Newton FAQ

Answers to common questions regarding Apple’s Newton computing platform.

Part IV: Community

  1. Discussion
    1. Where can I find Newton newsgroups?
      1. International Newsgroups
      2. German Newsgroups
    2. Where can I find Newton mailing lists?
    3. Where can I find Newton user groups?
    4. Where can I find Newton discussion forums?
  2. News & Information
    1. Where can I find a list of Newton sites?
    2. Is there a Newton equivalent of Version Tracker?
    3. Where can I find current news about the Newton?
  3. Social Media
    1. Twitter
    2. Mastodon
    3. Instagram
    4. Facebook
    5. Elsewhere
  4. Miscellaneous
    1. Are there any Newton April Fools’ Day jokes?
    2. Can I view “Bad Apple” on a Newton?
    3. Where can I find stories about the Newton?
    4. Where can I find even more Newtons?

A. Discussion

1. Where can I find Newton newsgroups?

While there’s still quite a bit of useful (and historical) information buried in the Usenet archives, many groups devolved into spam accumulators over the years. Keep this in mind when searching through the archives.

a. International Newsgroups
b. German Newsgroups

2. Where can I find Newton mailing lists?

There are currently three active mailing lists:

Retired mailing lists:

3. Where can I find Newton user groups?

Active user groups are a rarity these days, but there are still a couple of them kicking around.

Lists of previous user groups are available through these archived sites:

4. Where can I find Newton discussion forums?

Over the past few years, a plethora of Newton related discussion forums and platforms have sprung up, proving that there is still plenty to chat about.

B. News & Information

1. Where can I find a list of Newton sites?

A significant number of the links on these sites have undoubtedly succumbed to linkrot over the years. Wherever possible, we’ve pointed at versions of the sites saved in the Internet Archive.

2. Is there a Newton equivalent of Version Tracker?

Unfortunately, not any more. At one time, there was a searchable database called Newton Versions created by Jakob Peterhänsel and published by the Danish Newton User Group (DNUG).

Unfortunately, the database (including a copy hosted by Christian Fiutak) seems to have disappeared.

See also: Newton Software

3. Where can I find current news about the Newton?

There aren’t many sites that still regularly post news or articles about the Newton, but they do exist.

See also: Social Media

Archived news sites:

C. Social Media

1. Twitter

2. Mastodon

3. Instagram

4. Facebook

5. Elsewhere

D. Miscellaneous

1. Are there any Newton April Fools’ Day jokes?

There have been several infamous April Fools’ Day jokes among the Newton community, including:

2. Can I view “Bad Apple” on a Newton?

Believe it or not, yes.

If you’re not familiar with the whole “Bad Apple” phenomenon, it’s a Japanese pop song that spawned a multitude of remixes, videos, and memes. One of the memes was to show the video playing on as many different hardware platforms as possible. In March 2013, Vladislav Korotnev ported the video to the Newton and posted the results on YouTube.

The video can be downloaded as a Newton package from UNNA.

3. Where can I find stories about the Newton?

Andy Hertzfeld’s Folklore site has a nice selection of Newton related tales.

Frank Gründel has also posted a few stories of his own.

Also available in German.

Christoph Schröder collects short personal stories from various Newton users.

Former Apple software engineer Landon “Dadhacker” Dyer published several recollections of his time working on the Newton:

Some of these stories are also available as audio files from Mac Folklore Radio.

4. Where can I find even more Newtons?