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eMate: Resurrection (3/27/98)
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Speaking of minuscule Macs, back when they announced the cancellation of the Newton, Apple mentioned that they would return to the handheld market next year with eMate-like designs that were based on the Mac OS platform. That would fit in with what we've all heard about Allegro Lite, the "thin client" version of the Mac OS currently under development, and a Mac OS eMate would complement the other thin client designs Apple is reported working on, like the Mac NC and Columbus, whatever the heck that is. Mac OS Rumors reports that one of their readers attended an Apple seminar on Apple's K-12 educational strategy, where he or she was told that the "eMac" is real, and coming relatively soon.
It seems that the eMac may retain the eMate name, in an effort to increase brand recognition when it's released this January. The case will reportedly remain the same (so hopefully the ruggedness will remain, too), and the feature set will be similar. We expect that it will include basic word processing, spreadsheet, scheduling, and internet capabilities. The big difference is that the new eMate will include a color touch screen, which would be a huge improvement. If Apple can really produce this thing in January, it may not lose all of its credibility in the educational sector-- where they took a hefty self-induced beating by killing the eMate after pushing it as the "next big thing," so our sources say.
One thing we'll be interested to see is whether a Mac OS-based eMate can fulfill the needs of users outside the educational market. For instance, if AtAT staff could reliably write and produce AtAT episodes on one, and continue to broadcast while on the road, it would be great to throw an eMate in a shoulder bag and not have to worry as much about damaging sensitive equipment. And since the new eMate is rumored to be priced similarly to the existing/discontinued model, for only $799, we'd be willing to deal with a few inconveniences.
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SceneLink (573)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 3/27/98 episode: March 27, 1998: History repeats, and it seems that Apple's latest subnotebook my be restricted to work its tiny portable magic in the Japanese market only. Meanwhile, an even tinier Mac portable is in the works, as Apple mad scientists continue to try to fuse Mac OS technology and the cuteness quotient of the eMate. As for the billion-dollar lawsuit against our hero, well, is anyone taking it seriously?...
Other scenes from that episode: 572: We Need Smaller Hands (3/27/98) Awww, man... It seems that Mighty Cat, the rumored speed-bumped version of the sleek & tiny Powerbook 2400, might never see the light of day-- at least not in the U.S. Apparently the new subnotebook may only be released in Japan, where space is scarcer and hands are smaller... 574: How Soon We Forget (3/27/98) Some of you may recall another lawsuit filed against Apple... How many of you remember Imatec, the medical imaging company who is suing Apple for over a billion dollars for infringing patents in the implementation of ColorSync?...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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