This is Alvin.
Alvin doesn’t remember when he bought his first Newton. But it was probably sometime in the 90s. He does remember going through a lengthy demo about all of Newton’s features before putting a thousand dollars to buy one. Then, the ADVENTURE BEGAN.
My first Newton was a 120, which I took all over the world. I used it to write, send faxes, print letters and finally for e-mail and the Internet. Sadly, I couldn’t afford to get an eWorld account but Newton didn’t require me to have one to use it’s full functionality.
I was lucky enough to have a cousin who worked at the Newton store in Toronto, he upgraded the NewtOS from 1.3 to 2.0. Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference. The keyboard was my favourite accessory, as I type 120 wpm, which is a lot faster than relying on the handwriting recognition. I loved the portability of it all and the fact that I could use run of the mill batteries.
Eventually, I bought a 2000 off of eBay and realized how much better it was. So, stupidly, I sold the 120, which is now on my list of regrets. Other regrets, selling my Duo 2300c with a working dock.
Shortly, after I got the 2000, I got errors and it wasn’t until I researched it that I realized that I had run out of capacity and that I needed a 2100. So, I bought one off of eBay, which was great until it broke. So…I warrantied it with Apple and I paid the $140 and they sent me a brand new refurbished 2100.
I sketched this picture of me using my Newton, in portrait mode. It represents my writing a letter with my keyboard to my many friends and penpals, back in the day, sitting in a restaurant. My wife bought me a printer so that I could beam my notes/letters to it and that’s why I love her.
I primarily get my Newtons by rescuing them. I found an eMate online that no one wanted, which needed much love, so, I bought it and eventually, I even found the eMate upgrade. I also found an OMP that no one wanted for a penny, sadly, shipping was $24.99, but I bought it anyways, because I knew that it was worth $25. It’s missing some rubber pieces but it is very functional and fun. One day, I plan to have the whole collection.