From: Daniel Padilla (dproldan_at_telefonica.net)
Date: Fri Apr 09 2004 - 18:55:57 PDT
from
http://sakima.ivy.net/~carton/academia/java_languageoftomorrow.html
----------------
The Newton
Apple's Newton PDA, which is currently discontinued, remains a generation
ahead of any currently shipping PDA. The most powerful and expensive Newton,
the Newton 2100, contained only 4MB of RAM, which it used as ``heap'' for
its NewtonScript runtime environment. Do not think, however, that the Newton
was similar to other 4MB machines. It had a StrongARM CPU similar in speed
to the iPaq, a gigantic screen, and two PC Card slots with support for
Ethernet and TCP/IP, and a web browser called NetHopper written in
NewtonScript. Show me another device, of any kind, which can claim this with
4MB of RAM.
NewtonScript addresses the cost and power economies of PDAs better than any
existing PDA. Both RAM and stable storage are relatively expensive, and the
former is power-hungry as well. Fast CPUs, however, can be cheap and use
little power. The executable images of NewtonScript programs are very small.
One writes his or her NewtonScript program on a Macintosh, ``compiles'' it
into a binary image with the NTK (Newton Toolkit), and then sends it to the
PDA. Compiled NewtonScript is not an arm32 executable, but rather requires
the NewtonOS as a runtime environment. Sound familiar?
I already mentioned the web browser written in NewtonScript. There are also
FAX programs, email user agents, web servers, and NewtonWorks---the word
processor. Newtons have keyboards, printer drivers, and support for modems
and networks. Newton software comes in shrink-wrapped boxes and is still for
sale. Newtons are computers. The only thing missing is the concept of a
``double click''. All Newton programs must be written in NewtonScript.
now, where is the Java PDA? The Java word processor? The Java web browser?
The Java printer drivers? Where can I buy them? And who has written the JRE
that can run all these programs in 16MB of FLASH and 4MB of RAM?
And, if someone does some day manage to bring these things into existence, I
must still ask, where is the recognition that the Newton did it first and
did it better?
----------------
yeah, baby.
D-
-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Apr 10 2004 - 08:30:01 PDT