Goose and Gander
What’s good for the goose must be good for the gander. So, they say, and if you look at Apple’s recent behavior, you can’t help but notice that it’s a lot like Microsoft’s, just on a smaller scale. Which just goes to prove you can get away with monopolistic behavior as long as your market share is small.
One of the reasons Microsoft has become villainous (and I realize there are many) is because of their tendency to take software features developed elsewhere and ingest them into their operating systems and applications. I can’t help but notice that Apple has done the same thing with two operating system releases. Apple likes to “think different” and they usually do, and that’s why this behavior from the company is such a surprise.
When Apple released Jaguar , they also released a revamped search utility named “Sherlock” that mirrored a very popular shareware application called “Watson”. This essentially drove the small developer, Karelia, to sell Watson off. Here’s a quote from the FAQ on the Karelia website:
“…Karelia software was not involved in any aspect of Sherlock 3, other than serving as…shall we say…inspiration. While Apple recognized Watson as 2002’s “Most Innovative Mac OS X Product”—and we appreciate the recognition—the company didn’t hesitate to make use of Watson’s specific innovations for its next OS release, without any concessions to Karelia.”
Now, Apple’s pulled the same tactic again with Tiger (OS 10.4) by coming up with an operating system feature named “Dashboard” which has a striking resemblance to a very popular piece of Mac shareware named “Konfabulator”. I’m not crazy about either one of them, but I’ve already heard the grumbling about the resemblances on some of the major Mac websites.
Ethically, there is no difference between Apple’s behavior or Microsoft’s; and that’s a sad thing for us Mac users. It makes you wonder what is going to happen as Apple grows. Will we one day see Apple being pursued by governments around the world for their monopolistic practices? It’s unlikely for two reasons. One is Mac prices. The other is that if they keep this up the small developer will not support them. If the small developer doesn’t and they piss off all their large developers, too (like Adobe and Microsoft), who will be left?
The business world may be “dog eat dog”, but the last thing you want to do is be at the center of a snarling pack. It’s difficult to do business if nobody trusts you.
One of the reasons Microsoft has become villainous (and I realize there are many) is because of their tendency to take software features developed elsewhere and ingest them into their operating systems and applications. I can’t help but notice that Apple has done the same thing with two operating system releases. Apple likes to “think different” and they usually do, and that’s why this behavior from the company is such a surprise.
When Apple released Jaguar , they also released a revamped search utility named “Sherlock” that mirrored a very popular shareware application called “Watson”. This essentially drove the small developer, Karelia, to sell Watson off. Here’s a quote from the FAQ on the Karelia website:
“…Karelia software was not involved in any aspect of Sherlock 3, other than serving as…shall we say…inspiration. While Apple recognized Watson as 2002’s “Most Innovative Mac OS X Product”—and we appreciate the recognition—the company didn’t hesitate to make use of Watson’s specific innovations for its next OS release, without any concessions to Karelia.”
Now, Apple’s pulled the same tactic again with Tiger (OS 10.4) by coming up with an operating system feature named “Dashboard” which has a striking resemblance to a very popular piece of Mac shareware named “Konfabulator”. I’m not crazy about either one of them, but I’ve already heard the grumbling about the resemblances on some of the major Mac websites.
Ethically, there is no difference between Apple’s behavior or Microsoft’s; and that’s a sad thing for us Mac users. It makes you wonder what is going to happen as Apple grows. Will we one day see Apple being pursued by governments around the world for their monopolistic practices? It’s unlikely for two reasons. One is Mac prices. The other is that if they keep this up the small developer will not support them. If the small developer doesn’t and they piss off all their large developers, too (like Adobe and Microsoft), who will be left?
The business world may be “dog eat dog”, but the last thing you want to do is be at the center of a snarling pack. It’s difficult to do business if nobody trusts you.
posted by Andy Foster at
2:37 PM
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