It looks like this will be the week, after months — years — of speculation and rumors and wishful thinking, that we will finally learn about the next great thing from Apple.

Some hope that this new product will be Apple’s answer to the netbook category of computers. But Steve Jobs publicly dismissed the notion of Apple producing a tiny, sub-$500 notebook. Of course, his apparent distain and rejection of netbooks could lead one to believe that Apple is indeed going to enter this product space in some way. How many times has Steve waved off concepts, technologies or products as ridiculous or unnecessary, only to have those same concepts, technologies or products appear in Apple’s product line months or years later? Anyone remember Steve’s opinion of Intel processors? How about the possibility of producing software for Windows? The two-button mouse?

Most believe that the mystery product will not be a literal interpretation by Apple of an ‘iNetbook’ (an inexpensive miniature Macintosh laptop), but instead a computing device in the form of a tablet. That is, this new product will be a display-centric computer, lacking a physical keyboard, somewhat analogous in form and function to an enlarged iPhone or iPod touch. At a deeper level, some think that this new device, along with new killer apps and content, will change the way we consumers think about computers, how we interact with them, and what we expect them to do for us. This device could change our concept of what personal computing is.

The very words ‘Apple tablet’ brings to mind, even to the most casual Apple observer, the Newton MessagePad. An industry joke to some, a product ahead of its time for others, the MessagePad was one of the earliest consumer focused tablet computers produced and sold. For good or ill, plenty of bits and ink has been spilled, drawing correlation between the Newton and a possible new tablet from Apple. To some, it is almost seen as the reincarnation of the Newton, even going so far as to suggest the thing will bare the ‘iPad’ moniker, a sort of homage to the MessagePad. Considering the negative press that the Newton received during its lifetime, as well as Steve’s own less than enthusiastic opinion of the product line, this name seems unlikely.

I want to talk a bit about Apple’s other, and often forgotten, tablet computer – eMate. Though short-lived – on the market for less than a year – the eMate 300 was an ambitious and arguably flawed in-between product, aimed primarily at the education market. While it was a uniquely designed clamshell laptop-style computer with an integrated hardware keyboard, it could also be used as a tablet via the included stylus and touch-sensitive display. Since the eMate ran Newton OS, another way to look at the device is as a MessagePad with a built-in keyboard.

The industrial design of eMate was like nothing seen before from Apple, or any other computer company for that matter. And it was the testbed for many key design concepts. eMate was the first time Apple utilized translucent plastics for a shipping product, something that would later become synonymous with the first generations of iMac. The original iBook took more than one design queue from eMate. Not a coincidence since these designs, eMate included, were all influenced by Jonathan Ive. And not only were the colors and materials eye-catching, but the actual shape of the device was unique to the extreme. You’d be hard pressed to find many straight lines on the eMate. Curved surfaces and shapes form the majority of the machine’s exterior. Perhaps tipping the design language a tad over-the-top, with the screen closed the shape of the entire computer echos that of a large, green apple. But to most, myself included, it is a beautiful, sculptural piece of technology. Beautiful, but flawed from a usability standpoint.

In the end, eMate was to meet its eventual fate – that of discontinuation, along with its MessagePad cousin. Many factors, real and debatable, contributed to the demise of Newton OS. But eMate and MessagePad proved to be valuable testbeds for many concepts and technologies, finding their way into subsequent products. Almost more important were the lessons that these products taught about what not to do from a design perspective. Revisiting the notion of the ‘in-between’ product, eMate tried to be too much with too little. eMate was geared up as a relatively inexpensive laptop. In a way, eMate was really Apple’s first (and so far only) netbook, though that term was not yet conceived in 1997. While offering an impressive assortment of input/output methods, the processor and memory were underpowered, even for the relatively lightweight Newton OS. Boot and load times were frustratingly slow. The keyboard itself was very nice from a hardware perspective. But eMate really functioned like a touch-oriented device that happened to have a keyboard attached, which made interacting with the operating system somewhat awkward. Grab stylus, tap on icon to launch app. Set down stylus. Type on keyboard. Repeat. Awkward. And MessagePad approached text input (partially to answer critics of Newton’s handwriting recognition) from the other direction, by offering a separate attachable keyboard. Double awkward since you now had two pieces of hardware to carry around.

I believe that Apple learned a lesson from eMate and MessagePad. A lesson that will be reflected in design decisions for the soon-to-be-revealed new product.

The question of interaction with a touch-oriented digital device, of how to enter text and navigate the operating system, is key to success or failure this kind of product. I suggest, like many others speculate, that this machine will simply be something like an enlarged iPhone, and navigation will be done by touch. Text entry will be accomplished via onscreen virtual keyboard instead of a physical one. Interactive simplicity is essential to successful design. Fumbling between navigating the display by touch, then shifting to another portion of the device to press physical keys to enter text is not an elegant interaction. I agree with those who also believe that Apple will not support the connection or attachment (either wired or wireless) of a physical keyboard. Why not, especially when so many people feel that serious computers (including laptops and smartphones) require physical keyboards?

I propose that Apple is attempting, once again, to push consumer’s preconceptions of what ‘computers’ are and what they do for us. I think Apple believes that increasingly, keyboards are old school and that we all just need to move past our desire to press down on physical keys. It is a hard concept for some to get their head’s around. But I don’t think we have to look too far in the past to see other examples of resistance to interactive and behavioral change. Some are still baffled by the idea of communicating via email instead of by picking up the phone. And why telephone when you can write a letter? I bet we all know people who resisted the first generations of personal computers and the advent of word processing. Why should they abandon the simple reliability of their IBM Selectric typewriters? Why take a plane when you can go by rail? Why own a car if your horse is healthy? Flintlocks versus bows and arrows? Some of these examples are extreme, but not overly so. In each example, there is nothing inherently wrong with the preceding form of technology. Similar results just require more effort, or offer fewer benefits, compared to the subsequent technologies and behaviors.

I’m willing to bet that the new Apple device will be such a leap in technological perception and behavior. I think that it is entirely possible that in the near future, physical keyboards will be regarded as quaint relics of the technological past.

Yep, Mr. Scott’s exact sentiment when using a Mac and keyboard in Star Trek IV.

Whatever Apple reveals, the physical device is half the story. The other half will be what some regard as ’spin’ or marketing. But the less cynical see at least some of what Apple has done and continues to do as something else. Apple actually challenges and changes the way we think about technology and how we interface with it. I expect nothing less this week.

Posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Categories: apple, computing, design, emate, interaction, newton, tech
Leave a response, or trackback from your site.