Toby Atkin-Wright

Back in the early 90s I had a Newton MessagePad, a dream machine. A screen to write on, a computer that hid everything technical from the user, very few physical buttons... I thought it was wonderful.

In the late 90s I had a Palm III. More limited in ambition than the Newton, it followed a lot of the Newton's design lessons, and did well the one thing that the Newton failed at - syncing information with my Mac. It too had few physical buttons - I looked at people typing into their Psion 3, with all its tiny buttons, and understood why they like them, but knew it wasn't for me. I used the Palm for years and thought it was wonderful.

Now I'm on my second iPhone, and I like it for all the same reasons, only more so. The one thing it it adds to the picture is always-on connectivity. A few years ago it would have been futuristic fiction to have internet in one's pocket, packaged in a way that needs little or no technical knowledge from the user. And the more internet I use, the fewer phone calls I make. People type into their Blackberry, with all the tiny buttons, and I know it isn't for me. I look at Kate using her iPhone, and know it is wonderful.

I've had plenty of other phones over the years, mostly Nokias, and while some were likable, none were lovable (and one or two were plain awful).

Would like to know what technology you have loved.

This entry was originally posted at http://tobyaw.dreamwidth.org/161411.html.

Back in the early 90s I had a Newton MessagePad, a dream machine. A screen to write on, a computer that hid everything technical from the user, very few physical buttons... I thought it was wonderful.

In the late 90s I had a Palm III. More limited in ambition than the Newton, it followed a lot of the Newton's design lessons, and did well the one thing that the Newton failed at - syncing information with my Mac. It too had few physical buttons - I looked at people typing into their Psion 3, with all its tiny buttons, and understood why they like them, but knew it wasn't for me. I used the Palm for years and thought it was wonderful.

Now I'm on my second iPhone, and I like it for all the same reasons, only more so. The one thing it it adds to the picture is always-on connectivity. A few years ago it would have been futuristic fiction to have internet in one's pocket, packaged in a way that needs little or no technical knowledge from the user. And the more internet I use, the fewer phone calls I make. People type into their Blackberry, with all the tiny buttons, and I know it isn't for me. I look at Kate using her iPhone, and know it is wonderful.

I've had plenty of other phones over the years, mostly Nokias, and while some were likable, none were lovable (and one or two were plain awful).

Would like to know what technology you have loved.