Business eMate

I can now reveal that at MacWorld this January I was given an exclusive preview of the new Apple eMate for business users. I haven't been able to talk about it up to now because of a strict embargo that Apple placed on the news, to be released on roughly the date that this magazine will appear on the shelves.

Ever since the first eMate appeared as a rugged laptop for education users, but with the slower processor used in the MessagePad 130, rather than the much faster StrongARM of the MessagePad 2000 series, there have been strong suggestions from users that Apple should create a more powerful eMate with all the missing features. My experience with the eMate has shown that extra RAM and a second PC Card slot would both be highly desirable, if it was to be pitched at the business market. When Newton Inc was brought back into the Apple fold, it was rumoured that Steve Jobs had quashed the well developed plans for the release of a business eMate.

However, it can now be revealed that Apple brought in the well known management guru Ray Mebert (M e-acute b e r t) to assist with the design of the new eMate. In a series of seminars with Apple management, they decided to replace the stylus system with a system of dual cursor controls in the place of the ink wells on either side of the keyboard. The ink wells are underutilised on the eMate, and apparently business individuals have more trouble with losing styluses than K-12 students. This keeps the politically correct emphasis on usability for left and right handed people, and makes the system more acceptable for a wider range of disabled owners. Other updates to the system include improved system software with a greater range of gesture driven commands. Given the propensity of the current MessagePads to lock up requiring a reset, the reset button, which was reported to be very hard to find by business individuals, has been replaced with a gesture driven reset command: inverting the machine and shaking from side to side will now trigger some very special new inertial switches (no Mercury content, so non-polluting) and force a reset.

To further differentiate the new eMate from the older model, Apple have radically changed the design of the case. It will keep the subtle Apple cued shape, but the screen will be upgraded to a new, slightly larger, version that uses a distinctly silver coloured matrix to enhance visibility in a wider range of light conditions. The case will be made in a new colour, Macintosh red, to further reinforce ties with Apple.

Words and design by:
Paul Lynch
Last updated: February 6, 1998