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Week in review: the strong arm of Apple
Poor Apple. It must be exhausting having to constantly run around threatening and even filing lawsuits, developing new schemes to get money out of iPod accessory makers, convincing Motorola to delay the launch of its most hotly anticipated phone since the Razr, and convincing would-be Shuffle imitators to dump their product or face--you guessed it--"legal options." Then again, you know your behavior amounts to bad PR when Forbes publishes an article titled "Is Apple the new Microsoft?" While Apple's legendary secretiveness has always seemed, before, like the forgivable eccentricity of a company trying to protect its tiny market share from industrial espionage and copying, we now know that it will sue the pants off anyone who impinges on its designs--so why the constant smoke and mirrors? More importantly, is any of this negative press having an effect on Apple's core fan base, or will Steve Jobs get just as friendly a reception at the next Macworld Expo as he did at the last one? In any case, here's a look back at the elbows thrown in recent days.
Apple seeks accessories kickbacks
Apple has created a "Made for iPod" logo program that legitimizes iPod accessories and, conveniently, could let the company cash in on sales of doodads such as car adapters, power cables, and remote controls. Apple's explanation for the logo is simply that it wants to ensure a standard of quality for iPod add-ons, but sources close to the company (who will probably soon be subpoenaed) say Apple was, at one point, asking 10 percent of the retail price in exchange for use of the logo. The sources say Apple has since relented and wants 10 percent of wholesale instead. Jack Campbell, CEO of accessory maker DVForge, told News.com the logo program is "a strong-arm tactic to take control of the iPod channel." He says he won't pay to play, but analysts say Apple stands to gain some $25 million per year from a logo-for-profit deal--and it's willing to let the small vendors sink.
The deal with the Motorola iTunes phone: no deal
Motorola's been half-hyping, half-promising an iTunes-compatible phone for weeks now, only to yank it at the last minute, right before last week's CeBit Technology Show in Hannover, Germany. So, what's the deal? Well, at first, the always-convenient scapegoat--cell phone carriers--were blamed, with a good story over at TheStreet pointing out that a phone like the unfortunately named Rokr causes an obvious problem for the carriers who are really running the show: you'd buy your tunes from iTunes, not from them. But Motorola confessed at CTIA that it held back the phone after a conversation with Apple. Ron Garriques, president of Motorola's mobile phone division, said the companies differ in their product-release philosophy. Motorola likes to show off a product months before it becomes available, while Steve Jobs prefers to, as Garriques put it, "launch a product on Sunday and sell it on Monday." Apparently the Jobs worldview has prevailed.
Apple 1, public 0
A California judge recently ruled that Apple can subpoena records from the enthusiast Web sites that leaked information about upcoming products. The judge said Apple's right to protect its trade secrets outweighs the public's criminally "insatiable desire for information." He also blew off the question of whether bloggers are journalists protected by California's shield laws, saying that even if they were, they'd still be trafficking in stolen information. Apple has argued that the leaks posted on the PowerPage Web site were taken directly from a confidential, internal slide show. So, the ugly, loyalty-destroying saga continues, as does the company's lawsuit against developers who posted a prerelease version of Mac OS X Tiger online, which even Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak questioned.
Apple strikes again? Google's OS X homage vanishes
A Google software engineer this week designed a version of Google that featured an interface for accessing Google tools that looks very familiar. It's a lot like the Dock in Mac OS X. Engineer Chikai Ohazama even included a little love note to Apple, letting them know OS X and the Dock had indeed been the inspiration. Presumably, his love went unrequited, as the test site became unavailable by Wednesday of this week. I can only guess that Steve Jobs isn't interested in the sincerest form of flattery, although neither company had any comment.
By Molly Wood, senior editor, CNET.com
Thurday, March 17, 2005 Poor Apple. It must be exhausting having to constantly run around threatening and even filing lawsuits, developing new schemes to get money out of iPod accessory makers, convincing Motorola to delay the launch of its most hotly anticipated phone since the Razr, and convincing would-be Shuffle imitators to dump their product or face--you guessed it--"legal options." Then again, you know your behavior amounts to bad PR when Forbes publishes an article titled "Is Apple the new Microsoft?" While Apple's legendary secretiveness has always seemed, before, like the forgivable eccentricity of a company trying to protect its tiny market share from industrial espionage and copying, we now know that it will sue the pants off anyone who impinges on its designs--so why the constant smoke and mirrors? More importantly, is any of this negative press having an effect on Apple's core fan base, or will Steve Jobs get just as friendly a reception at the next Macworld Expo as he did at the last one? In any case, here's a look back at the elbows thrown in recent days.Apple seeks accessories kickbacks
Apple has created a "Made for iPod" logo program that legitimizes iPod accessories and, conveniently, could let the company cash in on sales of doodads such as car adapters, power cables, and remote controls. Apple's explanation for the logo is simply that it wants to ensure a standard of quality for iPod add-ons, but sources close to the company (who will probably soon be subpoenaed) say Apple was, at one point, asking 10 percent of the retail price in exchange for use of the logo. The sources say Apple has since relented and wants 10 percent of wholesale instead. Jack Campbell, CEO of accessory maker DVForge, told News.com the logo program is "a strong-arm tactic to take control of the iPod channel." He says he won't pay to play, but analysts say Apple stands to gain some $25 million per year from a logo-for-profit deal--and it's willing to let the small vendors sink.
Has Apple been the neighborhood bully lately, or are we overreacting?
Post your comment hereMotorola's been half-hyping, half-promising an iTunes-compatible phone for weeks now, only to yank it at the last minute, right before last week's CeBit Technology Show in Hannover, Germany. So, what's the deal? Well, at first, the always-convenient scapegoat--cell phone carriers--were blamed, with a good story over at TheStreet pointing out that a phone like the unfortunately named Rokr causes an obvious problem for the carriers who are really running the show: you'd buy your tunes from iTunes, not from them. But Motorola confessed at CTIA that it held back the phone after a conversation with Apple. Ron Garriques, president of Motorola's mobile phone division, said the companies differ in their product-release philosophy. Motorola likes to show off a product months before it becomes available, while Steve Jobs prefers to, as Garriques put it, "launch a product on Sunday and sell it on Monday." Apparently the Jobs worldview has prevailed.
Apple 1, public 0
A California judge recently ruled that Apple can subpoena records from the enthusiast Web sites that leaked information about upcoming products. The judge said Apple's right to protect its trade secrets outweighs the public's criminally "insatiable desire for information." He also blew off the question of whether bloggers are journalists protected by California's shield laws, saying that even if they were, they'd still be trafficking in stolen information. Apple has argued that the leaks posted on the PowerPage Web site were taken directly from a confidential, internal slide show. So, the ugly, loyalty-destroying saga continues, as does the company's lawsuit against developers who posted a prerelease version of Mac OS X Tiger online, which even Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak questioned.
Apple strikes again? Google's OS X homage vanishes
A Google software engineer this week designed a version of Google that featured an interface for accessing Google tools that looks very familiar. It's a lot like the Dock in Mac OS X. Engineer Chikai Ohazama even included a little love note to Apple, letting them know OS X and the Dock had indeed been the inspiration. Presumably, his love went unrequited, as the test site became unavailable by Wednesday of this week. I can only guess that Steve Jobs isn't interested in the sincerest form of flattery, although neither company had any comment.
