Apple Quashes pBop

mojotunes writes "The pBop (nee pPod) MP3 player mentioned on Slashdot a while back has been officially pulled by its creator StarBrite Solutions, apparently because of legal pressure from Apple. Well, duh. Who didn't see that coming?"

Comments

Re:not a very helpful link...

[baryon351]

It copied the iPod interface pixel for pixel, and put it on a Win CE powered pocket PC.

Not just making a nice MP3 player out of a pocket PC mind you, but making one completely identical to an iPod's interface - along with graphics to represent iPod controls.

Re:not a very helpful link...

[krymsin01]

Links? Here is a longer article with background info.

Except that....

[Big Sean O]

Microsoft _announced_ an operating system in 1983, Windows 1.0 didn't ship until 1985.

There's lot's of early Mac history at the Folklore site. Lots of pictures that show what passed for fashion among geeks in the 1980s.

My favorite, our man Steve Jobs in his bowtie period, best left for your own searching so I don't get modded-down for posting a link akin to Mr. Goatse.

Re:History Repeating

[Anonymous Coward]

For example, CmdrTaco had following to say about the iPod: "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." Other trolls on the same page were about the same... so there you go. The experts had spoken, the iPod was truly "lame", while the superior ultra-compact Nomad was the way to go.

it's hardly a copy

[Anonymous Coward]

the pPod was hardly a copy, at least not functionaly. all it had going for was the "look" of iPod. it's basically an mp3 player with a skin that looked like an iPod - not an emulated iPod, as it seems to be implied.

didn't play AAC. doesn't work with iTMS. etc. etc.

i'm surprised it got as much coverage as it did.

Re:History Repeating

[raga]

Gates saw the Mac interface, not the Xerox interface (which, btw was quite different from the Mac interface.

Here is the story as recounted by Andy Hertzfeld (one of the original "software wizards" to work on the Mac OS).

This story by Bruce Horn (who worked at Xerox, and later was hired by Apple to join the Mac team) is a good recount of how the Mac interface came about.

cheers- raga

Re:History Repeating

[MoneyT]

Xerox got something like $1,000,000 in Apple stock for access to their dev teams and information about the designs.

Jobs told Xerox:

"I will let you invest a million dollars in Apple if you will sort of open the kimono at Xerox PARC" And Xerox agreed buying 100,000 shares of Apple stock at $10 a piece, which later split to 800,000 shares worth 17.6 million when Apple went public[1]

In regards to Apple "stealing" the interface, PARC's director said:
"Just like the Russians and the A bomb; they developed it very quickly once they knew it was doable."[2]

[1] Apple Confidential by Owen Linzmayer P. 53
[2] P. 54

Re:not a very helpful link...

[1u3hr]

Here's a German site with a demo download, and a bunch of screenshots.

Re:History Repeating

[raga]

Here's the story about Xerox investing in Apple.

Xerox invested $1 million in Apple by purchasing 100,000 shares at $10 each. Furthermore, Xerox signed an agreement with Apple to never purchase more than 5 percent of Apple's shares. Within a year, these shares split into 800,000 worth $17.6 million when Apple went public.

cheers- raga

Re:Uh oh

[System.out.println()]

I don't see you charging money for that?

Which is a key difference... There are iTunes skins for windoze music players, and iPod skins as well.... they don't go after them because they don't charge. (Of course there's always a good chance you're just trying to get some free linkage, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt....)

That said, I wonder how WinPLOSION (formerly called WinExpose) has survived this long.