I'm curious what a native port of Emacs on an iPad actually contributes over an Screen/SSH session on a "real" machine with "real" compilers and tool-chains.
To get it running, you'd need (a) the ability to modify, redistribute, compile, and install arbitrary code (including GPL'd code), and (b) the ability to run interpreters and virtual machines (emacs lisp).
So emacs itself is just a bellwether for the things he really wants in a computer.