Here’s a couple of interesting news bits to end the week.
The first item isn’t much of a surprise but may shed some insight into the Intel “roadmap” that helped Steve Jobs, Apple & Company jump from the IBM Chip Ship.
Intel is expected to announce their next generation chips later this month, though the chips won’t ship until the latter half of next year, according to an AP Article.
For those who care (most don’t) and love to speculate about such things (remember the Dvorak Prophecy), the latest Mac OS X for Intel version has been hacked and now runs on almost any up-to-date PC; Dell, Sony, generic Intels; the works. For now, HardMac (French site in English) has details and torrent links.
What’s all this mean? The move to new Intel chips for Macs is full speed ahead and in a few weeks we’ll find out more about the chips as Intel coughs up details. And, Mac OS X for Intel’s developer release has been modified to run on vanilla PCs. It remains to be seen what protection Apple will put into OS X and future Intel-based Macs, but for now, the Dvorak Prophecy appears plausible.
Finally, there’s word that Apple’s patent application for the iPod interface (playlist and scroll wheel combo) was denied by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Why? Because Microsoft already has a similar patent. Their patent was filed five months before Apple, but many months AFTER Apple shipped the iPod.
Will Steve Jobs have to pay Bill Gates for the iPod interface?
I really don’t know how to weigh in on this. On one hand it sickens me that it’s become some “holy grail”, or giant Nelson Muntz “HAHA” in the face of Appletisti by hacker kiddies. On another it’s intriguing to my “make things that have no business working, work” side.
I think if it gets beyond the 1337 hax0r community, it can be very bad for Apple. Obviously Apple will not support non-Apple hardware, but if it doesn’t work well on Joe Average’s computer when his “Computer Geek” buddy installs a cracked version for him, he’ll think the Mac OS is a POS. It won’t be “Oh, I guess I should buy a Mac to try this out on instead of my current PC”, it’ll be “Macs suck”. That’s what’s going to kill the image for the uninitiated.
Anyways, this is all speculative at this point as there’s no official Mac OS X for x86 yet. Just Developer Releases. there’s still 10 months before anything “official” is available for cracking.
It was really just a matter of time. I see this as a (small) step above the “OS X on an Xbox hack. As you aptly put it, mcdermd, very cool on an “Huh? how’d you do that?” level. I think a big part of the future for stuff like this will be shaped by the hardware that the MacIntel boxes finally end up packing. There’s not a protection scheme in existence that will hold up very long to determined crackers with nothing better to do, but if Apple puts their OS on capable hardware and sells it at reasonable price points, I think this sort of thing will stay mostly in the realm of determined tinkerers.
Finally, there’s word that Apple’s patent application for the iPod interface (playlist and scroll wheel combo) was denied by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Why? Because Microsoft already has a similar patent. Their patent was filed five months before Apple, but many months AFTER Apple shipped the iPod.
Will Steve Jobs have to pay Bill Gates for the iPod interface?
Disturbing news. I’m not sure a Steve Jobs has the mental fortitude to fork out payments to Gates for Apple’s incredibly innovative and market dominating iPod. We’ll see a complete and utter change in interface dynamics first. Especially if Microsoft runs with it publicly and humiliates Apple. I can see it now… Microsoft’s huge, full-page spread in the Wall Street Journal:
Welcome. Apple. Seriously.
Ugh. I can see Balmer jumping up and down like a stuck, sweaty pig, pumping the latest Microsoft innovation: the MSiPod. Same scroll wheel. Same interface.
Ok, back to reality. The iPod is such a dominating part of our musical culture now that to screw with any of the elements would simply set up Microsoft for a monstrous public beating. So severe, no amount of money or marketing will undo the damage.
In the end, we’ll all look back at this and see it as the thing that pushed Apple into a new and even better interface paradigm. Stuff like this drives innovation.
There’s so many reports of hackers getting the dev version running on new Intel and AMD processors, but I want to see it working on older hardware. I mean, come on, Tiger runs just fine on my six year old G3. That should be the real challenge for these guys.
And, Mac OS X for Intel’s developer release has been modified to run on vanilla PCs. It remains to be seen what protection Apple will put into OS X and future Intel-based Macs, but for now, the Dvorak Prophecy appears plausible.
If it plays out that way, the Apple Store won’t be able to keep Leopard in stock. Apple will be sitting in the catbird seat on this one. They’ll make money hand over fist for an operating system they refuse to support on vanilla Intels.
Bambi Hambi - 12 August 2005 11:33 AM
Will Steve Jobs have to pay Bill Gates for the iPod interface?
I don’t see it happening. I’m not a patent attorney, but it seems to me that no one should be given a patent on existing technology. Obviously, someone fell asleep at the helm of the SS iPod. The effect of that error should be that anyone might clone the iPod without worrying about patent infringement. I hope that it’s determined that approval of the MS patent was given erroneouly. The approval should be withdrawn by the Patent Office… if there’s any justice.
An ADC member, responsible for releasing a system entrusted to them under a NDA, should be found and dealt with by Apple’s legal specialists. Expunged from the Mac community is the beginning of their purgatory. Shareholders should insist all means available be used to secure the future of Apple’s computing platform. If that means using registration, TPM and DRM to deny nonpayors, so be it. I favor registration of new systems so any and all upgrades Software Updater will deny.
MACINTOSH now, MACINTOSH tomorrow and MACINTOSH forever!
And, Mac OS X for Intel’s developer release has been modified to run on vanilla PCs. It remains to be seen what protection Apple will put into OS X and future Intel-based Macs, but for now, the Dvorak Prophecy appears plausible.
If it plays out that way, the Apple Store won’t be able to keep Leopard in stock. Apple will be sitting in the catbird seat on this one. They’ll make money hand over fist for an operating system they refuse to support on vanilla Intels.
Bambi Hambi - 12 August 2005 11:33 AM
Will Steve Jobs have to pay Bill Gates for the iPod interface?
I don’t see it happening. I’m not a patent attorney, but it seems to me that no one should be given a patent on existing technology. Obviously, someone fell asleep at the helm of the SS iPod. The effect of that error should be that anyone might clone the iPod without worrying about patent infringement. I hope that it’s determined that approval of the MS patent was given erroneouly. The approval should be withdrawn by the Patent Office… if there’s any justice.
... JJ
I am no Patent attorney (I play one on TV) but I am pretty sure I remember seeing something somewhere where you can’t patent someone else’s technology.
The Register did a story on the non-story that is the Apple iPod patent issue. I firmly suspect AppleInsider (or whomever originated it) posted the story as bait for other, more traditional, news organizations that have been pulling stories from the rumor mill. Somebody is obviously very wrong or not checking facts as some stories claim MS was awarded the patent, and el Reg states that MS was given a Final Rejection, and was merely awarded a filing extension.
As for the hacked OSx86, while slick and dandy they are basically going to have to hack it again when the first Intel based Macs ship, and then again when Leopard is released. And likely, Apple will make it a bit more difficult each time if history serves. Realistically, there is no reason to believe that the TPM system currently in use will resemble in any way the protection in the shipping OS. And as of today, anyone walking around with a OSX bootable laptop is arrestable in the States, since anyone running it has most certainly pirated it and/or broken licensing terms.
This goofball didn’t do much in the way of hacking as he doesn’t get Rosetta (which means pretty much no apps run)Ûbut he has the dubious distinction of being the first person to name himself as having pirated OSx86!
Taking all bets on how long Apple takes to file suit.
The Apple “trying to squeeze every last dollar out of their product” attitude will likely mean Apple throwing up roadblocks to limit the use of hacked OSX versions on Intel platforms. I’d much expect Software Update to limit a lot of that usage akin to Windows Update.
I just think everyone needs to realize that OSX being hacked will likely be neither good nor bad… just somewhere in the middle.
1. Market share will most definitely increase
2. Expect more software choice on the Mac platform (Yeah!!! I can’t wait for the day when I get proper JET database support, and a proper accounting package that I can network.)
3. Cheaper hardware. No more $700 for a videocard that retails for $300 for the PC. Drivers are the only difference.
Alternatively
1. Flubbed versions of OSX in the wild. -Actually let me note Windows suffers the same fate, and people know the OS works horribly if you’ve got a hacked version of software.
2. Adware, Malware, and if OSX breaks the 20% mark one day… viruses will be prevalent
3. Possible threat from Microsoft to drop Office or Media Player in the future.
Personally, anything that can drive down computer costs or give me more software choice is a welcome change.
Apple will do fine financially. Mr. Jobs will soon have another $70 Mil of stock options to cash.
$120 for an OS every 18 months still will put more money in Apple’s product over a five year timespan than Microsoft’s alternative of providing a $180 upgrade to XP. Apple won’t be devoured by cheaper alternatives. They’ll do just fine by selling the OS, and providing some innovative hardware designs.
Further details re the iPod story(?) I’ve gleaned from folks that know more about this than I do:
The iPod patent rejection was a run of the mill NFR (non final rejection) which basically means they told Apple to go back for a rewrite.
Microsoft had received a final rejection on the patent in question and filed for (and received) an extension.
US Patent law states that patents filed after a product is released for sale are not applicable. Even if Microsoft wins the patent, since Apple has prior art, Microsoft is not entitled to royalties. Furthermore, Apple has only 12 months from the release of their product for sale to file patents on its design. Other countries apparently give precedence to patent filing date, the US in contrast gives precedence to product availability (whichever comes first, really).
I don’t understand why some smart people think that just because Apple has a small market share is the only reason that we don’t have virii. Believe me, even if Apple were to break the 20% barrier, there still won’t be prevalent viruses. Malware, probably. Adware, we already have some. Self populating viruses that are able to infect a person’s machine without any user interaction to instal, very unlikely.
I don’t understand why some smart people think that just because Apple has a small market share is the only reason that we don’t have virii. Believe me, even if Apple were to break the 20% barrier, there still won’t be prevalent viruses. Malware, probably. Adware, we already have some. Self populating viruses that are able to infect a person’s machine without any user interaction to instal, very unlikely.
The comparatively diminutive Mac population is one of the reasons given for Macware being a less attractive target. It’s not a reason for Mac OS being a less vulnerable one. The Mac OS is hardened against attack much more effectively than the MS OS, which is one of the reasons given for Longhorn’s adopting some of Tiger’s defenses. However, Mac isn’t immune. Nor is Linux. Both OSs periodically offer security updates, just as MS does, for that very reason.
I think really self propogating virii are less of an issue than malware that takes social engineering to install. I think we will see some of that, because people will, for some time to come, be the weakest link in the computer security chain. I don’t think Apple is quite secure enough to prevent such a thing, but I suspect we’re off to a good start.
The bottom line, is right now there are heavy interests for organized crime to perpetuate compromised systems, so they will do everything they can to keep it going. They make a lot of money on compromised systems and confidence scams on the internet right now. Maybe it just means in the short term we would see much heavier phishing efforts? We shall just have to wait and see.
Ironically if I were involved with one of those scams I would be working real hard to develop Mac OS alternatives to the malware on the PC side for two reasons: one, to be prepared for the eventuality and to reap the benefit of unsuspecting users, and two, to forestall it; since known malware in the wild for Mac OS X would forestall the death of the cash current cash cow (MS).
Oh and John, Don’t count on identical hardware bringing prices down for Mac video cards etc. Most of the added cost represents the driver development, not the hardware. Note ATI already makes video cards that work in both PPC and Intel machines; the only difference is the driver. It will take proper economies of scale to bring the prices closer together, which means Mac video cards purchased, since we will still require unique drivers.
