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Tue. September 21, 2004
[Apple] Newton poetry
Yesterday a small package awaited us as we arrived home from work. After my dealings on eBay a week before I new right away what it was. The item I bid on would be a star item among others in my forthcoming Museum of Handheld Computers but was one I didn't think I could get my hands on. As I opened the package and unzipped its travel pouch I saw it for the first time only one thought ran through my head: "MAN it's huge!"
A first generation, 1993 Apple Newton H1000 handheld computer. By all modern handheld standards this baby dwarfs them all and is certainly not meant to slip easily into one's pocket. It's a quintessential piece of the history of such devices because it was so far ahead of its time that it couldn't possibly be accepted by the masses. But sometimes it just takes this sort of idea to get the ball rolling.
There's a personal reason for wanting such a Newton in my collection. Back in high school I worked, for a time, in Hudson's Bay High School computer/media lab monitoring who came and went at the front desk and working on my first personal webpage (which used to reside at http://www.geocities.com/soho/1336/ -- I won't link it because it most decidely doesn't live there anymore). Somehow someone at the school got their hands on one of these Newtons and it instantly became a hit among friends once we learned to exploit the devices willingness to translate nearly any stroke on the screen to text. A few scribbles later and Newton poetry was born. Please enjoy this sampling of Newton poetry as written by myself and Sarah tonight as a cristining event for this new addition to my collection:
untitled
Namibia goes Skin
agents pans if ridden
extreme circuit las
risk re Users Irene join
hurting take roof
sweeps I third
by Kevin A. Freitas
untitled
boot worms poison
William Malone hand
worth Donna stood
image my asset due Mrs
9222 pm
by Sarah Champion
Oh, and I just had to post the following photo of Cranky Kitty™ brand Eye Torture Product. Yeah, he really wants his eyes washed. Eh. At least they're honest. It's pour les chats!
Comments (8) | To Top
9/21/2004 @ 11:22am
Yes! I love Newton poetry! Both you and Sarah really make that electronic cinder block sing in your hands. Bravo.
Please write one that's an allegory to pulling Baby Jessica back up from her head-first plummet down a well whilst eating radishes and send it to me. I would like to post it on my web site.
by Matt Turner
9/21/2004 @ 3:38pm
2 mine arm Jessie
Johnson York ones
various nine In Anne
suntans clinical driven
I every.2 crust axis
maintains Baltic Query
pediatrics an ask.
by Kevin A. Suitors [Freitas]
Made with a Mac, uh Apple
by KevinFreitas
9/21/2004 @ 4:32pm
In regards to that wonderful feline medication you found, Cranky Kitty has probably hit on a great niche market! I can already imagine some of the other amazing products in development: wrong-way fur brushes (when kitty needs a 'different look'), force feeding tubes (for the oh-so-common skinny housecat), kitty nose plugs (helps with snoring), electric shampoo (enriches fur with a jolt of static electricity), just for fun cone hats (when kitty wants to feel like he just came home from the vet!! - comes in a variety of colors!!) - the possibilities are endless!
by Cassioposa
6/17/2005 @ 11:28am
I have one of those here on my desk, an H100 with the 1.3 (414059)rev of the OS.
How'd you get the squiggles to be words? I make some and get stuff like:
a Ms ai,
so are 7
it am rj
Just not as interesting as yours.
John
by John
8/14/2005 @ 3:49am
Loved the poetry. Just wanted to let you know that your old site is still available if you use WAYBACKMACHINE Internet Archive. Check it soon, though. These sites seem to pop into and out of existence without much warning.
by Dana Beth
8/22/2005 @ 8:01am
Wow.. fun stuff.
I'm not fortunate enough to have a hard-core old school PDA like the Newton. But everyone seems to have fun with the poetry that comes out of modern PDA's - for the most part, it's just as convoluted. Not nearly as beautiful as yours. All the more so because it ... *cries*.... it is, and was written on, a classic!
Congrats, and good luck. Publish a book of Newton poetry! I'd buy it.
by FL Yashi
6/26/2006 @ 9:44pm
where can i get accessories for my newton h1000 to hookup to my computer, i want to be able to read my ebooks
by keith
4/11/2008 @ 3:50pm
Congrats, sir, you helped to inspire a blog. Only I'm taking real poetry, scribbling it into the MessagePad, and posting what comes out. Whala - Newton Poetry. It's been a hoot.
by iDave