So Apple Computer is having their World Wide Developer Conference…where among other things they are previewing their new OS, “Tiger”.
As part of the hype…they have “propaganda” posters pointing out that many of the “features” in Longhorn (the upcoming MS OS) will already appear in Tiger.
One of the posters says “Redmond, start your photocopiers”.
So then I look at the web pages outlining the features of Tiger and come across this one for “Dashboard”.
“The Dashboard zooms on top of your Desktop with a click of a function key and, like Exposé, disappears just as quickly and easily. Use the Dashboard to access nifty new mini-applications called Widgets.”
Widgets? Huh, I thought to myself…they must have bought out Konfabulator…a fairly popular (although I don’t use it it) shareware program that’s been out on the Mac OS for a year or two.
Well no…they blatantly ripped off the developers of Konfabulator…even using the same damn terminology.
Now the developers are trying to put a positive spin on this…but this is ridiculous. This ain’t the first time Apple has done this sort of thing, but the blatant ripoff of not only the concept but the NAMING seems to be low class and insulting to developers. How ironic at a developers conference, they announced that they will roll out software that “copies” existing software, right down to the terminology.
Yes, I’m a Mac user.
Umm…and to pre-emptively address the predictable comments…
{OS flames}
Windows rocks…Macs suck…Linux roolz…I love my TRS 80 yadda yadda
{/OS flames}
The thing that always bugs me is the Apple apologists that will blame Konfabulator for not being “good” enough to compete with Apple’s Dashboard. I remember Watson which is or will be dead shortly and the debate basically when, It’s their fault, they can’t compete with Apple and in the same sentence condemn Microsoft for steamrolling over the competition.
I’ve always believed that due to Apple’s niche market, they had a responsibilty to at least pay for the software that developers create and they “borrow”.
Most of these guys create software because they truly love Apple and it’s a shame to see them basically buried under the heels of Apple The Corporation, while they still believe in Apple The Idea.
Hopefully people will FINALLY realize that Apple is a business and the only difference between them and Microsoft is marketshare…for all the good it does them.
I have no objections if/when Apple wants to buy out some small shareware author with a good idea and incorporate it into the OS, but ripping off your platforms’ developers’ ideas is really stupid and insulting to users as well.
In Apple’s defense, Konfabulator is just a modern redo of the Apple concept of “Desk Accessories,” merged with Microsoft’s Active Desktop notion (ie, building with web tech). The two programs also work differently (Apple’s version doesn’t show up until you press a button, the other version clutters your desktop constantly).
But clearly, this isn’t the only way to redo Desk Accessories in a modern fashion, and Apple should have bought Konfabulator from Arlo Rose, even if they weren’t going to use his code. Just like they did with WindowShade and Menubar Clock back in System 7.5 – they didn’t actually use the code from those small time vendors, but they bought them out because of the similar concepts.
In truth, the Sherlock thing didn’t bother me, because it had been heading towards a Watson-esque destination for awhile. But this is quite a bit less obvious, and bad karma.
Your point would be?
Perhaps you missed the part of my post where I already said I’m a Mac user (as are several of the posters in this thread). What the hell does the OP have to do with the development of Windows, or do you just feel the need to slam Gates at any conceivable opportunity?
I agree that the least Apple can do if they want to “innovate” by stealing concepts from shareware creators is come to some sort of agreement with the creators and buy them out, but that’s not what pissed me off the most about yesterday…
Where’s my iMac G5? I want an iMac G5! I won’t be purchasing another Mac until I can purchase an iMac G5! (And while you’re at it, get me a flying car too.)
On the one hand, Dashboard is definitely reminescent of Konfabulator, and Apple should have tried to approach the developers with some sort of compensation/recognition/whatever. Especially given that Apple’s VP is a big Konfabulator junkie, and Pixar has a registered corporate license for Konfabulator.
On the other hand, Dashboard is primarily a reinvention of stuff Apple’s been doing for over a decade already (Desk Accessories, Control Strips, Hypercard, etc.), and Konfabulator is technically primarily a nifty intermediate layer to Apple’s pre-existing APIs.
But to keep things in some perspective, Dashboard isn’t going to instantly render Konfabulator obsolete; Konfabulator already does things Dashboard doesn’t, and there’s certainly room for the developers to keep it a superior alternative if they want to. The only danger here is if Arlo Rose et al had planned to sit on their laurels, really.
Still, how do you give half-a-credit to an idea? I think at the very least, a public thank-you wouldn’t hurt.
Then again, as the author of a Konfabulator RSS newsreader widget, I’ve already gotten it twice in the shorts from Apple’s preview yesterday. Good thing I wasn’t relying on that to pay the bills or anything.
(Comparisons to iTunes/SoundJam don’t carry water, IMO, since Apple bought that outright and even hired the developer. This is closer to the whole Sherlock/Watson situation a few years back)
You misread my post. I wasn’t comparing the two. I said that there is a precedent for Apple to purchase exisiting code and /or hire the developers…and used SoundJam as an example for that. I wasn’t aware of the Window Shade and Menubar Clock purchases, but again they just go to illustrate exisitng precedent.
As spectrum has pointed out…what Apple is doing with Dashboard is similar to what they did with Watson/Sherlock. AND as he pointed out…there are some differences. the original version of Sherlock predated Watson…and was apparently in further development while Watson came out. It turns out that the later versions of Sherlock were very similar to Watson.
In the case of Dashboard…they even swiped the nomenclature…“widgets”. This is not a way to treat developers of software for a minority platform.
I don’t actually use the program, but I get the impression from reading their website that they recently added a ‘Konspose’ feature that adds this functionality. Press F8 and the widgets pop up, press ESC and they go away.
Konspose works differently. All it does is pull all the widgets onto one layer and place them above the current layer. When Konspose is not active, all the widgets are dispersed on various layers, and all are typically visible. Dashboard’s widgets are totally offscreen until you summon them, and I think that’s a much better behavior.
It also gives the two programs potentially two different uses – Konfabulator for things you want displayed and always available, Dashboard for things that you want hidden but reachable with a single button press.
So Apple’s bragging that their feature-locked OS due out in 2005 (correct me if I’m wrong, I’m just assuming it’s feature-locked at this point) will have some of the same features as Longhorn, which is due out in 2006 and is also feature-locked, but has likely been in development since XP was released in 2001? I mean, it could be argued that Longhorn actually did them first, just that they haven’t released them yet.
On the other hand, Apple has such a small market share, I guess I can give them a break.
There’s no reason to presume that we’ve seen the total feature set of Tiger. Since it won’t be out until next year, we’ll also have a preview of it at Macworld in January, and we’ll likely see more of the OS, including stuff that wasn’t ready for Monday, at that event. Just like the preview of Jaguar at WWDC 2002 was much more detailed and included new stuff that wasn’t in the MWSF 2002 Jaguar peek.
I’d imagine that we’ll see improvements to iCal in Tiger, and just glancing around the screenshots on Apple’s Tiger preview pages indicates that the final, refined GUI for this new release hasn’t quite been locked down yet (some have a Panther style menubar, others have a new, glassy menubar, some have Panther Aqua windows, others have windows that look like a mix of Panther Aqua and Panther Metal, etc).
By January, the release will be feature-locked. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dashboard looks much more Apple and less Konfabulator at that point, as well.
I’m a Mac user, too. Like everything Mac is great in many ways but wanting in some areas.
I’m a graphic designer and my former college classmates and I all learned the trade on Macs. When I tried to switch to designing on IBM afterwards I found out why they had us learn on Macs.
Programs meant for visual/graphics applications really do behave much better on Macs than IBM systems. For a time I was using Photoshop, Illustrator and Quark on an IBM of equal power to the Mac I used in college. All these programs were constantly crashing, displaying weird errors, and simply didn’t look as good as it did on my Mac. So, after a year of frustration, I finally went out and got an iMac. I haven’t had a single problem since then (I’ve had it almost 2 years now); it’s never crashed once . And viruses? Never had to even worry. So, in those ways, I prefer Mac.
The only beef I have with Apple is how fast new becomes old. When I got my Mac, Jaguar was the hip, new OS. Now, suddenly Panther is old and Tiger is hip and new? (I’m still running Jaguar, btw, making me non-hip and old) At this rate they’re going to run out of cats. I plan on keeping my Mac for as many years I can get decent performance out of it. It would be nice if Apple would slow down a bit, so my machine doesn’t look like a cobwebby dinosaur in another year.
Don’t worry, AZF, my Mac is so old I can boot it up in MacOS 8.1 if I want, and I anticipate loading Tiger on it if I decide it’s a good thing. If I can, you can; and unless the newer operating system versions let you do things you want to do that you can’t do under the old, there’s nothing wrong with sticking with what works.
I just hope they fix file sharing. Damn MacOS X file sharing is as annoying and user-hostile as Windows file sharing! :mad:
And another thing. What’s up with naming the O/S after big cats? If there was any logic, rhyme or reason to it, I might be able to remember which animal is the most recent O/S. So far, we’ve had, what? Cheetah, Jaguar, now Tiger… What’s wrong with sticking to the numbers? I just downloaded a patch and am now running 10.3. I have no clue which animal that’s supposed to be. I just tell people I’m running “housecat.”
I think at the very least, a public thank-you wouldn’t hurt.