I Miss (using) My Newton(s)

I had a 130 and a 2100 as well as a couple of Palms and can categorically state that the Newton handwriting tech was so far advanced from anything else as to be unrecognisable. The Newton's REAL problem was its unpocketable size, but it was also one of the main reasons why you could actually write properly on the bastard! It was so GOOD at handwritten notation (whether HWRd or not - you ALWAYS had that choice with the Newton) that you could easily take longhand notes while on the phone in the back of a cab - no Palm or WinCE ever offered that.

To be honest, comparing the Newton to the iPhone is spurious - one was a totally new direction, the other is significant refinement of an already maturing product type. Still, I'm not so dumb as to ignore the iPhone, and I'll snap one up so long as it's offered for sale in a free and fair manner in the UK - though I'm increasingly worried about talk of a no-SIM design. How? Why? Who even knows yet?