Newton MessagePad 2100 is back

Apple Newton MessagePad 2100
Originally uploaded by matveyp

No, Apple is not resurrecting the Newton, but my very own Newton MessagePad 2100 is making a comeback. It is running an NPDS webserver software and is available online! Come visit and leave a note on my Whiteboard if you'd like.

I owned this Newton since 1997 and early in its life it served as my primary computer - I did my wordprocessing, printing, e-mail, Telnet, etc. on this machine and it was fantastic. Since about 2002 I tried on and off to keep it up and running as a webserver. You can learn more about its setup when you visit. In short, the Newton is connected to my home network via Ethernet by way of a PCMCIA card.

What is different this time around? First, I did not want to rely on pre-MacOS X operating system (namely System 9) to connect to the Newton for synchronization, software uploads and backups. But I ran into a catch-22: Newton connection tools (NCX) available for MacOS X require a piece of software to be installed on the Newton. My solution was to fire up Classic mode on my old and trusty PowerBook G4, download and install original Apple's Newton Connection Utility, and use that to install the required package on the Newton. That worked flawlessly. And now I can connect to my Newton right from my MacBook Pro!

I also needed to take care of what is known as the Y2010 bug - read more about it here.

Lastly, I wanted to make sure that Newton's clock is accurate. For that I ended up using NewtSync.

There is a community of Newton enthusiasts who continue to use this incredible machine to do wonderful things. For example, this tracker shows which Newtons are online at any given moment. I am grateful to folks who continue to work on maintaining existing capabilities and developing new ones. I hope that by keeping my Newton online I am participating in some small measure in ensuring that innovations represented by this platform are recognized and appreciated.