[NTLK] Something interesting: LTT on youtube did a review/talk of the Newton

[Dan]

On 9/5/2023 3:29 PM, Matthias Melcher wrote:
> 
> 
>> On 5. Sep 2023, at 20:29, Dan wrote:
>>
>> Something interesting crossed my feeds today, LTT a tech channel on youtube I have sometimes watched in the past came out with a video on the Newton and comparing it to the iPhone.
> 
> Oh wow, that was fun to watch! Thank for the link. I love the impatience and the random tapping if nothing obvious happens on screen for more than 8 milliseconds.
> 
> Here is my comment on YouTube:
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> The biggest downfall of the Newton IMHO was the cost of the developer environment. After spending 1k on the Newton, you had to drop another 1200$US on a graphical programming environment before you could release your first piece of software (assuming you already had a powerful Mac for 3000$US or so). So the entry cost for developers was 5k just for the setup, and the number of customers was very limited. No wonder there were no apps available for a long time. And the few that were, had to be very expensive to promise at least a break-even.
*snip*
> Problem is, the Newton was never meant to be online. It was a mobile device, and back then, mobile data was simply not yet available. Event in the first days of iPhone many years later, very few providers had mobile data, and the prices were per fractional kilobyte and outrageous. Looking at my iPhone today, I have a hard time finding a single piece of software that does *not* connect to the internet besides Calculator. Back then, this was not an option, and as a result, pretty much none of the apps from back then are even remotely useable today. Just as the Telex machine from my Granddads time does not help much in my office today, while still being quite fascinating.
> 
>  - Matthias

Yes I agree development was a tough narrow road for far too long.  I am sure that contributed to the slow adoption, also the writing recognition was released too soon and too inaccurate.  This was made fun of in the media so much that many never even looked or tried later devices where the problem had been fixed.

But I disagree that most all iPhone/Android apps require internet all the time.  I have many that don't.  Sure many DO require it (more than they should), but with internet not being reliably *everywhere* it is wise to have apps that do have local usage.  For example google calendar app DOES work offline, and will sync when you do get a connection.  And and some note-taking apps work just fine without a connection and lets you sync later.  Joplin is one that comes to mind.  I also have shopping list etc apps that also do not even use the internet at all.  Some mail clients do display the last mail you received and respond to it which will be sent when you get a connection again.  To be honest, local is usually better and faster than relying on a connection that might not be there when you need it.  Of course it can vary a lot depending on your location.

-Dan