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Jobs To Developer: “Not That Big A Deal”

J.R. Bookwalter — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:34:36 -0600

Apple has always been fairly aggressive in protecting their product trademarks and likenesses, as The Little App Factory recently discovered when they received a letter from the law firm of Baker & McKenzie asking them to change the name of their Mac software, iPodRip.

iPodRip, originally written in 2003 at the MacHack developer conference, lets you copy and transfer your songs from iPods/iPhones to your computer, which comes in handy if your hard drive ever dies or you lose songs that you’ve downloaded. According to CrunchGear, iPodRip has been downloaded more than five million times and has helped users transfer over a billion songs back to their computers.

However, including the name of the product in the name of your application has always been a no-no with Apple, as The Little App Factory CEO John Devor found out when he e-mailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs directly about the problem.

Believe it or not, Jobs replied — curtly.

“Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.”

The missive was signed “Steve” with the customary “Sent from my iPhone” signature attached.

Needless to say, the developer changed the name (now simply iRip) and also removed an iPod icon from their Evom software, which lets you covert and transfer movies from your computer and the web.

Problem solved.

Satire: 10 Ideas Steve Pitched to Disney

Michael Simon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:53:18 -0600

It might not be as exciting as another tablet rumor, but the recent New York Times’ report that Disney and Steve Jobs are collaborating on a radical new retail shop design certainly piqued our curiosity. But the tip that landed in our inbox a few days later really caught our attention.

Titled "Top Secret Apple/Disney Ideas," it contained a handful of proposals that came straight from the Mouse’s brainstorming sessions with the Man himself. We’re not going to divulge our source (bring it on, Apple legal), but our Duc—, er, Deep Throat used his significant clout with Walt to gain access to one of the early meetings. Unfortunately, he was quickly thrown out for not wearing pants, but not before he snagged a handout of Steve’s Keynote presentation.

We’re pretty sure these didn’t make it past the first round of discussions, but you never know what might pop up.

Mighty Mickey Mouse

If not for the sudden introduction of Magic Mouse, we never would have believed this one, but apparently there’s a reason Steve didn’t retire Apple’s once-Mighty Mouse. An odd step backward from sleek Multi-Touch mouse now shipping, Steve proposed fitting Apple’s old pointer with a pair of black Mickey ears that added an extra pair of programmable buttons--and, from the best we can surmise, a bit of clunkiness and a whole lotta cheesy corporate branding.

Conscience Bar

Instead of dishing out computer advice in 15-minute intervals, Steve submitted an idea for a Conscience Bar staffed by a team of semi-professional, kid-friendly counselors. Obviously inspired by Pinocchio’s pal Jiminy Cricket, the station would dispense words of wisdom to toddlers and young adults who get in trouble and don’t know right from wrong. But here’s the really cool part: Little iPhone users could whistle into a special app to book the next available appointment.

Circle of iLife

Steve’s Lion King-inspired suite contains a trio of digital hub apps--Idol, Popcorn and Pictures--bundled together and given the full kiddie treatment. With an emphasis on simplicity, Circle of iLife strips GarageBand, iMovie and iPhoto down to its barest necessities and lets kids sing along with their favorite songs, direct their own Disney cartoons, and add fun effects to photos without worrying about submenus and pallets. As Steve so cleverly put it, "There's more to do than can ever be done."

Snow White Leopard

We know Steve’s in for some serious competition now that Microsoft has made an operating system people actually want to use, but rebranding OS X Snow Leopard seems a little desperate to us. So does dressing the dwarves in cute little cat costumes on the box. And that Magic Mirror Photo Booth effect ... OK, we kinda like that one.

Whistle While You iWork

iLife’s Disneyization was fairly inevitable, but we were surprised when iWork made the list, too. Clearly another Snow White reference (and, oddly enough, the second proposal to involve whistling), Steve’s Whistle While You iWork vision consists of another trio of apps--Show, Count and Tell--designed to stimulate creativity and help kids learn their ABCs and 123s. We just hope he wasn’t planning on hiring a nauseatingly cute kid to pitch it.

Poison Apple Care

More of a return policy than a warranty, Poison Apple Care is Steve’s version of a gift receipt on steroids. For a small fee, kids or parents buying a present could pick up a Poison Apple Care that would let the recipient easily exchange the unwanted gift for Apple Store credit, along with five free iTunes downloads and a 10 percent discount coupon. As Steve so modestly put it: "Everyone should get exactly what they want for their birthday, and that’s not always at the Disney store."

Wall-eMac

Jonathan Ive already helped with the EVE design for Pixar’s hit movie, so it’s only natural he would have a hand in transforming her boyfriend into a new Mac for preschoolers. Built around a 17-inch screen and a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo processor, the Wall-eMac comes with posable eyes (the left is an iSight camera, the right is a microphone) and arms (the right holds a remote; the left is an iPod dock), and movable legs (the right one is a USB hub). Unfortunately it can’t crush garbage--that is, unless it happens to come across a Dell Vostro Mini Tower. (Good zinger there, Steve. Hope you remembered to pause for laughter.)

Mary Pippin

Who knew Steve has a soft spot for Apple’s failed gaming system and Disney’s 1964 musical? Essentially an iPod touch accessory geared toward undiscriminating little girls, Steve’s Pippin reboot freakishly resembles Mary Poppins’ floral carpet bag, with her parrot head umbrella sticking out the top. A dock is nestled between the handles, and a proprietary cable around back encodes games for big-screen TVs. But the piece de resistance has to be the controller shaped like a spoonful of sugar--which’ll come in handy, because this one’s awfully hard to swallow.

Finding nano

The inevitable special-edition iPod comes in the form of a reddish-orange nano with a black Click Wheel and snazzy, wavy white stripes across the front, and an engraving of one of five characters on the flipside (Nemo, Dory, Pearl, Squirt or Bruce). As if that wasn’t enough to justify Apple’s $70 premium, each special-edition iPod would come bundled with a digital copy of its namesake.

Hakuna Mac-tata

Why shouldn’t the Mac have its own theme song? Sung to the melody of Elton John’s classic, Steve sketched out a veritable marketing blitz around “Hakuna Mac-tata,” with heavy in-store rotation, free iTunes downloads, commercials and mailers built around Apple’s brand new slogan: "It means no Windows for the rest of your days."

Bill Gates: Steve Jobs “Saved” Apple

J.R. Bookwalter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:40:19 -0600

It might be difficult for many Apple faithful to remember the dark days before Steve Jobs’ triumphant return to the throne, especially given the absolute hot streak the company has been on in recent years. But one of the people who remember it well is someone who was instrumental in helping the company get back on its feet at the time: former Microsoft chief Bill Gates.

CNBC recently hosted a Town Hall Chat with Gates and Warren Buffet, and one of the juiciest moments of the talk came when audience member David Matthews of Columbia Executive Business School posed the question, “If you could just comment and tell us what your thoughts are on the job Steve Jobs has done as the CEO of Apple?”

The query received a round of laughter from the audience and a big grin from Gates, who promptly went on to answer the question by praising his former competitor as only he could:

“Well, he’s done a fantastic job,” Gates proclaimed. “Apple is in a bit of a different business where they make hardware and software together. But when Steve was coming back to Apple… Apple was in very tough shape. In fact, most likely it wasn't going to survive. And he brought in a team… that’s made Apple back into being an incredible force in doing good things.

“And it's great to have competitors like that. We write software for Apple, Microsoft does. They compete with Apple,” Gates concluded. “But he, of all the leaders in the industry that I've worked with, he showed more inspiration and he saved the company.”

From iMac to iPhone: A Video Trip Down Apple Announcement Memory Lane

Michael Delano — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:52:59 -0600

No one announces a product like Apple. To remind us of that fact, we've put together a video of Steve and company introducing products from the original iMac up to the latest iPod nano with video.

Never have the words, "One more thing," meant so much to so many people.

Enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Note: Be sure to turn up the volume of the video player. By default, it's on mute.

For fun, drop the products you've purchased that are announced in this video in the comments below.

The Worst Idea Ever? Ad Supported OS.

J Keirn-Swanson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:50:39 -0500

This latest Apple patent application isn't for anything cool or fun like touch screen gestures requiring both hands or anything tablet related. No, this is for an ad-supported OS that could make an operating system either entirely or partially funded by advertisements, meaning free to the end user.

While such a scheme might make business heads whir, the idea of a computer that features "visual or audible" advertisements that disable "one or more functions while the advertisement is being presented," sounds like user hell. We can just imagine writing really starting to come together, you're in the zone and the words are simply flying out of you, when all of a sudden the keyboard ceases working and up pops a cheesy Mentos commercial. And all your inspiration is gone.

Count us out, Steve-o.

Podcast #111 - iPhones Branch Out Around the World and Disney Looks to Apple for Retail Redesign

Mac|Life Staff — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:18:30 -0500

The iPhone is appearing on additional carriers in Canada and the UK and we're still stuck with an exclusive carrier here in the US. Remember kids, competition is good.

Disney asks Steve and the Apple retail team to help with Disney retail redesign and Apple responds to reports that it wants $10,000 in production fees for iTunes LP in the iTunes Store.

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Teens Totally Love Steve More Than Oprah

Roberto Baldwin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:49:35 -0500

This isn't really much of a surprise to us. Steve creates the technology that all the cool kids want. Even the uncool kids want Apple products.

Junior Achievement USA organized the poll and asked 1,000 Americans, 12-17, who they admired most. According to Junior Achiement, "the list was focused on celebs who had started business enterprises themselves, as opposed to licensing their names and images to products produced by someone else.." Wait, The Olsen twins started that business themselves as toddlers? Impressive!

On the list:

Steve Jobs
Oprah Winfrey
Tony Hawk
Mark Zuckenberg
The Olsen Twins
Kimora Lee Simmons

Steve won with 35 percent of the vote with Oprah pulling in second with 25 percent. Tony Hawk rounded out the top three with 16 percent of the vote. This is nice for Steve but we would like to see a group of kids without a pre-made list of entrepreneurs voting on their favorite.

Let's see how Steve stacks up against Miley Cyrus.

Puppet Walt and Pogue Team Up for a Duet (Possibly NSFW)

Arvind Srinivasan — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:17:04 -0500

The latest from Puppet Walt carefully treads the line between so bad you want to cry, and so bad you can’t stop laughing. Puppet Walt, as usual, sings the praises of Steve Jobs, but in this video, he actually sings them. Musically. With Auto-tune.

Also new in this video is his sidekick, Cut-Out David Pogue, who fantasizes about Jobs and Mossberg a bit. It's pretty creepy.

This may or may not be NSFW for puppet on puppet action and bad singing.