Before the iPad, there was the Apple eMate 300, a failed low-cost (for the time) laptop running Newton OS. The 4-pound device was released on March 7, 1997, cost $799 USD ($1,567 in 2024), and was the only Apple Newton Device with a built-in keyboard.
Featuring a 6.8″ (480×320 resolution) 16-shade grayscale touchscreen display, 25MHz ARM 710a RISC processor, 1MB of RAM, a 3MB hard drive, and an internal memory expansion slot located in the hatch under the battery door. Plus, it came equipped with a single non-CardBus PCMCIA slot to connect modems, Ethernet / wireless / Bluetooth cards, and flash memory. Steve Jobs discontinued the eMate in 1998 due to poor sales.
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I own a MessagePad 2000. The Emate 300 uses the same OS and apps with the exception of the classroom stuff. The PCMCIA slot only uses proprietary cards that work only for these devices. But there is a driver in the internet that allows you to use CF cards using a CF Card adapter. The problems is that you must install the application on the Mac and have the proprietary cable to connect both systems to install/upload apps to the Emate,” said one commenter.
