It's Worldbuilding Wthursday (hush that's a thing): How does Ember Labs "encourage" people to use their technology? When was it founded, and by whom? What other sorts of technologies and sciences does Ember Labs have a hand in? Will we ever see our computer safe and sound again?!
Pfff haha Wthursday. (In my book, worldbuilding can happen any day of the week!)
Well, when an organization enters into a legally binding contract with Ember for research purposes, Ember tends to specify what kinds of hardware and software can be used. Beyond that, they also tend to provide computers and portable devices to people who are doing research for them, so it’s a good incentive. The general attitude towards this is “Free powerful computers, who wouldn’t want that!?”
Ember Corporation was founded in the 1970s by two young entrepreneurs named Roger Hill and Greg Kowalski who were working to build the first mainstream home computer system. This project was a huge success and gained them a lot of fame and fortune. Kowalski later went on to found Macroware, which is now one of Ember’s competitors.
Since then, Ember Corp has branched out into pretty much anything involving technology, from biomedical applications to transportation to alternate energy. They like to hire the most brilliant minds they can find to work on experimental projects, some of which have gone on to become hugely successful. (One such example would be Emberlight.)
Their experimental technologies branch is usually branded as Ember Laboratories to the public, though there are many projects that never see the light of day. The general opinion of the public is “if it’s made by Ember Labs, it’s gonna be good, but probably a bit eccentric.”
As for Sally’s computer…what makes you think it was ever “safe and sound” to begin with? ;-)