing the "Defying Gravity" legacy

[Michael Rebar]

Since re-discovering the NewtonOS for development purposes I wanted to also bring forward where the NewtonOS has relevance in the 2020s. The available supply chain for 2100 MessagePads seems to be eBay. Notwithstanding, would like your opinion on my recent experience.

“Love Notes” gave some insight into the community. Combined with my goals for pushing the envelope of NewtonOS (not unlike others) with the subtle notion of running my AI on the hardware as a testament of generational development with ARM toward iOS/iPadOS/macOS, the effort was made in early June 2021 to have a 2000 upgraded by a company in Sweden which will remain unnamed but likely known to all. The website for this company listed “mint” 2100’s, an upgrade for earphone jack function, different backlight options, a speed upgrade and listed “crowdfunding” page which listed items to purchase. 

So I made a large purchase with the idea of having a 2000 upgraded to a 2100 with a bunch of accessories which would form the nidus of this technology realtime demonstration unit. Let’s just say this did not go as expected. Of course funds were refunded and some items shipped I did not ask for to substitute for what I originally purchased. While I was not looking for a “shortcut” to this goal this experience has distracted my development focus for the present time. 

I understand with dwindling supply of hardware there will be issues. However the community of existing users is small enough to support and give some input. Not looking for empathy with this post, actually looking for feedback if you have had similar experiences. 

For practical purposes, this community of NewtonTalk has made the difference with my decision to move forward despite these challenges. For the memory cards received from New.Jersey (USA), the hopeful arrival of the certain stylus from Australia, and the technical help to get online and email actually mostly working, I will always be grateful for the help. 

My goals are not lofty for the Newton but practical. Unlike the scattered wandering development which lead to General Magic, my plan is to keep a focus on highlighting the efforts of the Newton team historically as the first real AI used for HWR. The mystic code that makes that work is somewhat similar to how probability works as coherence in quantum computing. There is inspiration in that code which is similar to what I have developed without infringing patents. More on this later.

Michael Rebar