[NTLK] Ferdi's eMate cable

> And yes, Ferdi, you do provide Newton eMate replacement
> ribbon cables for repairs -- but you sell them at roughly
> $40 bucks a pop -- and that's about the price one pays these
> days for an entire eMate.

although I certainly disapprove of many things Ferdi does, may I
politely
suggest that we try to be fair in our discussions?

When this cable was made, eMates were more expensive than nowadays.
Expensive enough, in fact, to make spending 40 bucks preferable over
throwing an otherwise perfectly good eMate away.

Also, Ferdi sent me a sample free of charge that allowed me to write
a review page, of which (I hope) the community has benefitted insofar
as a buyer knows exactly what he'd be getting into.

Last not least, Ferdi offers a 9 buck discount if you donate at least
5 bucks to NewtonTalk and send him proof of this, and he also offers a
discount if you mention that you found the cable through my site.

> I'm willing to bet you scored all those cables for a buck or two
> apiece...

I do, with all due respect, very much doubt this. These cables aren't
original eMate cables, they are something that (to the best of my
knowledge) Ferdi has spent money on to make them see the light of
the day. Since usually you wouldn't find anybody
willing to manufacture as complex a cable as this if you do
not buy a lot of them, I'd be willing to bet that this project has
cost a lot of money before the first cable could ever be sold.

Personally, I still think that taking this risk was one of the better
things Ferdi has done for the Newton community.

Frank

-- Newton software and hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de

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