[NTLK] Questions from an apostate

[Ken Ho]

My platform path was Newton to Palm (size *does* matter) to iOS.  That may mean that in some ways my expectations were different (you may say lower, but I prefer "different") when I arrived at iOS.  I have been mostly thrilled with the iOS Notespark app, which was a great transition from Palm Memos, and which I blogged about on:

http://kenamored.blogspot.com/2011/03/converting-palm-memos-to-ipod-using.html.

Okay, Sonny (Hung), I'm your anonymous follower whom you inspired, if you recall our comment exchange on your blog.
:-)

I am perfectly happy using only plain text in my notes (you may not be), particularly when I can enter it from the app on iPod/iPad, or from any web browser, all three methods of which I use quite regularly.  The only additional feature I wish it had was search *within* a note (you can only find *which* notes have your search string, then it's swipe and look carefully to find the search string).

Unlike EverNote, Notespark was a one-time $4.99 fee, so it's easier on the wallet.  I *imagined* that the developers could even have created it primarily as a tool for themselves, but understood it could be sufficiently useful to others that they could quite reasonably also sell it.

Anyway, I think Notespark cover these points of yours:

> - Filing/organization that is (a) chronological but (b) also offers 
> categories/folders
> - Scrolling of notes both within a note and chronologically ordered, 
> like the Newton


but not the others. Still, I realize you may have tried Notespark and decided it wasn't for you.

-Ken Ho (still using my Newton rarely, but continuously since the late 90's)

On Nov 1, 2012, at 12:59 AM, "Aron Hsiao" <leapdragon at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> 
> I hope this post doesn't rankle, but I'm in need of help.
> 
> I was a dedicated Newton user from the late '90s through the early '00s 
> and am now an iPhone 4/iPad 2 user.
> 
> The problem is that I'm not satisfied with the software, despite being 
> thrilled with the hardware.
> 
> I've still got my last Newton 2x00 hanging around and have been looking 
> back through some of the data on it (it hasn't really been touched in 
> half a decade) over the last few days. And I'm really frustrated as I do 
> so by the current state of mobile software. At the same time, I can't 
> realistically see myself bringing the Newton out of mothballs and really 
> using it again. The hardware is just too old/heavy/monochrome/difficult 
> to replace and expand, especially when I recall that I stopped using the 
> Newton because I couldn't finish a backup any longer with NCU.
> 
> But there must be others out there like me that see the Newton as a high 
> point in early mobile tech and that finds that the Newton did some 
> things really well that have yet to be duplicated today. So without 
> further ado, I'm posting to ask whether anyone has:
> 
> - Found an iPad Notes app that is similar in operation to the Newton app 
> (esp. HyperNewt)
> - Found any device with any form of handwriting recognition that compares
> - Managed to get Einstein working in a way that is plausible for 
> everyday real-world use
> - Decided they've stumbled onto an honest-to-god "Newton replacement"
> 
> I've tried about a dozen notes apps on iPad, from the PhatWare offerings 
> to Notability to Notes Plus. They mostly seem to think it's a good idea 
> to try to ape a paper notebook in one way or another. But if I wanted my 
> own handwriting in a setting whose only organizing principle is "pages 
> in books" then I'd just take a cap off an ink pen and start writing on 
> paper again. And if I wanted HWR just to behave like a plain text editor 
> (think PhatWare) I'd just use a text editor and a keyboard. Anyone find 
> anything that can do:
> 
> - Nested, collapsible bullets
> - Content drag/drop on the page
> - Handwriting recognition easily mixed with "simulated ink" for 
> sketches, etc.
> - Filing/organization that is (a) chronological but (b) also offers 
> categories/folders
> - Scrolling of notes both within a note and chronologically ordered, 
> like the Newton
> 
> I'm imagining a marriage of MomoNote (for organization/ordering), 
> Notability, and the PhatWare HWR apps, but with the addition of the 
> Newton formatting features (nestable, collapsible bullets, checkboxes, 
> and so on). Maybe it's out there and I've just missed it.
> 
> 
> From another direction, Einstein looks promising, but everything that I 
> can find about it suggests that it is slow and incompatible with some of 
> the major fixes that are necessary for a real working Newton (basic 
> stuff like 2010 fix), and that it can't be backed up. True? If so, it's 
> a non-starter for me―I'm really looking for a device that I can use for 
> day-to-day stuff that Just Works[TM].
> 
> The Samsung Galaxy Note looks interesting, but I suspect that it lacks 
> the organizational paradigm of the Newton (which in many ways was 
> similar to that of the Palm devices later on), especially since it's 
> Android-based.
> 
> For anyone here that's lurking but has moved on from Newton, what did 
> you end up switching to? Has it worked out?
> 
> 
> For various reasons (not least of which are simple hardware 
> replacability and the ability to sync) I don't think I can revert back 
> to using a Newton 2x00 again. I do want all that the iPhone/iPad have to 
> offer. But I'll be damned if I'm not missing some of the basic PIM and 
> note-taking functionality of the Newton devices, even if I can't bring 
> myself to imagine carrying around a Newton *and* an iPad *and* an iPhone 
> all the time.
> 
> 
> Aron Hsiao
> 
> 
> 
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