beachycove
Well-known member
Not a small part of the problem seems to be that some software serials were generated only when you supplied the ID number of the particular Newton unit itself on which you wanted to run the package to the developer — thus you were unable, say, to move your copy of a particular title to your MP2100 when upgrading from your MP130 without going back to the developer for a new serial. This also has the effect of making use of these titles today very difficult, even when the software can be had.
There are, of course, developers who have released freeware versions of their titles, presumably because they did not require the Newton's ID to generate a serial in the first place, or because the code has been altered so as no longer to require the more convoluted approach. There are others who continue to sell if you prod them a little, and they often sell at greatly reduced prices. This is not only fair, but more than fair: I wish more software were still maintained in this way, rather than just abandoned along with the older hardware. But there are other developers who would, it seems, be unable to sell or to release freeware versions of their old titles without continuing to provide a modicum of support in the form of having someone to generate the serial and send it by return email. Naturally, as some of them are now disinterested/dead/departed/developing for Palm they don't want to get into that hassle.
In other cases, the problem is just the ephemeral nature of computers and what you find on the internet: the 19 year-old who developed a package circa 2000 as a lark now has a job with a six figure salary, a good woman and maybe a child or two, a big car and a bigger mortgage, and understandably couldn't be less bothered about old flames like Newtons. He has grown up, got a life, moved house a few times, and as he wasn't a proper company to start with, but a savant, smalltime shareware developer working from a bedroom, has no infrastructure to support the old stuff with which he once tinkered. Some of you, God willing, will be like that with your old Macs, too, in a few years' time.
It is a shame. I'm a Newton fan and daily user, but the software hunt for the machine can occasionally be frustrating. For many and most purposes, however, there is a large-ish (alas, not comprehensive) software repository at unna.org .
There are, of course, developers who have released freeware versions of their titles, presumably because they did not require the Newton's ID to generate a serial in the first place, or because the code has been altered so as no longer to require the more convoluted approach. There are others who continue to sell if you prod them a little, and they often sell at greatly reduced prices. This is not only fair, but more than fair: I wish more software were still maintained in this way, rather than just abandoned along with the older hardware. But there are other developers who would, it seems, be unable to sell or to release freeware versions of their old titles without continuing to provide a modicum of support in the form of having someone to generate the serial and send it by return email. Naturally, as some of them are now disinterested/dead/departed/developing for Palm they don't want to get into that hassle.
In other cases, the problem is just the ephemeral nature of computers and what you find on the internet: the 19 year-old who developed a package circa 2000 as a lark now has a job with a six figure salary, a good woman and maybe a child or two, a big car and a bigger mortgage, and understandably couldn't be less bothered about old flames like Newtons. He has grown up, got a life, moved house a few times, and as he wasn't a proper company to start with, but a savant, smalltime shareware developer working from a bedroom, has no infrastructure to support the old stuff with which he once tinkered. Some of you, God willing, will be like that with your old Macs, too, in a few years' time.
It is a shame. I'm a Newton fan and daily user, but the software hunt for the machine can occasionally be frustrating. For many and most purposes, however, there is a large-ish (alas, not comprehensive) software repository at unna.org .
