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Why doesn’t Apple show its patented Mac OS X ‘Genie Effect’ in TV ads?

Thursday, October 7, 2004 · 8:53 am · 63 Comments

“Apple issued patent for interface design effect in Mac OS X. The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Apple Computer with a patent for an ‘ornamental design for a user interface for computer display,’” Andy Barnes reports for AppleInsider.

“Otherwise known to Mac OS X users as the ‘genie effect,’ the feature presents the illusion that application and Finder windows are shrinking into the system dock when minimized by the user,” Barnes reports.

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: A “fun” effect that we infrequently use, preferring Exposé, the good old “Hide” command, and even “Command-Tab.” We do wish Apple would show this kind of “eye candy” to the rest of the world in TV ads. We always trot out “Genie” when showing people Mac OS X for the first time, just to see them gawk. Could Windows’ UI be farther behind? Windows users who are unfamiliar with Mac OS X would be amazed at what we Mac users consider routine and mundane. Showing people Mac OS X in action would sell more Macs by luring TV viewers into Apple Retail Stores where the Mac’s true benefits and advantages over Windows can be adequately explained.

Related MacDailyNews article:
Top Ten things Apple needs to show the world about Macintosh – July 30, 2003

Categories: MacDailyNews, News

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Comment Feed

63 Comments

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Macedo do Couto

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 3:07 pm · Reply

For me, the best advertise that Apple should do (with every hardware and software), is at cinemas (ton’s of millions of viewers at several films), in that spots that we have to see before de movie.

But, this is only IMHO.
bi11jon

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 3:15 pm · Reply

no genie effect for me. dock stays on the bottom hidden. i love expose, but once i found butler, everything changed.
Jack A

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 3:31 pm · Reply

I love Apple’s incredible attention to small details. You are always finding things that are way cool or just a small detail that shows someone did the very best they could on something. I have Genie switched on just for the beauty and although I never ever use it, it is neat to have the shift genie slo mo effect built in just cuz it is cool, no other reason. Finding small hidden details like these just delight and for some reason just make my day.

Hey! Anyone ever notice that in the iLife apps a lot of times instead of just having a new menu pop up for some functions the top of the screen looks like a slit opens up and the menu slides out of it? Look really close at where the top of the screen and the menu join when you hit the plus in Safari to make a new bookmark for an example. This kind of attention to minute details is unheard of in the windows world.
Jack A

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 3:32 pm · Reply

Oh and Peter rather than function keys for Expose’ you might try hot corners. You can find them on the Expose’ control panel in Sys prefs.
Undercover Mac Brother

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 3:42 pm · Reply

I have the dock on the right side… I’m used to seeing hard drives, etc on the right side, so why not apps, etc. My life changed once I set a hot spot for expose in the top right hand corner (expose system preference). I put the mouse near my log in name and presto all my windows are visable. I LOVE THIS.
Mr. Marketer

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 4:16 pm · Reply

Apple can�t meet demand for computers (no demand is not real high – but we will see the real sales #s next week), therefore it does not want to stimulate business by advertising.
dazed + confused

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 4:51 pm · Reply

Thats easy. The genie effect is part of the dock, and the dock blows.
Mac Beth

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 5:06 pm · Reply

the genie is cute and i love the dock.

“im a genie in a bottle baby, u gotta rub me the right way.”
knowsbetter

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 5:53 pm · Reply

The dock does not blow. Everyone has preferences for how they like to set up the UI. I really find the dock convienient. I do turn off magnification and hiding though. Don’t like mouse targets to move. Plus I use TransparentDock to keep it anchored to the top left corner.

The Dock Rocks!
RWP

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 6:01 pm · Reply

The reason is simple: Because Apple’s advertising sucks. They have NEVER shown their interface to good advantage in their ads on TV. I guess they think the interface will become known by osmosis. Apple ads are apparently designed for Mac users. No wonder no one else knows about the OS. I give up.
USTommyMC

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 6:22 pm · Reply

Advertising has always been a sore subject for me about Apple. It seems that we’re the ones doing the advertising for Apple with our own Macs and we don’t even get paid for it. Apple commercials suck big time and there is nothing anyone can say that will say otherwise. Mac commercials are like inside jokes to us Mac users because we are the only ones who understand them. I have always said that I wish I could be Apple’s CEO for just 24 hours. I would have a dozen or so commercials in the works displaying OS X in a heart beat. But thats just me.
Lachlan Coles

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 7:01 pm · Reply

Contrary to popular opinion, the Genie effect does serve a purpose by showing where the window is minimizing to – ie. down there to the dock. For a new user to the Mac OS, this subtle pointer makes it easier to navigate the GUI. Long-time users often find the extra eye-candy unnecessary, but Apple has the wisdom to offer the option of turning most screen effects off.

Personally I think Apple would be better off pushing the ease of use factor, lack of viruses, adware, spyware (some computer users assume these problems affect all computers), and the wide variety of applications that work seamlessly – even with Windows’ environments.

Eye-candy does (to some) make a computer look more like a toy and helps to perpetuate the myth that Apple doesn’t make “real” computers.
trippah

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 7:49 pm · Reply

HAHA this is living proof of why Apple is as bad as Microsoft
anastasia beaverhausen

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 9:35 pm · Reply

To Peter above who was reminiscing about “suck”…
You can get it back with Tinkertool. You can set the minimizer effect to either “Genie”, “Suck In” or “Scale”.

I’m with Mac Beth, I love my dock but on the left hand side.
yankees suck

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 9:51 pm · Reply

i hate the genie thing, scale all the way
Zippy

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 10:16 pm · Reply

Look at the iPod ads, they don’t show anything about the interface, and that woud include iTunes. Though the first iPod ad and the animated poster one did briefly show the iPod interface at work.

Maybe Apple is waiting for Tiger, with Core Image, there will probably be much more of that usefull eye candy integrated into the OS. Things like the cool Dashboard ripple effect.
trippah

Thursday, October 7, 2004 - 11:08 pm · Reply

These features are wasting my CPU time and storage space. Don’t users have better things to do with computers?
Peter

Friday, October 8, 2004 - 1:02 am · Reply

“Oh and Peter rather than function keys for Expose’ you might try hot corners.”

Yeah, I know. But I end up hitting them accidentally. Guess I’m just too spastic.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Expos�. But I usually have to stop and think “How do I use this?” which keeps me from thinking about what I’m trying to do. So I just go to the Window menu and pull up the Window.

Actually, my favorite is CodeWarrior’s Minimize all windows–sucks all the code windows into the dock before running the app. I wish Xcode had that…
Mozfan

Friday, October 8, 2004 - 1:29 am · Reply

I like the dock.

I keep it hidden and small on the left side of my screen with magnification turned on.

I find that this lessens the chance of accidently engaging and drawing it out onto the desktop when using scroll bars (no wide screen yet).

I also like the way icons will bounce into the frame from their hiding place to get your attention when needed.

I switched to Macs earlier this year and without a doubt OS X is the most powerful, stable and attractive UI available. I had no idea working with a computer could be such a pleasure.

I got a friend to switch recently after showing him how well my Mac works and the “eye-candy” played a part. His thinking was that if they pay such attention to little things like minimizing a window, then the stuff underneath must be good too.

After just a few days, he is enjoying his new iBook and declares he will never go back.

~M
Hywel

Friday, October 8, 2004 - 4:42 am · Reply

The common criticism of eye candy is that it’s unnecessary. That it has no function. But the whole idea of a GUI is eye candy, using metaphors to access complex functions.

We should stop calling it eye candy, which is seen as negative. It’s visual feedback. It’s valuable information. The genie effect or the puff of smoke aren’t there to look cool, they’re there to inform you of the results of your actions and to tell you where that thing has gone.

So you may have meant to hit close, but without visual feedback, you might not realise that you hit minimise by accident.

This stuff may seem like surface glitz, but it does add to the overall experience.