PocketWeb for Newton a No-Go



Jon Glass asked on the NewtonTalk list whether anyone was using PocketWeb on their Newtons. Wow: the website is still alive and you can download the package and the Monoco font to go with it. I loaded the two packages on to my eMate using Simon Bell's NCX. It looked promising: PocketWeb supports Newton Internet Enabler (NIE), and it purported to connect to the intarweb. My experiences proved otherwise, unfortunately.

I started with the requisite nerd visit to Slashdot.org, though I did choose the low-bandwidth "Palm" text version of the sites that just lists the most current of the current articles. Unfortunately, it was unable to use Type: text//html;charset iso-885. Darn it.


OK, for giggles I tried Google. Hmmm: 60797, Get DNS Address error. Evidently PocketWeb cannot resolve this newfangled Google.


I try to head over to 40hz's Courier site to reconsider my Newton web browser options. PocketWeb says it connects and loads the site but nothing displays.


I also have to note that when PocketWeb couldn't deal with a DNS call or otherwise goofed up, it did not always properly disconnect NIE and left the wifi card going. Additionally, if you tried to open a different page from the one you tried to load unsuccessfully, PocketWeb helpfully told you "There is already an open connection trying to open a different page" and would not load the new page.

It would have been cool to find another lightweight web browser. For now I am going to stick with NetHopper for the lightweight browsing experience, Courier for offline reading of html, and my registered copy of NewtsCape for heavy-duty html work and conversion to books. PocketWeb didn't make the transition to the modern Internet, unfortunately.

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