Nov 93 Editorial
Volume Number: 9
Issue Number: 11
Column Tag: The Editor’s Page
It’s a Newt! 
Apple has started another platform. It doesn’t run DOS or Windows, and it isn’t a
Macintosh, but this Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
This issue focuses on Newton (among other things). Since we are a developer
journal, we aren’t interested in covering Newt at the consumer level - we’ll leave that
to other magazines. We will briefly talk about what Newton is and does so that we have
a frame of reference to continue. But, then we’ll move on to more technical topics. In
addition to this column, there’s another article in this issue that talks about the
Newton Toolkit (the development environment for Newton). If you are already
familiar with Newton, you might want to skip the next couple sections until we get to
the more technical information.
What is a Newton?
First, Newton is not a product - it’s a platform. The first product in the Newton
product line is the Newton MessagePad by Apple. In addition, the Newton technology
has been licensed to other companies - Sharp, Matsushita (the parent company of
Panasonic), Siemens, and Motorola. These companies will be coming out with their
versions of Newton using Apple’s Newton Intelligence.
Physically the Newton is smaller than other PDAs - 7.25 inches tall, 4.50
inches wide, 0.75 inches deep and weighing 0.9 lbs. The processor is a very low
power 20MHz ARM 610. ARM stands for Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. - one of Apple’s
investments in recent years. This CPU is roughly comparable in processing power to a
25MHz 68040. The processor is fully static - in other words, it consumes zero
power when the clock is stopped. It’s power consumption is less than .5 watts and it
can do 28K Dhrystones.
The screen is a low-power, reflective (non-backlit) LCD display that is 336 x
240 pixels. There is a transparent tablet with a “passive” pen that the user uses to
communicate with Newt via writing, tapping and “penning”. As you might expect from
Apple, there is a very large 4MB ROM. The basic unit comes with 640K RAM ( which
sounds like less than it is) and a slot for one PCMCIA Type II card. Finally, there is a
LocalTalk compatible serial port and a low-power, half-duplex, infrared transceiver
(9600 baud at 1 meter).
Communications support is very strong. At introduction, support is built in for
StyleWriters and PostScript laser printers accessible through LocalTalk. In addition,
the unit works with most popular PC printers via the Print Pack option. A fax modem
(send only initially) is available. Plus, you have the ability to connect to a LocalTalk
network as well as the ability to “beam” information via infrared. In Fall, 1993
(hopefully by the time you read this), NewtonMail will be accessible.
Newton runs on four AAA alkaline batteries or on nicads that “trickle charge”
when the unit is plugged into AC. The battery duration is pretty good e specially when
you use it a “normal” amount (as opposed to constant use such as when one is
reviewing a product). Like PowerBooks, you get plenty of warning before you run out
of battery. Also, since the unit needs a constant, tiny amount of power to store your
data, Apple made it fairly difficult to take both the main and backup batteries out at the
same time - good job Apple!
What can it do?
The first thing that you notice about the Newton is that you don’t use a keyboard,
you use a pen. As you write on the screen, your printing or handwriting is
transformed into text on the screen. It is very impressive, although far from perfect,
in its recognition. I’m sure that developers, more than anyone, can appreciate the