Re: [NTLK] A Blast from the Past (Somewhat OT)

From: Tom Sheppard (TSheppard_at_mac.com)
Date: Fri Feb 01 2002 - 09:46:02 EST


Greetings,

I seriously disagree with the article (seems to be from June 2000) that
says, "And don't even get them started on how well it works with a Mac." and
"works intuitively with the Mac". That's baloney.

I resurrected an old usenet posting which sums up my position on NCU. That's
not the only interaction with the Mac, of course, but it's the major one.
Even though the posting was written over 4 years ago, it was still true when
Apple ceased support 7 months later in April 1998.

It doesn't work in X as it complains about a missing file, probably
something to do with the serial port and I haven't bothered trying to
resolve it.

...Tom

From: sheppard_at_magma.ca (Tom Sheppard)
Subject: NCU brings tears to my eyes
Date: 1997/09/12
Message-ID: <sheppard-1209971315060001_at_sheppard.magma.ca>#1/1
Organization: .
Newsgroups: comp.sys.newton.misc

I've already passed this along to the NCU group while they were still with
Apple, but I feel this will be of interest to other MP2K/NCU owners. I'm
going to compare six year old technology running on a 3.84 MHz NEC V30
(80C86 equiv) Psion Series 3 over a 9600 bps serial link to a modern,
state-of-the-art 162 MHz StrongArm MP2K running over AppleTalk using
Farallon's EtherWave adaptor.

The test will be to export a single file/note containing the letter "A" to
a Mac and time how long it takes.

On the Mac side, the Psion app is called MCLINK. It implements a remote
file system between the Mac and Psion such that all the Mac's volumes,
including mounted AppleShare volumes, appear as disks to the Psion. That
means that the Psion can save, copy, delete, rename files on the Mac as if
they were local. I could also have used the Psion Link app which lets the
Mac look into the Psion and present the internal volumes (RAM disk and two
flash disks) in a browser paradigm on the Mac alongside the Mac's
volumes. I could then have done a simple drag and drop of the file from
the Psion to the Mac.

The MP2K app is NCU with which I'm sure you're all familiar. I used text
only transfer.

The test was done after the apps were launched and the connection
established. It takes roughly the same amount of time anyway (well
actually the Psion app has an edge because it's smaller).

The Psion took about 14 seconds to initiate the copy from the Copy File
menu, select the source file and destination volume and transfer the file
to the Mac. The transfer was initiated from the Psion.

The Dock on the MP2K does not allow you to export files to the Mac. You
must initiate the transfer from NCU on the Mac. Curious. It's also a
pain if the computer you're transferring the files to over AppleTalk is in
another country on the global corporate network. Sure hope somebody's
awake in Australia to initiate the transfer. For this test, the Mac was
beside the MP2K. NCU failed in its first attempt because I only had 8.6
MB of free disk space for this note containing a single character. Seems
NCU wanted to back up my backup files first. Why backup files should be
involved in a text transfer escapes me. After I cleared some disk space,
I tried again. The time from clicking on Export and running through the
numerous steps until the file was transferred? Only 89 seconds. Over six
times slower than the Psion.

Did I mention that you can transfer multiple files at the same time with
the Psion but you have to do one at a time with NCU? For even a small
number of files, n x 89 seconds becomes intolerable REAL fast. You see,
even for the second file and successive files, NCU wants to duplicate the
backup files each time.

I probably forgot to mention that this 1991 manufactured Psion allows you
to initiate the copy and then return to your agenda or word processor or
spreadsheet and continue working while the transfer proceeds. On the 1997
MP2K, well you'll just have to wait since the Dock takes over the machine
even when no activity is taking place.

And on the Mac side, NCU also takes over the Mac during the transfer.
Hardly noticeable for a tiny note but backups are truly awful.
Cooperative multitasking? Bah, that's not for Apple apps. The MCLINK app
for the Psion runs slower in the background, but it allows you to continue
working in the foreground on other apps.

No doubt some of you are already composing replies of, "Well if you don't
like it, crawl back to your Psion." But I can't because the MP2K is much
better than the Psion for me now. It's not the machine itself, it's the
Mac connectivity that is truly awful on the Newton compared to the
Psion. And I'm referring to the original Series 3. I haven't seen how
good the newer Psions are like the 3c and 5.

To Newton Inc. I can only say that I'm embarrassed for you. NCU and the
Dock are woefully inadequate in the late '90s. Your clock is getting
cleaned by six year old technology. Please, please, buy a Psion, a Pilot
and a Wince device. Evaluate their connectivity packages. Take the best
features, add some great new capabilities and return with jaw dropping
software to match the wow factor of the Newton OS. And please hurry,
you're years behind already.

...Tom

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