Going down the tube: Danny Penman tours the capital with a digital assistant

NOT BEING from London, I find the tube pretty unfriendly. But sitting with an Apple Newton Personal Digital Assistant on my lap, I discovered how to stir up whispers and curious glances.

'I've tried one and couldn't get it to understand my writing,' a man opposite chimed in as I tried to get the Newton to understand my spidery scrawl.

Suitably encouraged, the next day I set off early to put Newton through its paces in conjunction with the Time Out Guide For London. The Newton is a superb product, but it has not so far lived up to the hype. Apple has realised that the hand-writing recognition is not up to scratch, partly because most people's hand-writing is pretty scruffy and partly because the Newtons do not have enough processing power. Instead, Apple is now pushing the Newton as a portable personal database - like the hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy in Douglas Adams's books.

To fit into this niche, Apple is collaborating with software writers like Time Out, to produce interactive books which do not rely too heavily on hand-writing recognition to make them work.

A trip around London was the only way to crash-test it. I started out at Earl's Court station in west London, and called up the guide. A menu appeared on the three by four inch screen. With a nifty little 'pen', which slides neatly into the top casing of the Newton, I ploughed through the options from a primary list of Accomodation, Eating and drinking, Entertainment, Information and Services, London by area, Maps and Shopping.

I decided I was going to be a tourist for the day, so I chose the Sightseeing option and decided to see the 'major sights'. After a three-second delay, the first recommendation appeared on screen. Buckingham Palace. The guide contained all the information I needed for a postcard home. If any more information is needed, certain areas of the screen have 'buttons' that you tap with the pen. I tapped one with a pound symbol on it and it told me that tickets for the palace cost pounds 8.

But how would I get there? No problem. I tapped the address of the palace shown at the top of the screen. Up popped another window asking me if I wanted the palace shown on a map, or directions from or to it. From another menu I tapped From Earl's Court, To Buckingham Palace. I could then choose how I intended to travel: Walking, Walking and tube, or Driving. I selected Walking and tube. There followed a 20-second delay while the route was calculated and presented on screen:

'Take tube from Earl's Court to St James's Park; W on Broadway 0.1 mi (1 block); W on Petty France 0.3 mi (2 blocks); W on Buckingham Gate 0.2 mi (1 block); Right (N) on Buckingham Palace Rd 0.1 mi (1 block); N on Queens Gdns under 1 block; Distance 0.7 miles after tube.'

Arriving at St James's Park tube was the easy part. How to get to the palace was a little more difficult. Unfortunately, most directions use compass references. I do not have a built in compass, so I tried the boy scout trick of pointing the long hand of a watch at the sun at quarter to twelve. In theory the short hand should have pointed north. After several minutes fiddling with my watch, I gave up and asked a policeman.

From the palace I decided to go to Downing Street. I followed the directions, which were fine, until I reached the end of the Mall where it meets Trafalgar Square. The Time Out guide told me to go left, which I did. Unfortunately, Whitehall was on the right . . . It was a complicated junction, so maybe Newton's directions were ambiguous rather than wrong.

From Downing Street the Newton and I went to St Paul's Cathedral via the Houses of Parliament, all without incident, apart from an accident with a can of Coke, which the Newton survived, if a little sticky.

I decided then it was time to eat, so I asked the Newton for suggestions. Pizza Express came highly recommended, so now well into the swing of things, off I went.

One of the thoughts that did flicker across my mind on the tube home was the price of an A-Z - about pounds 2 - the price of a Time Out - pounds 1:50 - and the price of the Newton version of the Time Out guide: pounds 105:70. A Time Out magazine and an A-Z are also lighter. But then again, the Newton is fun and looks just like the the hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy.

Time Out Guide for London

System: Apple Newton

Publisher: Time Out

Availability: Most outlets

Price: pounds 105.70 (inc VAT)