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The man who took the iconic Windows XP wallpaper photo has bitter regrets
FOX News ^
| 3-27-14
| Tero Kuittinen
Posted on 03/29/2014 1:12:32 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Lush green hills under a cobalt blue sky with precisely the right amount of fluffy clouds floating about. Who hasnt been lost in reverie staring at the default Windows XP wallpaper, dreaming of Middle Earth or maybe a weekend in Cork County?
Yet that shot of a bucolic paradise has turned into a very personal nightmare for Charles OLear, the man who captured the iconic photo and sold it to Microsoft.
OLear took a one-time payment for the photo rather than trying to negotiate a license fee. Even a tiny fee per Windows XP license would have yielded him a hefty payday over the years.
Surprisingly enough, the photograph was actually taken on the side of a highway in Sonoma, California, rather than Ireland or New Zealand. According to a somewhat hazy estimate by The Sydney Morning Herald, a billion people have viewed the scene since Microsoft bought it.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: california; charlesolear; licensefee; microsoft; sonoma; wallpaper; windowsxp; xp
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Comment #1 Removed by Moderator
To: smokingfrog
2
posted on
03/29/2014 1:13:09 PM PDT
by
smokingfrog
( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
To: smokingfrog
I HAVE stared at it and I DID think it was Ireland
3
posted on
03/29/2014 1:14:29 PM PDT
by
knarf
(I say things that are true .. I have no proof .. but they're true.)
To: smokingfrog
“Even a tiny fee per Windows XP license would have yielded him a hefty payday over the years. “
They would have never agreed to any per license fee, they would have simply used a different picture.
4
posted on
03/29/2014 1:14:33 PM PDT
by
Mount Athos
(A Giant luxury mega-mansion for Gore, a Government Green EcoShack made of poo for you)
To: smokingfrog
I've been thinking of licensing my posts here on FR.I figure that even at $0.0001 per viewing of my posts will net me dozens of dollars over the next 50 years.I'll be contacting Jim Robinson soon with my demands.
5
posted on
03/29/2014 1:16:27 PM PDT
by
Gay State Conservative
(Stalin Blamed The Kulaks,Obama Blames The Tea Party)
To: smokingfrog
6
posted on
03/29/2014 1:26:34 PM PDT
by
Riley
(The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
To: Gay State Conservative
7
posted on
03/29/2014 1:27:43 PM PDT
by
driftdiver
(I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
To: Riley
8
posted on
03/29/2014 1:28:58 PM PDT
by
smokingfrog
( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
To: smokingfrog
One bad business deal? No loss incurred? Get over it!
9
posted on
03/29/2014 1:30:20 PM PDT
by
Chuckster
(The longer I live the less I care about what you think.)
To: smokingfrog
Somehow I always thought that photo looked really gay, like at any minute Twinky winky the Teletubby will start prancing around on the hill.
10
posted on
03/29/2014 1:32:09 PM PDT
by
GrandJediMasterYoda
(Republican has "I can" at the end. Democrat has "rat". Any questions?)
To: smokingfrog
Right country for it. Been over Highway 12 a million times, guess I don’t have that photographer’s eye or the business sense to sell the view to the whole of planet earth.
11
posted on
03/29/2014 1:32:10 PM PDT
by
Riley
(The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
To: smokingfrog
I thought it was from TeleTubbies
12
posted on
03/29/2014 1:33:17 PM PDT
by
csmusaret
(Will remove Obama-Biden bumperstickers for $10)
To: Mount Athos
They would have never agreed to any per license fee, they would have simply used a different picture. Yup, this is not a case of loosing a winning lottery ticket.
Pretty nature pictures are a dime a dozen.
Instead of griping about "lost" money, he should be enjoying whatever publicity he can get from his picture being selected to advance his name brand.
No he looks like just a whiner.
13
posted on
03/29/2014 1:36:42 PM PDT
by
ClaytonP
To: csmusaret
TeleTubbies was one of the creepiest things I’ve seen
anywhere.
14
posted on
03/29/2014 1:37:19 PM PDT
by
markoman
(The man with the rubber glove was....surprisingly gentle.)
To: smokingfrog
15
posted on
03/29/2014 1:38:16 PM PDT
by
dead
(I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
Comment #16 Removed by Moderator
To: smokingfrog
Hmmmm. That photo always reminded me of the drive north to Boulder, Co.
17
posted on
03/29/2014 1:43:51 PM PDT
by
SueRae
(It isn't over. In God We Trust.)
To: smokingfrog
I can’t even sell my witty FR posts 3 for a quarter.
18
posted on
03/29/2014 1:44:26 PM PDT
by
Attention Surplus Disorder
(At no time was the Obama administration aware of what the Obama administration was doing)
To: smokingfrog
Always thought that was a great picture, very relaxing to look at.
Wallpaper on my old computer.
The guy got a few bucks off of Bill Gates inc., that's more than most of us will ever do, he should just shut up and enjoy :)
19
posted on
03/29/2014 1:46:34 PM PDT
by
The Cajun
(tea party!!!, Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Louie Gohmert......Nuff said.)
To: Mount Athos
Exactly. I’m tired of this argument. The guy who designed the Rolling Stones logo mopes over the same thing.
You get paid well for your work—and whatever level you agree to is being paid well—and you should honor your contract.
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