Contois Music Technology, a Vermont-based company is suing Apple.

They say that iTunes is a ripoff of an interface they developed six years ago, and showed at trade shows and patented.

Wouldn't it be freaky if the one thing that Apple can chalk up as a success in this whole miserable OS X era, was a ripoff? I mean holy crap, iTunes became the FINDER in OS X for chrissakes, all Apple's modern apps are inspired by that interface. Were they so hungry for ideas that they scammed this? When they had the legacy interface free and clear? Man alive.

I saw that lawsuit also.

The only problem I see is that iTunes was developed from Casady & Greenes SoundJam MP.



Apple stole the programmer who created SoundJam from Casady & Greene. Who eventually went out of business once Mac OS X was released. Conflict Catcher the Extension Manager Utility they also made became obsolete under X. The early code of iTunes actually had SoundJam embeded in it.

The master playlist for SoundJam was merged into the iTunes window. Some of the other stuff the lawsuit claims like name genre and such was already in SoundJam.

This lawsuit is coming 5 years at least after the release of iTunes. Where has this company been under a rock?

quote:

Originally posted by RicoX:
I saw that lawsuit also.

The only problem I see is that iTunes was developed from Casady & Greenes SoundJam MP.

Apple stole the programmer who created SoundJam from Casady & Greene. Who eventually went out of business once Mac OS X was released. Conflict Catcher the Extension Manager Utility they also made became obsolete under X. The early code of iTunes actually had SoundJam embeded in it.

The master playlist for SoundJam was merged into the iTunes window. Some of the other stuff the lawsuit claims like name genre and such was already in SoundJam.

This lawsuit is coming 5 years at least after the release of iTunes. Where has this company been under a rock?

Not quite correct brother RicoX. Apple bought the code and rights fair and square (and for a lot of $$$) from Casady & Greene and created todays iTunes from it. Casady and Greene agreed upon the purchase of Soundjam by Apple that they would surrender it and not update nor sell SoundJam any longer. None of their other products were memorable (or any longer needed, as you stated) and thus they went out of business. (Apple also approached the developers of Audion at the same time but didn't feel Audion was better than SoundJam)

Ha! Its great to see a picture of SoundJam in action once again! I miss those little bouncy waves on the left when playing songs and all the nifty end user customized skins!

I think SoundJam was probably one of (if not the first) "Shareware" type programs I actually found worth while paying for.

From what I've seen on other sites of Contois sketches of their "interface" its a stretch at best to claim Apple (SoundJam?) ripped them off. IMHO they're looking for publicity and a free ride and are going to sh*te their pants when delivered the counter suit.

Here's a nice little history of Audion from the developers. It includes their recollection of the competition with SoundJam.

quote:

Originally posted by mithradites:
Here's a nice little history of Audion from the developers. It includes their recollection of the competition with SoundJam.

Interesting story. The downside of all this is, a mediocre player-app we all know dominates everything, 'cause it's free and dumbs down all new users in the first place.

I know the original author of macamp, he would like to release a refreshed macamp for X, but the OS X Player-Market is a one-way-street now. Apple cars only... So It's a loss situation for him - and so we have this crappy monopoly.

I do understand apple wants a player delivered with the OS, but the results are just sad.

And now to something completely different: I just bought a Wacom A4 Pad.. :-))) I simply HAD to buy something, so i went for this. Wanted to have a large wacom for years.

Interesting: I HAD to buy an Intuos2 instead of a Intuos3, bc. Intuos3 has OS X Drivers only .. (besides this it's more expensive) .. I'm happy.

That was a good article Mith's.

There is a valuable lesson in there. Never stop negotiating until the deals are signed.

smithz I have one of the Wacom Graphire tablets. USB 6x8 inch model. I wanted it primarily for the cord free mousing without needing a battery. It has served this function very well with the added pen tool as a bonus. I could not justify all the extra stuff the intuos had including the much higher price for my needs.

quote:

Originally posted by RicoX:
smithz I have one of the Wacom Graphire tablets. USB 6x8 inch model. I wanted it primarily for the cord free mousing without needing a battery. It has served this function very well with the added pen tool as a bonus. I could not justify all the extra stuff the intuos had including the much higher price for my needs.

hey ricox,

i use it especially for drawing/painting/retouche. My small tablet didn't satisfy me in the past, esp. for drawing. I made a stroke and ended out of the tablets bounds :-( ... I wanted an A4 Tablet for years.

Plus I occasionally do freakin' netpainting with 2 other (llustrating) friends. Netpainting is a killer-feature in Painter (5.5, dunno about 6 or 7) that allows to share a canvas and paint over an internet-connection. It's a hell lot of fun and a wonderful example of an unique, creative feature. Sadly this great thing was kicked out of Painter in the higher versions. :-(( Damn Corel!

Right, the larger Tablets do have a even larger price, but that's ok for me. For mousing an A4 would be overkill. :-)

Interesting detail about this: i ordered directly from Wacom. It was cheaper than any other online-shop. Plus they had the Intuos2 A4 regular in stock, which is kind of "old". I didn't find it in other shops anymore.

(and all this is off-topic, lol)

smithz when are we ever on topic.

We have one of the Intuos2 same size as yours in the office. They are big. I think it ran us like $800 from our budget at the time. The online painting sounds like alot of fun. It was definitely money well spent in your case. If you have not check Wacoms website and download the proper updates for it including a bunch of extra brushes and pens for use in photoshop and painter.

quote:

Originally posted by RicoX:
smithz when are we ever on topic.

I paid around 400 euros for it, which is acceptable for me. I already checked the driver at Wacom, but suprisingly i had the latest driver on CD included. Maybe it's because the Intuos2 is a dated, stable product, refined over the years.
I really like to buy a products that are a bit "dated" - but that means they proven to work 100%.

smithz that is near half what we paid a year and a half ago. There are more features than one knows what to do with on the thing.

Off topic I was thrown by your A4 paper size. I was thinking A-4 envelope size. You can see my confusion mentioned in the Announcement: "Also called A-style, this contemporary design is idea for photographs, greeting cards, small booklets, and promotional pieces. Do not confuse the A-4 size with metric A4 paper, which fits into a DL size Commercial envelope." This part from the wikipedia link sums it all up nicely: "A4 is a standard paper size, defined by the international standard ISO 216 as 210×297 mm (roughly 8.27×11.69 in). It is the normal size of paper for both domestic and business purposes in all countries except the United States, Mexico and Canada." This is what happens when irrational numbers get involved.

My tablet is A5 size. All along I have been aware of A2 paper size. But the grandaddy of all Tablets would be A0. Look how small your A4 tablet compares.

This online painting you get involved with works in real time? Tablets propel the use of the computer to a more "traditional" sense of fine art. Once you grasp the idea that the tablet works point to point to scale there really are no limits. Your A4 size allows for the use of better gesture. My anatomy teacher always said that the competent draftsman should be able to draw accurately to scale.

(edite for links)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RicoX,

quote:

Originally posted by RicoX:
Do not confuse the A-4 size with metric A4 paper, which fits into a DL size Commercial envelope." This part from the wikipedia link sums it all up nicely: "A4 is a standard paper size, defined by the international standard ISO 216 as 210×297 mm (roughly 8.27×11.69 in).

oh. As an european/german I am soo used to the term A4 i didn't think of a possible confusion. Sorry. But i think the Wacoms are officially called this way worldwide. Anyway...

quote:

But the grandaddy of all Tablets would be A0. Look how small your A4 tablet compares.

Yeah, but too large for me, bc. i would need an A0 screen too :-). I want to hold it on my knees, larger than my A4 tablet makes no sense for me. I did some research which tablet i should get. I thought about the A4 oversize, but it's like a square (300mm x 300mm + border) - makes no sense for me. The border also makes the tablet larger. So A4 fits me perfectly.

quote:

This online painting you get involved with works in real time?

Yes, but only one artist at a time is allowed to paint on the canvas, while the others can watch him/her paint. Plus you have a little chat window... So you can accuse the painting artist of drawing rubbish :-)

(is this correct english? Yes, i corrected it again - thanks to RicoX)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: smithz,

smithz yes I believe your english is correct. Your writing rolls very nicely.

That would be world wide except the USA, Canada and Mexico. Wacom sold them by the inch 6x8 here. I remember getting my Graphire and saying that they were not 6x8 but less. A5 sounds better.

I would use an A0 size tablet to make A10 sized drawings and an A10 sized tablet to make A0 sized paintings.

It sounds like fun smithz painting on line. I had an etching class were the Professor had everyone learn the different techniques drypoint Mezzotint Aquatint etc. by changing plates with class mates as you moved to the next technique. I remember almost everyone not maintaining the integrity of what the people had done on each plate before them. Damn artists!

Enjoy the new toy. :^)

smithz wait a minute no that is not correct english.

It should read: Yes, but only one artist at a time is allowed to paint...

Oh nuts smithz I left out some corrections.

You also need to add: while the others can...

and: Plus you have a little chat...

quote:

Originally posted by RicoX:
Oh nuts smithz I left out some corrections.

Thanks RicoX, these are typos i made due to rushed typing, but i would spot these too if i would read my posts afterwards

quote:

Originally posted by smithz:
Plus I occasionally do freakin' netpainting with 2 other (llustrating) friends. Sadly this great thing was kicked out of Painter in the higher versions.

Wow, yesterday i found out, that this netpaint-mode IS INDEED working when using painter in classic. My Buddies and me thought for at least half a year that this is not working due to classic limitations. We were friggin' wrong, what a relief. The reason it wasn't working was a dsl-router my friend was using.

ps. old thread, but this has to be added :-)

Hey that's great news smithz.

Paint on.