Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 19, 1993                   TAG: 9309170012
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BY JUMP LEDGER AND TUG LOW
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

NEWTON FALLS FLAT ON ITS GLASS FACE

The long-awaited, much-touted Newton MessagePad, which Apple Computer said would revolutionize the personal organizer industry, falls flat on its glass face.

On the Newton, the bylines JAMES LYONS and TOM LOWRY come up as JUMP LEDGER and TUG LOW.

The Newton is supposed to be able to convert handwritten notes into text, and print and send messages by computer mail or satellite around the world. But the hand-held gadget, which weighs less than a pound and costs more than $1,200 with the vital accessories, can barely recognize its own name.

In fact, it has the propensity of misreading almost everything written on it.

Although it comes with a 10,000-word vocabulary, it takes several weeks to learn how to recognize the handwriting of its owner, who has to read the 223-page instruction book to learn how to use it. All this from the company that prides itself on making user-friendly computers.

The Newton contains a calculator, calendar datebook and a simulated business card file for names and addresses among its bells and whistles.

The most innovative feature, of course, is the gadget's ability to turn handwriting into printed characters. Newton works best with the kind of Palmer Method handwriting displayed on top of elementary school blackboards.

Sounding like a stern third-grade teacher, Newton's instructions say, "Write simply and neatly at an even pace. Don't use fancy curlicues. Make capital letters twice as tall as lower-case letters. Dot your `i' with a dot directly above the letter. Close your `O' on top and don't loop your `a.' Make sure each letter has all its strokes. Don't have part of a letter blend into the next letter."

Basically, all you have to do is change the way you write.

Initially, "cat" comes out "cut" "dog" comes out "dog" and "blue" comes out "be."

"Calculus" is "or lie Los," gravity is "goal I if" and motion is "pro Zion."

Newton may be blind, but it is not dumb. The machine is supposedly capable of correcting some of its mistakes. Newton's instruction booklet (which, it should be noted, contains lots of annoying parenthesis referring you to other parts of the book for yet more instructions on what you're trying to do) says that when the machine misinterprets "cat" as "cut" for example, all you have to do is tap the screen twice with the stylus and a dictionary will appear with words that are similar to the one you wrote.

If that approach fails, and it does - especially if Newton misreads the first letter of a word - a handy typewriter-like keyboard appears. You're then supposed to tap out the proper spelling of the word.

This kind of drudgery is a full-bloom display of the Newton's maddening perversity. One moment you're writing, the next moment you're scanning a dictionary and then you're tapping a tiny keyboard.

One thing Newton does well is get rid of the handwriting you've labored so hard to get it to read. It erases with pizazz; actually, with sound effects and an electronic puff of smoke.

All you have to do is write a large "W" over what you want deleted and - poof - it's gone.

If all else fails, Newton has a toll-free number, (800) SOS-APPL. After a run-through of several you-must-have-a-touch-tone phone menus for the Apple Assistance Line, someone picks up, gives a first name and offers to help.

Like other introductions of new technology, Newton doesn't come cheap and Apple encourages you to take home a whole briefcase of accessories.

The Newton with modem goes for $799, but buyers are told they probably will need a 1 megabyte storage card ($249.95) if they plan on using it extensively or sharing it with someone else.

You also will need a rechargeable battery ($24.95) along with the battery pack recharger ($54.95). You also have the option of buying a $54 leather carrying case or a $29.95 vinyl one. The cases, though, do not have room to carry the battery charger or the fax modem or the much-needed manual.

During the gadget's early weeks on the market, demand has exceeded the pace retailers can stock it. The nearest source is First Step Computers in Richmond, (800) 788-3232, which will take a deposit and put you on a waiting list.

Analysts say Apple Computer could rack up as much as $100 million in sales in the next 12 months.