As the Apple Turns: Scene 4737: Paris: Infested With Newts! (6/4/04)

Paris: Infested With Newts! (6/4/04)

Listen! Hear that? That's the sound of people not yammering on incessantly about an imminent Apple-branded handheld computer. No rumors of a cobranded PalmOne PDA, no whispers of the Newton's rise from the ashes in "iPhone" form, no nothin'. Isn't it just bliss? And it's been that way for quite a while, now; right next to our count of consecutive accident-free days (three and counting!), there's a sign that currently reads "113 DAYS SINCE OUR LAST APPLE HANDHELD RUMOR." As we're sure you'll agree, that's quite a record. In fact, we even received an OSHA commendation a few days back.

Well, okay, technically it was a condemnation, not the other thing, but it's an anagram. Mostly. Besides, we don't even know what those jerks were yowling about anyway; everyone puts land mines under the carpet when their workplace has an ant problem. Right?

Anyway, just because the rumors have died down doesn't mean there isn't any interest in an Apple PDA; the thing is, though, it sounds like plenty of people are still content with the original Apple handheld: the venerable and much-beloved Newton. Sure, it's been dead in Apple's eyes since 1998, but the users have kept it alive on their own terms. Less than two years ago WIRED was talking about how, four years after the platform's alleged death, the Newton community appeared to be growing rather than fading away, and now it looks like there might be some more evidence supporting that theory: the The Cult of Mac blog (by the same Leander Kahney who wrote the original WIRED article) mentions an upcoming WorldWide Newton Conference.

Yes, a Newton conference. The MessagePad may have been Steved all the way back in the dark days of '98, but that won't stop Newt users worldwide from converging on Paris, France in early September for Newton-related "lectures, sessions, chat, and fun" (and, um, possibly that Apple Expo thing that starts a few days beforehand). Sure, there won't be a show floor because the number of companies selling Newton products is presumably kindasorta close to zero, but when you've got a closely-knit community of users, who needs exhibitors? At least, IDG World Expo would seem to agree, seeing as next month's Macworld Expo only has 42 more vendors signed up than WWNC does.

That brings up an interesting side point, actually: does anyone know the Vegas odds on which conference will rack up more attendees? Because as faithful viewer mikl points out, if Macworld Boston winds up with a lower headcount than a vendorless conference for users of a six-years-discontinued handheld platform, well, somebody's going to wind up looking pretty stupid. Apparently IDG knows this, since we're pretty sure there are now two more vendors on its exhibitor list than there were just two days ago-- go man go! Make those deals!

Whatever. We've long resigned ourselves to a lonely experience at Macworld Boston, and we're actually kind of looking forward to the peace and quiet. The real question now is, should we dig out our trusty ol' (make that ol' ol' ol') MessagePad 100 and hop a plane for Paris in September?

SceneLink (4737)

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The above scene was taken from the 6/4/04 episode:

June 4, 2004: Pictures of the new G5 surface in a new service manual-- or do they? Meanwhile, an international Newton conference is starting up six years after the platform was cancelled, and now we know why Microsoft's individual divisions are so profitable: if they're not, Steve Ballmer gets personally involved...

Other scenes from that episode:

4736: The Heat Sink That Ate Boise (6/4/04) So whaddaya think-- are the streets in Cupertino running red with torrents of blood, or what? We're actually on the fence about this one: do you suppose the Power Mac revision photos floating around the 'net are actually raising Steve's blood pressure at all?...
4738: Negative Reinforcement (6/4/04) We're going to have to make this quick, folks, because it's been one loooooong short week, and we're fading fast. That said, tradition mandates that today is Wildly Off-Topic Microsoft-Bashing Day, and we would never besmirch the solemnity of the occasion by bringing in such unwelcome vectors as logic, rationality, or conclusions forged in any time longer than that of a knee jerk...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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