Stanford Newton User Group November Newsletter
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SNUG News..............snugdate1:2:11:17:94

     Cooler evenings have been pushing the the feel of Autumn 
into Palo Alto and also pushing the Stanford Newton Users 
Group (SNUG) away from the outside tables of Printers Inc 
Cafe. Even though the climate has cooled down, SNUG 
meetings have warmed up. During the SNUG meeting on 
October 25th the theme became HARDWARE. The first half 
hour centered around cafe fare, and discussions concerning 
the MessagePad 120 and the upcoming demo of 'personal 
media' by GAIA at our next SNUG meeting. Yet, our discussion 
concerning future newtons was well timed. Since as luck 
would have it (and Glen had arranged), Phil Baker, Apple's 
Newton Engineering Manager, was nice enough to drop in on 
this meeting and chat with us. After he proudly pointed out 
that the MP110 had just won an design award, he told us a 
few things about the MessagePad 120.

_MESSAGEPAD 120 FYI: It looks like the 110, has 2MB RAM_ 
_(probably same heap space as 110), detachable lid, better_ 
_screen, smaller feet, PCMCIA lock switch has moved close to_ 
_the eject button, the lid clasp on the back doesn't have a_ 
_switch device anymore, just snaps in and out, the unit isn't_ 
_painted with the old skin (it may not be painted at all)._ 

     Next, he had a simple request "what would you like to see 
in future newtons, got any ideas?". It was a hard task, but we 
were up to it :>. Let me recollect a few of the ideas that were 
tossed about... hmmmmm.. here's a taste.

Changes we might propose:
-PCMCIA: more slots, or a type III slot that could take two 
cards (like a type I and II), PCMCIA harddrive capability, 
PCMCIA card with ports to plug in various sensing devices 
(pH sensor etc)., Digital Cellular ..(europe will get this)
-FORM FACTOR: the weight and size of the OMP/MP100 was 
nicer than the 110, can't do with less screen unless perhaps 
landscape or portrait modes were available. Need landscape 
and portrait modes (ooops thats not hardware), Need better 
'skin' due to peeling problems. Battery compartment lid 
should be more secure and stronger and the unit in general 
should be a little more rugged and durable. The 110's lid 
should have sturdier clasps. The lid could roll up and down 
like a garage door maybe. The detachable lid from the MP120 
could have various lids you could substitute. A lid with a 
light, a lid that has a chicklet keyboard on the inside 
(especially if landscape mode was available to view the 
screen while you typed on the open lid's keyboard).
-SCREEN: optional backlighting feature (like 'indiglo'?) that is 
turned on and off by a switch. Screen brightness and 
thickness like that of the OMP.
-MISC: The little Apple symbol on the front of the 
messagepad could be a button for Scrolling or an 'Option' key 
(like in the MagicLink).  The pen could have a light in it. 
Better rubber flaps over the ports.

     But, that's enough said about hardware ideas. You 
probably can tell that the October 25th gathering turned out 
to be a fun one. In the end, Bill expressed a thought shared by 
us all, when he officially declared the meeting "GOOD 
SNUGing".

     The most recent meeting of our user group was on 
Tuesday the 8th of November. We got this one started as 
quickly as possible because Keven Boyett and Craig Fisk of 
GAIA had to catch a nine o'clock plane and wanted to get out 
of Printer's Inc by eight. Since there isn't any great projection 
system that SNUG has yet installed in Printer's Inc Cafe, 
Keven and Craig demo'ed the software to two people at a time 
and then handed out 1MB cards with software for each of us 
to test. Personal Media is a program that takes over the 
newton interface and adds some new file management, new 
icons for mailing, printing, beaming etc, and creates a desktop 
with the potential to have several open notepads at once. 
Notes don't scroll rather they turn, and you can stretch or 
shrink them. To mail a note you drag it over the 
communication icon and drop it, you then access your names 
list and drag an address to the window with your note (this 
seems very magicap like and versions of this software will be 
available for MagicLink and other PDAs. Drawbacks I 
currently see are: slow speed, and no handwriting recognition 
(Digital ink only). Yet, the idea of a desktop where you can 
shrink one notepad down and look at others is really neat. A 
new SNUG person, Robert from NeXT computer, liked the 
software enough to purchase it. After fooling around with 
'personal media' by GAIA, we thanked Keven and Craig as 
they headed off to the airport. 
     In the remaining time we talked about GAIA software and 
Glen demo'ed some of the fun timepiece displays from "Time 
to Go" software. The last part of the evening was also spent 
discussing the merits of buying an MP100 with modem and 
software for $199 (What a great deal!) with an interested 
person, Allan, who stopped buy and started asking questions. 
When I asked Allan "Do you walk around with 'Post It' notes 
and such stuffed in your pockets?" he smiled and pulled out a 
bunch of binded together notepapers that were about the size 
of a paperback book or a MP100. This poor guy really needs a 
Newton.

_____________________________________________
OLD NEWS BUT GOOD NEWS
_____________________________________________
1) SNUG's MAILIST
-subscribe to at: snug-request@ tango.rahul.net 
-mail to at: snug@tango.rahul.net. 
   AND WEB PAGE at: 
ftp://ftp.rahul.net/pub/flasheridn/snug.
 Send Flash Sheridan announcements or information you'd 
like to have on the home page at FlaSheridn@rahul.net. 

2) NEWER SCHEDULE
The Stanford Newton User's Group now meets each 2nd and 
4th TUESDAY of the month. So the next meeting is ~7:15 PM, 
November 22, 1994.

3) THE SNUG LIBRARY?
David Glickman is working on getting SNUG a copy of major 
newton software programs released by StarCore! Which 
means we'll have good demo material and can respond when 
people ask what good software is available.


_Next meeting:  Tuesday, November 22nd, 7:00 PM._

_Where:_
_Printer's Inc coffeehouse_
_310 California Ave,_
_Palo Alto, CA_

_Directions: _
__From 101, go West on Oregon Expressway (Page Mill Rd)._
_Right (North) on El Camino Real_
_Right on California Avenue._
_Printer's Inc is on the left just past the stopsign._
__From 280, go East on Page Mill Road._
_Left (North) on El Camino Real_
_Right on California Avenue._
_Printer's Inc is on the left just past the stopsign._

_For more information about SNUG, send me email at:_ 
_luckie@waldron.stanford.edu . Hope to see you there!_

Douglas B. Luckie 
Stanford Newton User's Group

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