11. Your Newton is a “project” device. This is what originally drew me to the MessagePad. Setting up wifi and Bluetooth, sending and receiving e-mails, playing around with third-party apps and games, even syncing with OS X – the Newton gives you weekend projects that satisfy your inner DIY’er. The iPhone? Too easy.

When I bought my MessagePad 2100 back in 2005 it was after great hemming and hawing between it and a Treo 650. I decided to skip consolidation and the risk of forced obsolescence and go for flexibility, chosen obsolescence, and community. I’ve never even been tempted to look back.

[Via Grant Hutchinson]