the daily snivel
Apple babble at 3 am.
A couple of things regarding Apple have come into the news lately: first that Apple is suing "Nick de Plume," author of the website Think Secret, for spilling the beans on protected trade secrets via continuing leaks from employees and contractors bound by confidentiality agreements. Apple has so far been successful in its discovery motions, and while the story has a certain "David and Goliath" kind of charm that makes one want to, at first, side with the little guy, I think Apple is entirely in the right here and will likely succeed. Leaking trade secrets like the details to unreleased products is clearly an infringement of statutes intended to protect against such malfeasance, and trying to argue that you're a journalist and have free speech rights isn't helpful, because those protections don't extend to breaking the law. Nor should they. I feel precisely the same way about the arguments made by Robert Novak, Judith Miller and the New York Times when they try to defend themselves against having to reveal their sources in the government who attempted to illegally "out" Judith Plame in retaliation for her husband not going along with some of the worst lies about forged weapon of mass destruction claims about Iraq.
Daring Fireball has much more about the Apple's lawsuit and successful discovery motion.
The second item is that Apple has just pulled books published by Wiley & Sons, Inc. from the shelves of its chain of Apple Stores in an act of retaliation for its upcoming publication of an unauthorized biography of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Regarding this, I don't have much to say beyond, well, that's pure Steve Jobs. I think it's an incredible gesture of spite, but not one that surprises or outrages me, much as I disagree with it. That said, anyone writing the unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs must start chapter one with: "Steve Jobs is a singular control freak. He likes things done just his way and is infamous for this trait to the point that the verb Steved (as in 'to be Steved') has come into common usage and means that you were terminated with extreme prejudice because Steve Jobs didn't like the way you were doing things." If you write an unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs and don't put that in bold type right up front, you clearly haven't done your research. Unhelpful is the fact that the author of this book previously wrote a biography of Jobs in the 80s, which was decidedly unflattering. You can sort of sympathize with the big guy having a fit, though apparently the new book is comparatively gushy with praise, given how Mr. Jobs has revitalized Apple since returning to it in the late 1990s, when it was at risk of collapse.
Anyway, this story is rather a silly thing, and I hope the spat gets resolved soon. On the other hand, to those who would say this is in any way equivalent to the Microsoft decision to withdraw its support for legislation that would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination, or otherwise indicative of "big brother" tendencies at Apple, I say "suck it up."
Comments:Daring Fireball has much more about the Apple's lawsuit and successful discovery motion.
The second item is that Apple has just pulled books published by Wiley & Sons, Inc. from the shelves of its chain of Apple Stores in an act of retaliation for its upcoming publication of an unauthorized biography of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Regarding this, I don't have much to say beyond, well, that's pure Steve Jobs. I think it's an incredible gesture of spite, but not one that surprises or outrages me, much as I disagree with it. That said, anyone writing the unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs must start chapter one with: "Steve Jobs is a singular control freak. He likes things done just his way and is infamous for this trait to the point that the verb Steved (as in 'to be Steved') has come into common usage and means that you were terminated with extreme prejudice because Steve Jobs didn't like the way you were doing things." If you write an unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs and don't put that in bold type right up front, you clearly haven't done your research. Unhelpful is the fact that the author of this book previously wrote a biography of Jobs in the 80s, which was decidedly unflattering. You can sort of sympathize with the big guy having a fit, though apparently the new book is comparatively gushy with praise, given how Mr. Jobs has revitalized Apple since returning to it in the late 1990s, when it was at risk of collapse.
Anyway, this story is rather a silly thing, and I hope the spat gets resolved soon. On the other hand, to those who would say this is in any way equivalent to the Microsoft decision to withdraw its support for legislation that would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination, or otherwise indicative of "big brother" tendencies at Apple, I say "suck it up."
