The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : Apple’s eWorld: Style Over Substance
If looks were everything, Apple’s new eWorld on-line service would be a sure winner. But it will take more than just a pretty interface to compete with established services such as Prodigy, Compuserve, and America Online.
On-line services, like people, need more than just good looks to be interesting and compelling. And eWorld--currently available for the Macintosh, with a Windows version expected next year--still has a way to go in making itself a sophisticated and knowledgeable conversationalist.
EWorld is the first in a wave of new on-line services to be launched over the next year by some of the biggest names in the computer industry. Microsoft is expected to make its entry by early next year and may include the access software with its next-generation personal computer operating system, code-named Chicago.
Computer magazine publisher Ziff-Davis will launch its Interchange service this fall, with content initially focused on computers. Delphi, now owned by publisher Rupert Murdoch, is in the process of reinventing itself with an easier-to-use graphic interface and a host of new services aimed at non-technical consumers.
All this activity is unsurprising in light of how quickly the on-line services market is growing. CompuServe, America Online and Prodigy together serve about 5 million users, with Genie and Delphi lagging significantly behind. About 25 million people worldwide are connected to the Internet, a global network of networks linking many different computer systems and services.
The newer players such as eWorld can bring some fresh approaches to their services by working with newer equipment, more sophisticated software and novel interface designs. But that’s not enough. An on-line service’s interface, like a newspaper’s design, is just a starting point. The coin de realm is content. And when it comes to content, eWorld has a lot of room for improvement.
That’s not a surprise, for building content takes time and requires myriad relationships with information providers.
EWorld’s initial start-up screen features a town square metaphor to help you navigate the system. Instead of the usual pull-down menus, buttons or icons, you click on buildings, such as the “Newsstand” and “Learning Center.” Whimsical sounds, such as traffic noise on the town’s main street, provide a diversion and some comic relief.
The town hall metaphor is cute and the service’s look and feel is pleasing, but they really don’t add that much to the service’s usability. From the standpoint of ease of use, eWorld is on a par with America Online and Prodigy. Even CompuServe, which was once considered one of the most complex on-line services, has streamlined its interface so that it is also now fairly easy to use.
EWorld’s “Arts and Leisure Pavilion” takes you to the entertainment features, recipes, Fodors travel, TV reviews and other leisurely pursuits. The “Learning Center” is the gateway to Grolier’s Encyclopedia but (so far) nothing else. Other options appear on the menu, but when you try to use them you’re advised that they’ll be “added shortly.”
The “Computer Center” takes you to Apple’s customer service center, where you can download software from ZiffNet/Mac and where vendors provide technical support for Mac and Newton users. The “Newsstand” provides access to Reuters and USA Today and commentary from a handful of syndicated columnists. Many of the sections have a chat area where you can participate in a live interactive conversation with other members.
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EWorld, like all the major on-line services, also offers electronic mail, including the ability to exchange messages via the Internet with users of other services. EWorld costs $8.95 a month, which includes two hours of non-prime-time use; additional hours cost $4.95, plus a surcharge of $2.95 for access during prime time. Macintosh users can order a free start-up kit by calling (800) 775-4556.
EWorld will have to work diligently on getting content in place if it hopes to be a player in the long term, for the established on-line services are hardly standing still. America Online this year added several new databases, including the full text of Time magazine. It has also become the first major commercial on-line service to offer access to Internet news groups (forums) as well as menus (called gophers) that provide access to other Internet resources. America Online eventually plans to offer full Internet access.
CompuServe, legendary for its depth and its hundreds of highly sophisticated reference sources, has recently issued a newer and more straightforward version of its Windows software. The company last month began distributing an optional CD-ROM that adds sound, video clips and multimedia elements to the service.
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Prodigy, where I write a regular computer column, is expanding its editorial offerings and adding some innovative features to its interface. The company has established a relationship with news organizations, including the Atlanta Constitution and Times Mirror Co. (the publisher of the Los Angeles Times) to provide local news and community information.
Prodigy is the first service to routinely provide photographs with its news stories and, late last month, began integrating sound clips into some of its editorial offerings. It takes about four minutes, at 14,400 bits per second, to download a two-minute sound clip. But Prodigy does it in background so you can use other parts of the service--or other Windows programs--while the sound file is being transferred over the phone line.
Prodigy’s use of sound and CompuServe’s CD-ROM provide a glimpse of what is to come. Fiber optics, cable and other technologies will make it possible for services to offer rich libraries of audio and video material--including perhaps full-length movies and documentaries. It will also become practical for people to send voice mail and even video mail as we cruise along the gradually widening digital highway.
