Bringing a Newton back to life

I know, I just talked about the Apple Newton, but while cleaning up some old junk I found several of these devices. I managed to get a MessagePad 120 to boot (my last post discussed this) and see my code still running on it, but I was disappointed that I could not get the newer (by a year) MessagePad 130 to boot. I tried everything I knew until I finally tried the last thing I knew…

I said out loud to my son, “Time to try the old and proven method” — and I banged it on the floor — and I shit you not — it booted!

It works — completely. And the reason I really wanted the 130 to work is because it is the first version of the Newton to have a backlit screen. Well — the first version Apple shipped with a backlit screen. The company I worked for back in the late 90’s added backlighting to the Newton years earlier. We also added WiFi and GPS and a CDMA modem — things Apple never did.

So this is kinda fun — I still have the software to allow me to develop NetwonScript — the operating system of the device. I may play with it for a bit, but a local museum already asked me to donate these devices, which I certainly will. They really aren’t useful at all, but oh my gosh, they bring back memories!