The eMate is not a netbook. Wikipedia defines a netbook as a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers. Although the eMate has a small 6.81 inch display, weights just 4 lbs., lacks an optical drive, and cost $800 in 1997 it is not a netbook. The word netbook implies a clamshell computer with a network connection, and out of the box the eMate 300 has none.
The origins of the netbook can be traced to the Network Computer (NC) concept of the mid-1990s, but the eMate has no ethernet jack for dependable wired access, and no wifi for convenient wireless internet. Its IrDA infrared port is best used for beaming small snippets of information, and the Newton 2400 bps fax modem was an optional accessory. Even Apple’s Internet Enabler software, vital for deciphering a TCP/IP connection, was never preinstalled. It takes a complicated bootstrap process with a “old world” Mac to get the eMate online, and once you have struggled through that mess you have all of the eMate’s 25MHz ARM processor, 1MB of RAM, and no browser to surf the internet with. The eMate is a hobby of a network computer at best but still Wikipedia lists it as an example of one of the very first netbooks.
I have an eMate, and use it from time to time just for typing. I can export .RTF files to my iMac via a cable. It’s a great little machine, and it’s a damn shame that it’s been mostly forgotten.