Cool Mac Gear

Special Report

Well friends and neighbors, it seems that some of you are ticked off, to put it mildly, at any suggestion that there is a) any difficulty in accurately reading the temperature of the surface of a 12-inch PowerBook's wrist rest, or b) that there is anything remotely wrong with giving it a try. We sympathize mightily with these attitudes, which accurately reflect our own for the most part, but the quest to measure temperature is perilous and subjective. Here's why:

For one thing, Apple is no more likely to welcome you coming into a retail store and attempting to measure how hot the PowerBooks are than your local car dealer would appreciate your towing a portable dynamometer onto the lot and publicly testing the horsepower of his company's latest sports car. While this might be tolerated on the part of an individual consumer, if you're seen to be taking notes and acting like a journalist, you'd better have a good explanation or at least smile a lot.

One reader suggested using an LCD strip thermometer like one might apply to a child's forehead. We replied that might be asking for trouble. He wrote back as follows:

"Be interesting to see by what legal fantasy they could possibly come up with that libel suit argument. After all, as a consumer I have a right to determine if a piece of merchandise is suitable for my needs."

Admittedly this is out of our depth. But we do have an understanding of how difficult such temperature measurements are. The kiddie thermometer is definitely out! Here's what one person wrote in response to yesterday's report that a Macworld writer measured the temperature of an operating 12-inch PowerBook's left wrist rest surface as 102 degrees Fahrenheit:

"Did they use a radiometer? A thermocouple? Was this a surface temperature? Or measured some distance from the surface? If it's a surface temperature, what technique was used? A bulb thermometer? What fraction of the bulb was in contact with the surface? Etc, etc."

And here's where the trouble begins: what if, based on your personal anecdotal or physical experience, "102 degrees Fahrenheit" sounds like too much and dissuades you from buying a laptop? Publishing a scientifically inaccurate temperature reading is touchy business (no pun intended) and as true as saying Luigi's lasagna might cause cancer. And what about 102 degrees, anyway? A third reader reports:

"Once, when I was in the hospital in traction for blown discs, I was subjected to a Hubbard tank. It is like a giant Jacuzzi and runs at 105.

It was hot upon entry, but I quickly adapted. Then just laying there, you sweat. 102 would be comfortably hot bathwater. Skin temperature is about 87-89. So our perception of warm begins there, and most folks think hot begins around 105."

So go ahead and carry your thermometer into the store if that spins your wheels. You might ruffle a few feathers but aren't really in danger of being sued, unless you make a point of publishing your results too loudly. (We're still mildly surprised that Macworld let Jason Snell post his figures.) But so what? How does the PowerBook feel to you? All laptops put out heat. So does your desktop computer, obviously, you just don't sit in on your lap or drape your wrists over it.

Nothing beats the laying on of the wrists, for anyone who has the slightest doubt.

Email This Article - Comment On This Article

Cool Mac Gear