A day before the final deadline I had still not gotten onto eWorld, and so had not written a word of this article, bad news for someone who usually took from a week to a month to complete an article. Although my copy of the eWorld software had been obtained from Apple they were now unwilling to provide me with a local access number. A number I had been given didn't work, while the only number that came with the software was a US 800 number it would dial to configure itself.
After a few fruitless hours searching for a number to dial I eventually remembered that eWorld was using Sprint, and so dialed Sprint's Hong Kong office to ask for a US data number. I used this to get through, then had to fool the program into thinking I was in the US (by giving an address and phone number that matched, before finally getting online.
I spent fifty minutes online but then had to put in a full days work before I could start on the article. When I eventuwally was able to start writing I had only a few hours that evening in which to complete the article. Suprising even myself I managed it, and made the issue.
As well as being the only time I'd completed an article so quickly it was the first time the column was called 'Online Explorer', the first time the column was mentioned on the cover and the first time my photograph appeared alongside the column (whether this was a good or bad by MacChooser is open to debate).
Years ago Apple gave up hope of turning AppleLink into a rival to CompuServe or
AmericaOnline. While they have grown and developed, AppleLink has been held back
by it's dated, Mac-only, interface, high costs and limited services, and is today
mostly used as a communication service by Apple and people who have links to
Apple, such as developers.
With the limitations of AppleLink obvious, three years ago Apple started to look for something to take it's place. At the same time Apple was looking at the success of the commercial online services, and realising that in the many Mac and Newton users with modems it had a ready made market for a new, modern, online service. eWorld it hopes will be that service.
Already launched in North America, with Mac interface software bundled with all Macs sold there, Apple plans to launch eWorld worldwide by the end of 1994, and start releasing localised versions of the eWorld software in early 1995. eWorld is also the host for MessagePad-based NewtonMail, while a Windows front-end should be available later in 1995.*
Of all the Mac communications software I have seen, eWorld is by far the easiest to configure. After installing it from two floppies, this is simply a matter of letting eWorld work out what sort of modem you are using, then (in the US) letting it call a toll-free number to get an access number in your area. Then hit 'Connect' and, after a few more minutes entering credit-card and personal details, you are online.
The first thing you see is a painting of the eWorld town sqaure - nine buildings representing the functions and main areas of eWorld. Some, such as the eMail Center or Newsstand, have obvious purposes, while others are linked to other forums and services on eWorld. Alongside this there are four buttons, linked to topics or areas of current interest being highlighted on eWorld.
Click on a building other than the eMail Center or Info Booth (which accesses the online help) and you are taken to one of the seven main eWorld conferencing areas. Each has a painting depicting the function of the area, alongside icons you can click on to access the forums or functions reachable from the area, and buttons that access the most common functions of eWorld, in particular the directory and online help.
It is these original art, icons and layouts that give eWorld much of it's character. Each conference has its own banner picture and icons, helping you easily identify its owner or function, while icons in a window help you work out where clicking on it might lead. With the chatty writing style used for forum descriptions and attractive art in the main areas, the overall effect is one of a a friendly, accessible, meeting place, making for a very enjoyable online experience.
To help achieve this eWorld includes a lot of graphics. When first installed it has over 1MB of colour art, in a seperate file over twice the size of the eWorld application itself. But even this cannot include all the art that appears on eWorld, so occasionally as you open an area eWorld will pause for a few seconds as it downloads the icons and graphics for the area, adding them to its collection so it will not need to fetch them again.
Already there is a lot of content on eWorld. Apple have been actively encouraging vendors and publishers to set up on eWorld, and Mac vendors an publishers are particularly active. The most obvious thing missing are the user run forums like those on other online services, but these will appear as more users and interest groups start using eWorld.
Although only a few months old eWorld already has the feel and appearence of a mature, well put together, but most of all friendly, online serivice. It sohlud do very well among Mac users, but it is too early to tell whether it will do as well among PC users, or whether it can compete with CompuServe or AOL in terms of size. Only time will tell.
Time did tell. As I write in March 1996, only 19 months after writing the above and less than 9 monthns since eWorld was launched in Hong Kong, eWorld is in the process of closing down, unable to compete against the Internet.
© John Blackburne, johnb@hk.super.net, 17th March 1996
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