I swapped out my Droid3 workhorse for a Samsung Galaxy S3 yesterday. When I found the handwriting option in the keyboard I experienced a wave of nostalgia for my beloved Newton MessagePad from the mid-1990′s.

(photo taken with iPhone4s – ha!)

My tech gadget dreams are coming true? So far I like the Galaxy S3 more than I thought I would. I desperately miss the physical hardware keyboard of the Droid3, but the zippy speed and nicer screen and the ice cream sandwich features make up for that loss.

My ultimate device would be a mashup of the Newton (I loved handwriting recognition), the hardware keyboard on the Skytel two way pager (“barbie computer”) I used in the late 1990′s (best keyboard I ever used), and the buttons and touchscreen of Android OS withOUT any default apps/settings (let me pick, please! I don’t want Color! I don’t want NFL Football! I don’t want Kies air! I don’t want WiFi always on!). At least Android Ice Cream Sandwich makes it easy to disable and hide apps I don’t want. iOS would be so much nicer if it had that feature.

I don’t like rooting my phones just to have more control. I like to know what the general/average/default consumer experience is. The OS should give me control.

I still have my Newton, in a drawer, in all it’s 4MB storage glory. Miss you, babe, you were what I accidentally left behind at a girl’s house once, and then I married her. Tech romance.