“Recently, Apple announced Mac OS X 10.4, dubbed Tiger. Though it seems awesome to me, it shocked many by introducing a feature called Dashboard, which is basically a better-integrated, more efficient version of the shareware application Konfabulator, though it still bears a striking resemblance. People have pointed out the differences, expressed sympathy for Arlo, the programmer, and expressed apathy as well,” Dan Grover writes on DanGrover.com.
“In any case, I thought it would be fun to write a song parody, in the fashion of David Pogue, about the whole controversy. To my knowledge, Arlo wasn’t actually at WWDC (nor was I), but it made for an entertaining song. Enjoy,” Grover writes.
Read and hear the song here.
MacDailyNews Take: We liked Konfabulator (until it broke our MacDailyNews Widget – they’ve promised to have it fixed in version 1.7.1, due “soon”), but found it a somewhat “messy” implementation. We ended up not using Konfabulator as much as we initially thought we would because it littered our desktop and our frequent switches between monitors and monitor-spanning with our PowerBooks made things “messy.” We like Apple’s approach better, and it seems a lighter app from a resource standpoint than Konfabulator, from what we’ve seen at WWDC. As to whether Apple “stole” it we’ll leave it to you to decide, but read this Daring Fireball article first.
Can I get a refund on Konfabulator when Tiger is released?
There is no controversy in the minds of those that have no axe to grind against Apple anyway (unlike Arlo Rose who has had his run-ins with Apple before). The Daring Fireball article bears all of the facts out and is an outstanding read.
Sure, but you’ll pay 129 for apples version…Mwhahahaha
Yeah for US$129, all you get with ‘Tiger’ is Dashboard. You get nothing else. Nothing else at all.
Hmm.. MDN did not mention me 🙁 I did send that link to that Daring Fireball article
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Well go and see it yourself it really sets the record straight.
I sung to this thing this morning, somewhat out of tune and out of time (D’OH), but it was funny to say the least.
As far as my sympathy goes, after reading this;
http://daringfireball.net/2004/06/dashboard_vs_konfabulator
I am now convinced that this whole argument is nothing more than an ambulance chaser saga and that the Konfab guys have nothing really to fuss about. READ THE ARTICLE TO SEE WHY!
Anyways, if Apple was inspired by Konfabulator in anyway, they should have acknowledged it during the Keynote and then add their 2 cents to how and why their Dashboard is different and how it makes sense from an engineering point of view.
I’m over it now. The Konfab guys might be bringing this thing to Windows (as announced last year) they’ll be disappointed again once Longhorn arrives!
DudeMac: that is IF Longhorn ever arrives…
“Look and feel” daring fuzzball (blah blah blah).
DudeMac: that is IF Longhorn ever arrives…
TRUE, that cow may never come home
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I stopped using Konfab for the same reasons MDN did… plus it’s insanely heavy on resources.
Even after Dash debuts, I doubt I’ll use it. Widgets/gadgets/applets (whatever), while sometimes useful, become clutter real fast.
“Look and feel”
If apps conform to the Human Interface Guidelines and are built with the Cocoa frameworks, they’ll all have a similar “look and feel”. After reading the Daring Fireball piece, Arlo doesn’t have a viable argument in my opinion, but is understandably upset because Dashboard is a Konfabulator-killer.
Apart from which, if what I understand about the technology is accurate, that Dashboard widgets are basically web pages (constructed with HTML, CSS and JavaScript), then Dashboard has a ready-made developer community (web developers). Konfabulator really doesn’t stand a chance on OS X any more.
“Sure, but you’ll pay 129 for apples version”
NoNO,
Are you just trolling or are you really that dense? Or are you saying that for $129 all I’ll get is Dashboard?
“MDN did not mention me 🙁 I did send that link to that Daring Fireball article
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Finland,
The Daring Fireball piece was discussed last night at the end of the original MDN thread about the Konfabulator/Dashboard controversy. I was originally supportive of Arlo’s position until I read it and had my “dawn breaks over marblehead” epiphany. John Gruber lays out a persuasive and convincing case that Apple did not plagiarize Konfabulator.
>>We liked Konfabulator (until it broke our MacDailyNews Widget – they’ve promised to have it fixed in version 1.7.1, due “soon”), but found it a somewhat “messy” implementation. <<
That’s what happened. I was wondering. I upgraded to Konfabulator 1.7 and all of a sudden no MacDailyNews. I figured it was a bug on my part since I use an adaption of RSS news, that pulls down from MacDailyNews, Slashdot, and the New York Times. It screwed up my New York Times news as well, but at least I can see the titles, just can’t click on them anymore. Glad it wasn’t just me.
DudeMac: that is IF Longhorn ever arrives…
TRUE, that cow may never come home
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I heard a tiger ate that steer.
“Arlo�s been around for a while now,
With Greg he made Kaleidoscope.
Then he worked at Apple, and then got laid off,
But still managed to find some hope.”
That explains it – IF you’ve worked for Apple. They have a form where whatever you come up with (to a certain date) is theirs. You have to sign it to work for them. Maybe the ‘Widgets’ idea was made then, and Apple has a legal hold on the technology . . . just my 2 cents
I’ve been using the Undercover News widget to get MacDailyNews instead of the MDN widget. You can add and/or change RSS feeds AND it disappears if you’ve read everything and reappears when a new story is posted. Never had any problem with it — unlike MDN widget….