PDA Week, Day 0 (cuz @Lunduke started it early and we coders tend to start things at zero 🤣)
So since Lunduke is getting an Apple Newton, I figured, why not start out by trying to find an emulator for that. And I found [this](https://learn.adafruit.com/apple-newton-personal-digital-assistant/einstein). To run it on Android, I would need to learn Android programming (a thing on my to-do list for 2023, lol) and build from source. So Linux will have to do.
And so far, it's been... surprisingly business-y. There's a calendar, a notes app (or whatever apps were called back then), and the setup screen is a lot like a modern "add your account" type screen. It wants your name, address, all kinds of personal data... which you can leave blank or type random stuff into. 🤣 I could absolutely see using a piece of tech like this today. No worrying about where it's sending my data, no need for an internet connection to save notes or contacts or whatever. There's a lot here I haven't explored yet. And probably a lot of other software I can get for it that I don't know about yet. Right now it just has the one ROM, so maybe not... but I mean so far I can totally see a device like this being useful in the 2020s.
Usefulness aside, I'd just like to talk about the experience a bit. Of course I love the "retro-ness" of it; black and white (and shades of gray), cool sound effects, and fun graphics. Of course I'm really happy to be testing it on mylaptop, cuz me and touch screen keyboards do not mix well. Of course I'm glad I can zoom in using our 21st-century magnification software... but even with all these "of course's", this thing is surprising. It's surprising how easy it is to figure out, there's an "install packages" button I just discovered, and apparently a scripting language? I gotta play with that! Anyway, I love the simplicity of its design, and I'm impressed at the capabilities it had! And I have a feeling I've only scratched the surface.
