Thanks spks3707 for spotting this news first.
In its latest lawsuit seeking to clamp down on leaks, Apple Computer has added credibility to several hot rumors, including plans to offer a cheaper Macintosh and its own line of office software.
Apple on Tuesday sued the publisher of Mac enthusiast site Think Secret and other unnamed individuals, alleging that recent postings on the site contain Apple trade secrets, according to court documents seen by CNET News.com. The suit, filed Tuesday in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, Calif., aims to identify who is leaking the information and to get an injunction preventing further release of trade secrets. However, in filing the suit, Apple identifies specific articles that contain trade secrets, indicating that at least parts of those reports are on the mark.
News source: C|Net News.com
In its latest lawsuit seeking to clamp down on leaks, Apple Computer has added credibility to several hot rumors, including plans to offer a cheaper Macintosh and its own line of office software.
Apple on Tuesday sued the publisher of Mac enthusiast site Think Secret and other unnamed individuals, alleging that recent postings on the site contain Apple trade secrets, according to court documents seen by CNET News.com. The suit, filed Tuesday in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, Calif., aims to identify who is leaking the information and to get an injunction preventing further release of trade secrets. However, in filing the suit, Apple identifies specific articles that contain trade secrets, indicating that at least parts of those reports are on the mark.
News source: C|Net News.com
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PC's have progressed past those old beige boxes - pretty colours are no longer enough to keep them in business.
You also know that one or more of these lawsuits does involve the iPod just as much as the Macs, right?
You do know that Apple hasn't had "pretty colour"-ed computers since 2001, right?
You do know know the value of the company has grown well in excess of 300% in less than a year, right?
So what's the need for the indigination now? This isn't new.
Why do you think this hurts their computer sales but not their "trendy products like the iPod, or those overpriced Cinema screens"?
Why do you think Apple is using colors to "keep them in business"? Silly me, I thought it was acquiring incredible software products (Final Cut Pro, NeXT, WebObjects, Logic, Shake) at an incredible discount, focusing on the media industry, diversifying into the entreprise market (XServe, XRaid, XSan), creating a successful retail operation, creating the most successful DMP, creating the most successful online music store, leveraging Open Source and industry standards to create great products, being one of the most successful retailers of wireless products, etc...
Why do you think Apple is having trouble staying in business? You do know it is very hard to go out of business when the value of your company is outgrowing every other company on the stock market, right?
Whatever....
Oh. Yeah, like that isn't a complete and unadulterated load of horsesh*t.
And I like these sites, it makes purchase's eaiser.
Plus, a $500 iMac without a monitor is still not that much of a deal when you can get a complete PC system with a better processor and a monitor for the same, or lower price.
Macs save money by allowing you to be more productive. They can be a better deal in the long run. Spped does not equal productivity. One virus on a PC could easily justify the cost difference for a Mac.
Its like comparing Apples to Oranges.
Anyways, onto the post about the article. Apple has every right to go after ThinkSecret and the people posting this stuff. It really messes up the market for them. Say someone leaks info about some new feature on the iPod a couple weeks before an announcement is made. Well guess what? Creative, Sony, Dell, etc. are all listening. Now they have an advantage to their business plan. It's not really a fan thing. It's people interfering with business plans. It's nice to hope things come along but, if the rumors are true it can definetely weaken the announcement and the product itself when competitors know whats coming.
Yea, you are right
Who asked you to wait for Longhorn? There are plenty operating systems to choose from right now.
Funny that you use the argument of OS X being a "closed system". While everyone knows that OS X is build on an open standard. LOL
Last edited by 6399 on 06 Jan 2005 - 00:59
The 11 hours was basically either reinstalling Windows, upgrading to SP2, installing software, troubleshooting kind of stuff. Could have been faster if I ghosted it, but each person wanted different things.
I sometimes reinstall too (don't use ghost either), doesn't take 11 hours. 4 hours max. that's including updates and backup 300+ GB on ex. hdd. Get er faster computer and internet connection. It helps
Your right, you patch every day or so, and spend extra money on an AV subscription. I wonder how long it takes.... hmmmm. To me, time is money. How quick does it add up.? PS, My first computer was a 386, I installed windows 3.1 from floppies and win 95 from 23 floppies. I have NEVER had a virus, but I spent alot of time preventing them. If I had bought a mac, I wouldn't have ever had to bother.
The reason that people don't write viruses/worms/trojans for Mac OS X is that by default, you're not given full access. So the only way for a worm/virus to spread or infect anything is if it can actually write to whatever file it needs, and it can't unless you confirm the action every step of the way. It's simply more secure then Windows.
Granted, you can run Windows as a humble user and probably be as secure as Mac OS X and Linux users, but it's too late now. Many Windows programs will automatically assume you have administrator access, and won't run without it. This is why running as administrator, as much of a huge security risk it is, is still the default.
With that said, here's what I believe:
1. Apple does not have much marketshare. What many people are missing is that total domination of the computer market is not Apple's goal, they sell high-quality machines for a premium, and make plenty of money doing so. In order to get domination in a market such as the PC, you need to do this cheap. The IBM clone market succeeded because lots of competitors kept driving the cost down. This is why Linux will beat out Windows, it's cheaper and open, so competitors can make their own distibutions and drive the cost down.
2. Apple has a right to sue, their trade secrets are being published and they want to know which employees are leaking this information. Hell, I used to write for TheMacMind (who broke the iPod Flash story) and I still hold this opinion.
The fact is it doesn't matter how many patches a system gets or how fast it gets them if the system is not designed with the basic elements of a secure system eg disabled root, disabled network services that are not essential, memory protection (only fixed in SP2) and so many more that are so basic and common place in a *nix system then the system is not secure and it doesn't matter how many times the kids scream and cry its all about marketshare it just won't make it true.
But following your way of thinking perhaps MS should actually forbid anyone from using the Windows OS without first providing them evidence that they have IT certification, and maybe car manufactures will follow suit and only sell cars to qualified mechanics but then again it would kind of undermine MS's goal of making an Operating System that anyone can use which by the way it is and they have done a fairly good job with allowing millions of people work and play without alot of know how.
I just heard that soon a Chinese company is going to be allowed to sell their cars in the US and they have been known to use the defigns of American car companies.
......
...........
......Who the **** are they competing against!?
Rumor sites posting info like this can have an affect on stock prices. The rumor of the $500 Mac was picked up by CNN and lots of other news sources. What if it isn't real, or it doesn't ship at that price, or it won't ship for months. If any of those things happen stock prices could fall.
Also the suite claims that Think Secret has solicited inside information. I'm willing to bet this suite is more to find out who is leaking info rather than to hurt Think Secret.
Sadly I do believe Think Secret brought this on themselves. Over the past year Think Secret has been so accurate, it isn't posting rumors it has been posting actual product details.
Also, this is not shooting Apple in the foot. It is giving Apples competition to formulate a plan to reduce the effectiveness of Apples marketing strategy.
Its called breaking the law, not any of the albeit expected ignorant posts above.
Did Neowin get someone to break a NDA for that info?
Last edited by 66785 on 05 Jan 2005 - 22:42
No but it got shutted down once
Seriously.. I am a Macintosh user as is the rest of the planet anymore apprently.. but Neowin use to be the place I'd go as a Windows XP user back in the day to get info on MSN betas and neat Avalon and Longhorn stuff. The whole page is Apple anymore...
I have a router that has 4 MACs. I don't have any Macs, though.
As a student going for my CCNA Certification, I thought that was pretty funny.
What I DONT AGREE ON is the fact that the pc ppl commenting on here (the few of them) have said you could get a monitor and computer for a better price.
Ya true, <i> possibly </i> if you 1: either choose one of those aol optimized pcs hah, or two, u purchase an emachines + a crappy crt monitor. and even if you do find some way to find a pc and monitor cheaper than 500..
...think about software included on a Mac. iLife = about 99 dollars i think? or was it 49 hah, I don't know , ya it is 49. but also think about iWork 05, if included which it was rumored to be, which will be 100+ dollars, and some other odds and ends. Paired w/Tiger when it releases, you have a Konfabulator like interface and an advanced searching capability integrated into the OS.
Compared to Microsoft bundling Solitaire...wordpad/notepad and such... I think that's a good deal, even without a monitor.
Last edited by 26660 on 06 Jan 2005 - 02:02
Apple's Mac costs are high because of the high fixed cost of the software bundled with it. So say here's Apple's financials. Numbers are just made up for an example.
Say software costs are $200,000,000.00 (200 mil) per year.
They sell 10 million Macs a yr.
Cost of goods manufactured(mac) = $900.00
200mil(softw costs)/10 mil(mac units) = $200.00 per unit
So to actually make a mac it would cost them $1100.00. That's not including admin expenses, overhead, etc. And, that's what it costs Apple to make.
When asked if Apple is a hardware company or a software company, I am beginning to say both. Look at the packaging for your iPod, "Made in China, Designed by Apple in California".
is it the same people that get into the MS/Apple flamewar every week, or is it a new crew each time? I can't imagine carrying a torch for either side with such vigor for any prolonged period of time.
Oh, and good job guys...I'm sure you totally convinced the other guy that he was wrong and you were right...
Take your own advice.
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