[NTLK] Book about Newton

[Christian Burk]

Hi,
I was just having a conversation with a co-worker who was complaining about
a company-supplied Mac he needs to use. He's a bit of a die-hard Windows
user.

In talking about this, he said, "Do you remember the eMate?" We were on
Zoom, so I reached over and showed him one of mine.

"This?" I said.

"Ha. I can't believe it still works. And that the battery isn't dead."

I explained that I rebuilt the battery and greased the hinges, but
otherwise, it's the same machine.

He said that when he was a science teacher in the 1990s, he had a Newton
Message Pad and really liked it. When the eMate came out, he used to give
demonstrations to his administrators and teachers.

"You know why we should use this in schools?" he'd ask and then drop it
from shoulder height.

He said it never failed. The eMate survived unscathed and the audience was
impressed.

He eventually convinced the school to order 300 devices for their students.
Within 6 months, the whole Newton OS line was canceled and they were left
unsupported by Apple.

Thus, he's never bought another thing by Apple.

I conceded that he came by his animosity honestly. But, given that we were
bonding over the Newton, I shared a link to *Love Notes from Newton* with
him.

This reminded me, though, to ask this group if there's ever been a book
written about the Newton. Does anyone know of one?

I recently read *The Apple II Age: How the Computer Became Personal *by
Laine Nooney
(https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo195231688.html) and
found it really fascinating. I think that the Newton would hold its own as
the subject of book-length explanation and analysis.

Yours,
Christian