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It's unfortunate to see people still to this day remember only "bad handwriting recognition" when thinking of the Newton. That problem affected only early models and by the time the MP2000 came out the recognition was superb. It didn't make their list of 25 but made it into their dishonourable mentions. A flop it was, but mostly because it was a product (and product class) way ahead of its time.

I agree; that same software on a Palm-sized device or a phone nowadays would still be pretty cool. When Newton was invented, the hardware just wasn't up to the job: a friend of mine was briefly in charge of UK marketing for the Newton, and he went out and bought a pair of cargo trousers specifically so he could call the Newton "pocket-sized" without feeling bad about it.

Peter