That one's already taken...
Posted on 11/20/2009 12:59:16 PM PST by Star Traveler
Written on November 20, 2009 by Liam Cassidy
Gotta love that Steve Jobs. He never was one to hold back, and even now, when he’s the CEO of the Universe (or something like that), he won’t be found spouting corporate speak.
CrunchGear tells the story of a small software development company called The Little App Factory. It made an app for the Mac called iPodRip, one of those tools for transferring music from an iPod to a computer. A law firm representing Apple sent The Little App Factory a letter, informing the company it had violated some of Apple’s trademarks, and instructed it to stop using the “iPod” bit in the app’s name.
iPodRip has been around for nearly seven years and CrunchGear’s Daniel Brusilovsky says it has been downloaded more than five million times. You’d think Apple’s legal sniffer hounds, Baker & McKenzie, might have acted a tad sooner…
Anyway, iPodRip developer and The Little App Factory CEO John Devor felt this was all rather unfair, so he wrote directly to El Jobso himself. Here’s a little excerpt from his impassioned plea for special treatment sanity (edited by me for brevity, but you can read the whole thing here);
Dear Mr. Jobs,
I doubt you’re aware but we recently received a letter from a law firm working on Apple’s behalf instructing us that we had violated several of Apple’s trademarks in our application iPodRip and asking us to cease using the name and Apple trademarks in our icons.
It is quite obvious that we mean Apple no harm with the use of the name iPodRip, or of the inclusion of trademarked items in our icons… …we are quite aware that Apple support and store staff have recommended our software on numerous occasions as far back as 2004 so we have felt that we were doing something right!
With this in mind, we are in desperate need of some assistance and we beseech you to help us to protect our product and our shareware company, I myself dropped out of school recently to pursue a path in the Mac software industry, and you yourself have been a consistent inspiration for me.
If there is anything at all you can do with regards to this matter, we would be most grateful.
Best,
John Devor
Poor fellow. Obviously he has poured his heart and soul into his company, and he has worked hard this last half-decade building a strong brand and large customer base. He wants to protect his investment, and why not? Apple has, it seems, been aware of the product, to some degree, for an awfully long time, so why slap him with a C&D letter now?
So Steve Jobs gets the email and thinks about this, right? He considers the years of service this guy and his company have provided for iTunes users around the world. He considers carefully the late-in-the-game complaint from Baker & McKenzie. He feels a swell of pride at the obvious passion of those in the Mac development community who so loyally support his products and strive to make the Mac ecosystem a bigger, brighter and more worthwhile place to be. Right?
Of course not. He’s Steve Jobs, people! This is his reply:
Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.
Steve
Sent from my iPhone
I nearly fell off my chair in laughter when I saw that. I’m not sure I agree with him that’s it’s “not that big of a deal” (after all, this company has invested many years in their brand and built a considerable customer base) but I admire Steve’s no-nonsense attitude. He says exactly what’s on his mind, no PR-spin, and sends it straight from his iPhone, typos-and-all.
The Little App Factory acquiesced (what else could it do?) and renamed the app iRip. It also changed the app’s icon. Perhaps this whole affair was a thorn in the side, but I don’t feel too sorry for them, the tech press is giving them a lot of attention right now, and that’s gotta be good for business, right?
ping
It does look like Steve Jobs was helping out the developer with his “publicity” for the name change.
AND, it’s still amazing to me that Jobs does respond to his e-mails (of course, the ones that he’s interested in responding to). This is not the first time that Jobs has responded to e-mails. I understand he does it quite frequently... :-)
This is probably a good result for developer. Look at all the free publicity they are getting. I don't what he expected. Like Steve is going to overrule the Baker McKenzie lawyers. You know how much those guys charge?
Steve, change the name of iTunes. Not that big of a deal.
Any idea what his email address is? There are a few things I’d like to say to him!
That one's already taken...
>Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.
The man can’t even be bothered to differentiate between pluralization and possession? {Use the apostrophe, damnit!}
Any idea what his email address is? There are a few things I’d like to say to him!
Well, it's one of these...
or all of them... :-)
Good luck!
I can only imagine if Steve Ballmer did something like this, he would be ripped as a bulling pr*ck.
Jobs?
Well that’s just old Jobsie being who he is. He’s doing this guy a favor!
The man can’t even be bothered to differentiate between pluralization and possession?
Ummmm..., not when you're making billions for Apple and running between meetings and using your iPhone to respond to the e-mails... LOL...
He’s doing this guy a favor!
Heck! I think Jobs was doing him a big favor by sending off that e-mail to him. Just think..., you and many others here probably never heard of that app before now... LOL...
>You were saying ...
>> The man can’t even be bothered to differentiate between pluralization and possession?
>Ummmm..., not when you’re making billions for Apple and running between meetings and using your iPhone to respond to the e-mails... LOL...
Sorry, but it’s one thing that gets to me... I hate seeing it {IMO, it makes the writer look unintelligent} and I hate it when I slip-up and do it myself (usually when I type really fast and don’t proofread; bad idea there), so I’m consistent there.
Jobs knew what he was taking about, as Apple has more than once had to change a name for one of its products, and is constantly being sued.
Bonjour used to be Rendevous, for example.
Even the use of the name Macintosh was challenged by the high-end maker of tube-powered amplifiers. Apple had to pay them off.
I can only imagine if Steve Ballmer did something like this, he would be ripped as a bulling pr*ck.
Well, in Steve Ballmer's case -- he's a real idiot. Just look at the following... LOL...
Oh so true! :-)
EyePodRip
AyePodRip
PodRipper
Etc.
>>Sorry, but it’s one thing that gets to me
>
>Used 2 get 2 me 2. Til I strtd txting my 13yo dtr! lol
That just makes you look lazy. ;)
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