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Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger to Arrive in April
Silly Burrito writes "Think Secret is reporting that Tiger will be out in April with an event on April 1st and it should be out in stores by April 15th. If this is true, I can finally get both the Mini and a new Powerbook, as I've been waiting for Tiger to be released before I do so. Let's just hope that this isn't a bad April Fools Joke!"
This is from someone typing on an Apple PowerBook btw - I do like Apple's products, but not always the company's actions.
Get a free iPod Nano 4GB!
Or maybe some of us are able to be somewhat rational? Personally, if Microsoft had been in Apple's shoes, I'd have felt the same way about the ThinkSecret case, and I'm anything but a Microsoft appologist (IE: I firmly believe the DoJ should have broken up the company).
The Apple vs Does case is more about reaffirming trade secret law that's already on the books and has already been affirmed by the courts many, many times. So no, I don't really see it as a 'victory against journalism.' No one is facing penalties for what they've printed at this point - and this isn't exactly a whistle blower case that deserves special privelege. But feel free to check my comment history on the subject - I've been consistent in my viewpoint and after reading the judge's opinion yesterday, I seem to have had it about pegged.
On topic, Tiger's looking to be a rather interesting release. Apple's putting metadata to good use with Spotlight, and I'm interested to see how Dashboard's ended up looking. The real story, I think, may end up being the behind the scenes part of the OS - CoreImage. It truly opens the door for a first-party Apple Photoshop killer, if Adobe refuses to adopt the interface. Remember iMovie and FCP are only really around because Adobe declined to make a good consumer oriented video editing system, so Apple did it themselves. Could we be seeing this happen again?
Slashdot bills itself as "News For Nerds. Stuff That Matters." Clearly the latest release of OS X matters to the nerds.
The delicious irony a *free* software advocate telling others what they *should* do is making me hungry....
IBM is still having serious problems with heat dissipation, so unless they produce a throttled-back chip, the G5 is unlikely to make its way into portables anytime soon. The consensus among Apple watchers is that dual-core G4's from Freescale (formerly Motorola's processor division) are likelier candidates for portable Macs.
Sure journalists should have a right to keep their sources secret but don't companies also have a right to have trade secrets? So, why should journalists be permitted to have their secrets after they engaged in activities that negated a company's rights to secrets? Think about it.
This entire situation is shitty on all accounts. On one hand, the employees need to be fired. Secondly, journalists should not be bribing an organizations employees for secret information. Lastly, Apple shouldn't care so much. No one takes ThinkSecret all that seriously. How many times have their rumors been absolutely ridiculous besides being incorrect? Remember how many times they've published rumors about a new PDA, G5 Powerbook, iTablet, or an iPhone?
[insert lame joke here]
I wouldn't want a G5 in a laptop. You can permanently damage yourself running that hot a processor in your lap.
Seriously, though, I hope Apple goes with the Freescale dual-core G4 for mobile use before the G5.
The free speech rights of journalists are not trampled upon. There is NO constitutional right for journalists to keep the names of their sources secret. Some states have laws that protect this right, but there is neither a federal constitutional right nor a common law privilege. The state laws are not absolute privileges either -- in the California case, the judge ruled that California's shield law does not cover the type of reporting done by the fan sites.
From the ruling: "Unlike the whistleblower who discloses a health, safety or welfare hazard affecting all, or the government employee who reveals mismanagement or worse by our public officials, (the enthusiast sites) are doing nothing more than feeding the public's insatiable desire for information."
This seems to be lost in all the hysteria over Apple's suit. Apple is NOT suing ThinkSecret for damages. They are suing ThinkSecret only to get the names of the people who did reveal trade secrets. Those people broke their NDAs and Apple wants to go after them for breach of contract. There is, of course, no "free speech" right to break a contract in which you agreed not to reveal those secrets. Apple's target is those people, and that's what the law suit is about.
Now, since ThinkSecret is refusing to reveal the names of those sources, and since there's no privilege to keep those names secret, it is in contempt of court. This is a fundamental aspect of our justice system, that the litigants are entitled to "everyman's evidence." You definitely want this. Think about it. If you were in an accident and none of the witnesses want to testify, where does that leave you? You can subpoena them to testify in court and reveal what they know, and if they refuse, they can be held in contempt of court. This is exactly analogous.
Don't let the label "journalist" fool you. We are all journalists -- we post on a blog and we report what we see and what we think. If you are going to give "journalists" a right to keep quiet about evidence, then everyone would have this right, and our system would not function. The First Amendment emphatically does not allow you to keep silent in court unless you have an applicable privilege.
I didn't say 'trade secret protection laws.' I said 'contract' - as in NDA.
If it's okay to violate an NDA, as long as you do it by telling a reporter what you know, then just what exactly is an NDA for, in your opinion?
That's pretty irresponsible, don't you think? You, as a professional journalist, are an opinion-maker. You're essentially dismissing Apple's case in the court of public opinion based on grounds that would never stand up in an actual court.