September 5, 2002
The translucent digital man-purse.
In between the recent surge of Newton-related items floating around the tech news sites and the subsequent mudslide of visits to my Newton server, Robert Basilio Jr. emailed the following question. Since there’s been a least a little bit of renewed interest in Newton technology lately, somebody else may find my blathering useful as well. So anywho, Robert asked:
“In your honest opinion, what’s better a Newton or an eMate?”
Never one to shirk my responsibility for voicing an opinion, allow me to approach the podium. First of all, I’d like to clarify one point. You can’t compare a Newton with an eMate because technically they are both Newtons, or more accurately, both Newton OS-based devices. We’ll assume that by “Newton”, Robert means a Newton MessagePad. All right then. Here’s what I love about the eMate:
- The wonderfully touchable Thomas Meyerhoffer design. The eMate defined translucent hardware before Jonathan Ive painted the world Bondi Blue.
- The compact integrated keyboard, replete with a bevy of Newton-specific function keys.
- The reasonably large and legible backlit display.
- The dongle-less serial port.
- The durability. These things were designed to be bashed around in schools. They’re as tough as the seams on a sixth grader’s jeans.
What I don’t like about the eMate is the speed. Now speed is relative, and if you’ve used a 1×0-series MessagePad before, then the eMate might even seem a tad bouncier. But the fact is, I’ve used an 2100-series MessagePad for the past three years and the eMate is downright sluggish in comparison. A 25 Mhz ARM 710a is no match for a 162 Mhz StrongARM processor, baby. Mind you, using a keyboard with a 2100 can be cumbersome without a properly designed all-in-one case, but the speed and accuracy of the handwriting recognition more than makes up for the lack of convenience. Additionally, the eMate only sports a single PCMCIA Type II/III slot, whereas the MP2x00 offers dual Type II slots. We’re talking about going wireless and having ample ATA storage for playing back our MP3s that we manage with iTunes. You just can’t do all that with an eMate. Not easily anyway. There’s a load of other things I could go on about, but my main point is this… given the opportunity, I’d buy another 2100 in a flash. But for the pure joy of ownership, the eMate oozes nothing but simple charm.
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