Apple plans to embed ads in operating system

http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/26/tech-apple-plans-to-embed-ads-in-operating-system.htm

by newacc • 17 years ago

13 16 17 years ago

business.rediff.com

chanux2• 17 years ago

Message: Even Jobs can come up with ideas that suck.

And the link to the patent: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2009/0265214.html

nkassis• 17 years ago

I hope they enforce strongly and never let anyone else do this ever.

chanux2• 17 years ago

Positive thinking!

benofsky• 17 years ago

This would make sense to me if it was Microsoft, I could absolutely see Windows 8 "Netbook Edition" (Maybe Windows 9 or 10 when there's more ubiquitous internet) to be given away for free and supported by advertising. However this is so "not apple", that it makes very little sense.

Also important to point out that the title is quite misleading, filing a patent is not equal to "plans".

Edit: formatting + grammar.

pxlpshr2• 17 years ago

I don't know much about the patent process in regard to "strategy" but maybe this is just to throw a wrench in Google's plan for an OS?

towndrunk• 17 years ago

I had exactly the same thought. Google just might have to buy a license from Apple.

serhei• 17 years ago

That would be patent trolling on the part of Apple. Patent trolling is a serious absurdity in how the patent system is used. If you think about it, why should Apple have the right to demand money from Google because they predicted that Google is going to rely on advertising in it's OS? Why not Techcrunch, or an analyst off Wall Street, or some guy in Florida with an orange grove? The answer is because Apple hired a lawyer to write a piece of paper saying that they own the idea of including advertisements in an operating system, and all these random other people didn't.

Ads in an operating system would be an unimaginable low for Apple. So would patent trolling Google. I don't think either of these will happen. I think it's because patent law fosters habits in companies that most individual people have outgrown. It's where you don't believe that anyone will protect your stuff so you grab everything you can reach, irregardless of whether it is useful to you or not, make a big pile, and sit on it. If someone tries to come up to you and have a reasonable conversation, you scream "MINE! MINE!" and hug your pile closer to yourself. (If you're a patent troll, you also try to yank the guy's wallet out of their jeans.)

It's not much of a theory, but it's the only way I can explain how most technology corporations - Apple included - seem to preemptively patent everything, all the time, without actually planning to make use of their inventions.

gry• 17 years ago

Or perhaps they plan on something else and ads are a natural extension. The patent is a device to prevent others from placing ads on the OS. This is my private hope anyway.

mcormier• 17 years ago

Wake up people. Did you forget about the Apple TV? This is exactly the kind of thing that could open the flood gates in that area. It doesn't make sense for your personal computer, or your iPod Touch but it makes a lot of sense for a TV appliance.

pxlpshr2• 17 years ago

How is that any different than what's being done today? Cable boxes?

scotty79• 17 years ago

Watching windows logo while your computer boots up is kind of waste. You already bought up this windows thingie and won't be buying another one for a couple of years, so why not present you with Big Star logo or Mc Donalds or something else.

Pausing your boot up process to show you the commercial is completely different (complete no no) thing.

Actually having apple logo on lid of your laptop is also a waste for the same reasons. Jobs should strike a deal and put Mc Donalds logo there.

vaporstun2• 17 years ago

Just because they patented something does not mean they plan to use it.

The title here is extremely biased.

citizenparker• 17 years ago

Do you honestly think this is some kind of defensive patent?

Short of a press release that states "Yes, we are doing this" I'm not sure how it gets clearer. That's just me though, can you describe the scenario you are imagining?

vaporstun2• 17 years ago

I am not going to opine on the specific reasoning behind Apple's patenting this because only they truly know until a product is released, but if I were in the business of creating operating systems and I came up with a concept that could apply to an OS that was patentable, I'd surely do so, regardless of whether or not I planned on using it. It could be defensive, it could be an attempt to capitalize on a system by a competitor, or a pre-emptive move to stop competitors from doing this. They may use it in a specific niche product or they may end up using it, but there is rarely a direct correlation between a patent and a plan as the OP seems to claim with his title. The legal profession, especially relating to patents and the interrelation of companies is a huge chess game, one that I don't claim to be an expert on.

The title is misleading and makes it sound as though the next version of Mac OS X will be loaded with ads.

This simply is not the case.

awolf• 17 years ago

Agreed: this title is not supported by the article it links to.

RyanMcGreal• 17 years ago

In case we needed more evidence that the current patent law is absurd.

Apple plans to embed ads in operating system

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