Although my confession here might cause those hanging out on the Newton mailing lists some degree of embarrassment for their newfound brethren (their technical aptitude, at least for hardware, seems to dwarf my own), I have to admit some trepidation, if not outright fear, in finally addressing the eternal problem of eMates: wonky hinges. It’s a well-known manufacturing defect that will cause the hinge springs to eventually pop out of their slots within the hinge and, sooner or later, puncture the display cable. However, reading the fix is enough to intimidate most beginners to electronics: it involves a lengthy process of removing the battery, opening the shell, soldering wires, stripping down the eMate to its bare components, recoiling wires with vicegrips, applying white grease or teflon lubricant, putting in washers to prevent future spring pops, and putting everything back together again. (The process, for those not faint of heart, might be found on Frank’s excellent Newton site.)
Thankfully, it was nowhere near as painful as it sounds, even though I did experience a few problems because of my tools and inexperience.
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Walking into a dimly-lit cabin on the shores of a subarctic lake, I thought I saw someone staring at me from a dark corner. I walked closer to get a better look.
