LinSpire LPhoto and LSongs: bring on the lawsuits! 481
Sir Joltalot writes "Over at OSNews they're covering the newly-renamed LinSpire's LSongs and LPhoto apps. Take a look at those screenshots, and you'll notice a striking resemblence to Apple's iTunes and iPhoto. Take a look at this flash presentation and you'll see that LPhoto and iPhoto are almost exactly alike. They look like nifty apps, to be sure, but how long will they last? I would have thought LinSpire might have learned from the whole Lindows name fiasco..."
Look & Feel (Score:5, Interesting)
He got the word through (Score:5, Interesting)
He's pulling the same stunt again.
It's an ingenious move. Look at what he has accomplished. Every
By the time he changes the layout of those apps, a lot of people will have tried it out. Voila, instant market-share, no costs but a simple layout-redesign (which is probably resting on the shelfs as we speak).
Uh.... (Score:3, Interesting)
"Hey guys, look, OpenOffice.org looks almost identical to Microsoft Word! Guess they're getting a big lawsuit!"
Just because a product emulates a look and feel doesn't mean it's BAD does it? Since when was there a patent on a GUI?
Sure, I can see the system MacOS being patented (Aqua) but, not the interface for a frickin' photo management system... There's only so many ways you can make a good product!
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
imitators... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:they didn't even try to be sneaky (Score:4, Interesting)
geez (Score:3, Interesting)
Show me your Garageband or iMovie clone and I'll start paying attention.
Expect a Letter, But It's Just a Bow Shot (Score:3, Interesting)
Why would Apple care, especially since these apps work only on Linux boxes? (Assuming that this stuff compiles only for x86 and not PPC Linux distros...)
Because Apple must always show aggressive protection of their products' trade and servicemarks as well as their look and feel. While the resemblance to iPhoto and iTunes is mostly there, it's not something that Apple would win, IMO.
A suit or intimidating letter only creates history that courts can use (through Apple's attorneys) to keep Apple's products defined as a specific item or service, and reduce the chance of genericization.
Linspire Homepage (Score:5, Interesting)
LGarageBand? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Linux apps that are hopelessly derivative? (Score:3, Interesting)
As someone who slavishly imitated another UI (a management app that ships with a piece of hardware, and was Windows only), I feel qualified to answer that.
While I was planning to eventually write end user documentation for the program, I didn't plan on heaving it ready early on in the release cycle. Basing my program's UI on the screenshots in the Windows product's documentation assured me that the UI will be documented somewhere, possibly making the code easier to use for some people.
So, to answer your question - users like a familiar UI, and Open Source programmers want their programs to be liked.
The question is: functional, or non-functional? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that a direct interface clone would be pretty clear-cut, but if it just 'looks similar,' I think that's less definite.
Re:Linux apps that are hopelessly derivative? (Score:5, Interesting)
It reminds me of something one of my college professors once told me. McDonald spends a lot of money and effort studying the best locations to put a new franchises in a city. Burger King then just looks for places where they are building a new McDonalds. (I don't know if the story is true or not, but he had an interesting point)
Re:He got the word through (Score:5, Interesting)
1. I have zero respect for the Linspire folks.
2. The Linspire folks have zero imagination and zero respect for other people's work.
Re:He got the word through (Score:3, Interesting)
"Respect" has never paid the bills.
"Respect" does not allow you to drive a convertible.
"Respect" is not for dinner.
Ethical business practice, my ass. I've since long found out that most of the salesdroids I encounter are lying thieves, burnt on making a quick buck with as little to do for it as possible.
LLawsuits... (Score:3, Interesting)
That said, is there a point with UI design where the (near-enough) best has been met, and all that can be done is to replicate that with minor changes? Should the fact that one group of designers found that best first stop others from also discovering and using it?
I've looked at the screenshot of Lphoto and they are dreaming if they think that Apple will look at that and feel threatened (a couple of button similarities aside). How do these companies start so strongly (background image of title bar is nice, for example), and then finish it in such an ugly fashion. Who are they paying to design a professional product? It looks cheap and nasty.
Parent.hit(nail+head) (Score:4, Interesting)
I would have thought LinSpire might have learned from the whole Lindows name fiasco
I thought to myself, "They did!"
Clearly they have learned from the lindows/windows fiasco. Thousands of people had never heard of them before that. Now thousands more will hear about them through this. I wonder who's next after Microsoft and Apple. Maybe they should go after one of SCO's trademarks instead?
Re:You can have your iPhoto (Score:3, Interesting)
Apple is competing on the basis of a better UI for a high price, and is losing to Microsoft (who innovates only as much as necessary to be one step ahead of Linux). I fail to see how innovation is the only path to success. Many companies succeed by just making rock-solid, reliable products.
If Linspire ever gets into a dominant position, it wouldn't have anyone to rip off of. But then they could actually afford to spend money on R&D, like Microsoft and Apple do.
Re:Oh my.... (Score:3, Interesting)
I put 'version' in quotes there because they both have some very similar roots. There's cross seeding with a couple of the original coders, and neither app was completely coded/released before the other. They both seem to be coexisting quite well with no hint of legal action from either side.
If Linspire had given LPhoto a brushed metal interface and copied the icons one-for-one then I could see apple acting, but I honestly don't think these L-apps will do anything more than give Linspire some free publicity. I don't have any problem with that.
Re:Apple's target demographic (Score:3, Interesting)
The thought process that goes into buying a mac is something like this: I want a machine that will do what I need to do. I want a machine that won't make me do a lot of things I don't want to do.
In short, I want to run the computer. I don't want it to run me. Some people are willing to pay for a computer that tries to give them more time to work or play by streamlining the process of using a computer. That's what Apple's all about. If Gateway shed mouse buttons and brought out colours (news flash: apple hasn't sold a PC in colours since 2001), they'd still be no closer to that appliance mentality.
Does it run slower than a PC? Not how I define slower. If I can get more computations done in a cycle, but have to spend an hour a week cleaning viruses and spyware off my system, what did I save? If I have to reformat the OS twice a year because installing programs causes it to become doggedly slow, what good is an extra few clock cycles?
Does it have less software? Oh yeah. Drastically fewer packages exist for the mac. But the software I need to use runs on it, and any new function I would like to perform has an option for mac. And it's good software. I don't really miss not being able to play the latest game, since I don't have time to play it anyway.
If you need to have the latest, fastest stuff, if you need the cheapest, most ubiquitous hardware, if you need access to the most software and just need more choices and more control, then of course you don't want a mac, where there is often only one way to do something. And of course you won't be able to see the value in owning one.
Maybe when you get older, and you have a wife to hang out with, dogs and kids to play with, a house to repair, mountains to climb, trails to ride, software to write, art to create, music to play, shows to produce, friends to laugh with, food to cook, rants to post -- you'll see the merit in having a computer you can ignore for six weeks and when you need to, open the lid, perform a task, and shut it again.
Re:Bla, bla, bla, bla. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Linux apps that are hopelessly derivative? (Score:1, Interesting)
I was using one in 1986 to view rotatable steroscopic representations of 'stick-and-ball' molecular models for my research. This was on the b/w portrait monitor, and needed me to use the trick beloved of many chemistry students of being able to 'uncross' my eyes and view a stereoscopic picture pair generated on screen.
Here's a gratuitous URL for more info on the PERQ.
http://www.retrobeep.com/computers/icl/iclPERQ1
That brought back memories! Thanks.
Oh, please (Score:3, Interesting)
Linux can easily come up with its own GUI design. We've got thousands of world volunteers at our disposal. As someone important recently quipped, "We have the power of millions of volunteers and what do we do? We make a UNIX clone. Then we make a Windows clone on top of it."