Microsoft is holding a short film competiton they are calling, “Thought Thieves.” From Microsoft’s web page:
Thought Thieves is about people stealing and profiting from your creation or innovation. Think about it: how would you feel if you saw your hard work being passed off as the property of someone else? What would you do?
We want to know!
Send us your short film on intellectual property theft by 1st July 2005 for your chance to win £2,000 worth of film and video equipment vouchers. And finalists will be invited to attend a special screening of their films and presentation ceremony in London.
More info here.
MacDailyNews Take: How would you feel if you saw your hard work being passed off as the property of someone else? Forget the film contest, why doesn’t Bill Gates just ask Steve Jobs? The first person to enter a screenshot of Apple’s Mac System 7 (circa 1990) desktop flipping horizontally and vertically, then morphing into Windows 95 should get an Oscar.
This is an interesting article: “Microsoft, Apple and Xerox – The History of the Graphical User Interface,” by David K. Every.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Ars Technica: Apple Computer ‘the most important of the graphical user interface pioneers’ – May 05, 2005
eWEEK Editor Coursey: Longhorn so far ‘looks shockingly like a Macintosh’ – April 25, 2005
Due in late 2006, many of Windows Longhorn’s features have been in Mac OS X since 2001 – April 25, 2005
Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Microsoft’s Longhorn: ‘They are shamelessly copying us’ – April 21, 2005
Microsoft’s Windows Longhorn will bear more than just a passing resemblance to Apple’s Mac OS X – April 15, 2005
Apple’s Schiller: Mac OS X Tiger ‘has created even more distance between us and Microsoft’ – April 13, 2005
Analyst: Tiger proves ‘Apple is light years ahead of Microsoft in developing PC operating systems’ – April 12, 2005
Silicon Valley: Apple CEO Steve Jobs previews ‘Longhorn’ – June 29, 2004
PC Magazine: Microsoft ‘Longhorn’ preview shows ‘an Apple look’ – May 06, 2004
Microsoft concerned that Longhorn’s look and feel will be copied if revealed too soon – August 25, 2003
Windows ‘Longhorn’ to add translucent windows that ripple and shrink by 2005 – May 19, 2003
ROTFLMAO!
Microsoft has unbelievable gall.
Brilliant illustration, MDN!
“creation and innovation”? Why is Microsoft helping Apple?
ha- ha- ha. .
in a related story …
OJ is hosting a “men who love their wives” competition with scott peterson.
WINNER GETS A SUPER SHUFFLE!
“Think about it: how would you feel if you saw your hard work being passed off as the property of someone else? What would you do? We want to know! “
Unbelievable gall all right.
Actually I suppose they WOULDN’T know. Can’t think of too many MS-original ideas that have been pilfered (or even worth pilfering).
bravo MDN! bravo!
wouldnt it be funny to send in a apple-m$ thing encoded in H.264 when they cant play it……for now..
like they would even let someone screen an animation in favor of apple. I don’t get m$, i never did. Someone should just make a 5min interview with Andersson/Netscape founder…let him tell what he thinks about intellectual theft. The GUI story is just one outof an embarrassing lot.
As an old-timer might say, the town hoar is preaching gospel.
For all they’ve done, the Redmonds should be called the RedHANDS.
“Thought thieves”…Yea, Microsoft should talk.
if software “pirates” are really “thought thieves” then does this make the BSA, RIAA, MPAA etc the “thought police”?
just curious.
MW: “anti” – heh
Is Apple any different? Think Konfabulator.
“Is Apple any different? Think Konfabulator.”
Think Desk Accessories. Circa 1984.
KA,
Bzzzzt! Try again. Konfabulator was far from an original idea – Apple did it first:
http://daringfireball.net/2004/07/konfab_confab
Innovations introduced or popularized by Apple with the original Macintosh:
A graphical user interface, icons, a desktop, etc.
• The use of a mouse or other pointing device in personal computing
• The “double click” and “click-and-drag” behaviors to perform actions with a pointing device
• WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) text and graphics editing
• Long file names, with whitespace and no file extension
• The 3.5″ hard-shelled floppy disk as a standard feature
• Audio as a standard feature, including a built-in audio-quality speaker
• Aesthetic and ergonomic industrial “All in One” design that reduced clutter
• Separation of a program’s code from its resources to allow localization, etc.
Innovations introduced or popularized with later Macintosh models or software:
• The PostScript laser printer
• Desktop publishing
• User programmability through HyperCard and AppleScript
• The SCSI interface (Mac Plus, 1986)
• Audio input/output as a standard feature (Mac IIsi & Mac LC, 1990)
• A CD-ROM drive as a standard feature (IIvx 900, 1992)
• A single desktop environment that may span multiple monitors
• Ethernet support as standard feature (Quadra 700 & 900, 1991)
• A modern RISC-based architecture in the form of the PowerPC processor, developed jointly by Apple, IBM and Motorola (Power Macintosh 6100, 1994)
• FireWire, also known as IEEE 1394, an Apple-developed standard also promoted by Sony under the name iLink (Blue and White G3, 1999)
• The abandonment of the floppy disk (original iMac, 1998)
• The first notable coloration of computer hardware, rebeling agaisnt the standard beige and gray shades that computers had used (including previous Macs), (original iMac, 1998)
• The first commercially available computer to rely primarily on USB for peripheral connection (original iMac, 1998)
• The first affordable DVD-R drive (“SuperDrive”, Power Mac G4, 2001)
• Flat-panel displays as a standard feature on a desktop (Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, 1997)
• First notebook computers with built-in pointing devices and rear-mounted keyboards (PowerBook 100 series, 1991)
• First notebook computer with dock/port replicator (PowerBook Duo, 1992)
• IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g wireless networking, branded AirPort and AirPort Extreme (also monikered as Wi-Fi), by Apple (original iBook, 1999, PowerBook G4, 2003, respectively)
• First wireless base station to have audio delivered to a stereo system or entertainment center using Wi-Fi (AirPort Express Base Station, 2004)
• First full-size notebook computer with widescreen display (PowerBook G4, 2001)
• First notebook computer with a 17-inch display (PowerBook G4, 2003)
• First notebook computer to have backlit optic fiber keyboard. Built-in light sensors automatically adjust keyboard illumination and display brightness based on available ambient light. (PowerBook G4, 2003)
• First 30-inch Display (June 2004)
• First notebook computer to support the dual-link DVI standard required to run the 30″ display (PowerBook G4, 2005)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Macintosh
I don’t think we can harp on any software company for “stealing” GUI ideas and stuff like that… ever notice how some movies seem like total rip offs of eachother? It is stupid, but not illegal.
Don’t yell at Microsoft for making their OS “look” like macintosh, yell at Microsoft for making their OS half-assed.
It’s like rain on your wedding day….
“Think about it: how would you feel if you saw your hard work being passed off as the property of someone else? What would you do?” …
Because we have NO IDEA how that would feel and we’re kinda curious.
from the entry form:
“Should I be selected as a finalist in this competition, I confirm the following:
7. I will formally licence on terms acceptable to Microsoft, all intellectual property rights
in my film and agree to waive all moral rights in relation to my film if requested to do
so.”
In addition to the absurdity already discussed, Microsoft reserves the right to take complete ownership of your short film on intellectual property theft.
Ah, Microsoft is holding a competition on someone making a documentary about Microsoft and its past, present and future business strategy
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Almost as ironic as the former head of the RIAA complaining about how Apple DRM has her “locked into” the iTMS.
Microsoft should host seminars on stealing intellectual property.
Magic word: thats, as in “Thats the most ridiculous idea I have heard in a long time”
2000 Pounds in vouchers. Typical M$. Can never relinquish any cash.
Thanks for the MacKido link. I don’t visit often – except to post one of his links. And I guess he’s too busy to move all his content to iGeek. Oh, well.
Someone with a lot more talent than I has to do one on the history of Microsoft.
Not only the stealing of the Apple GUI. But all of the intellectual property theft lawsuits that MS has lost or desparately settled through the years.
MDN, this is your ticket to all time fame. Someone’s go to do it, and do it right. The major media will pick it up like there is no tomorrow.
Sure, it would be a lot of work. The research piece is all there on web. Microsoft can’t hide from their past. Someone just has to make it a funny/visually appealing/great music.
Come on MDN and this awesome community. Someone with skills and talent gotta make this happen.
Can we add Disney to the movie.
The history of IP/copyright can be read for free, read “Free Culture”. It is a free download.
Windows Media Player?
Thought Theives?
XBOX 360?
Who comes up with this godawful names..?
Strangely enough, if you look in any dictionary for the word “irony” “Microsoft holds ‘Thought Thieves’ short film competition focusing on intellectual property theft” is used as an example.
just watch pirates of silicon valley
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Autobiographical ?
Bill watched “Roger and Me” and realized that there must be a few Michael Moore types out there who will be gunning for him soon enough. Think of this as a Trojan Horse that will bring many of them out of the woodwork. Gaining knowledge about your enemy is essential to planning a pre-emptive strike. Find out who they are, let them compete to figure out which are the primary threats, gather them all on the same airplane…
Draw your own conclusions.
You should all read this instead
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/gui.ars
Story made by Jeremy Reimer
The newest version of “thought thievery” is the new XBOX 360. It’s white polycarbonate in a smooth swoopy shape. It’s incredibly reminiscent of Mac iBooks.
It’s here: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000293041091/
MW: had, as in “had enough thievery?”
yea MS is a bunch of corporate whores, but you gotta admit that the XBox 360 is pretty damn cool. Can’t wait for Halo3.
speaking of the new Xbox… its confirmed that it runs on power PC chips, the same line of chips used in power macs, however these chips are said to run at 3.2 GHz….. does that mean its possible for the next power mac to run at 3.2 GHz?
Rain on your wedding day is not irony; it’s weather.
The whole idea of science is to build upon others ideas. Why should software be any different? So what if Microsoft took Apples ideas? So what if KDE gets ideas from Windows or Gnome gets ideas from OS X? Thats what drives the industry. If patents start preventing the copying of ideas, the industry will stagnate and die. Why is this acceptable in the software industry yet every other industry builds upon each other’s ideas?
Both Microsoft and Apple should be ashamed of how they act regarding “intellectual property”. If they didn’t take your code, they didn’t take your “intellectual property.” Grow up the both of you.
Death to all software patents!
thank you effword…no one understands irony in this country…see alanis morrisette’s “A Little Too Ironic” (or whatever the title is). there are at most 2 ironic things in that song, the rest is bad luck. sorry for the rant.
microsoft supoorting IP rights…now that’s ironic!
Yawn. Mac zealots rehearsing the same list of perceived injustices as has been chanted for years.
Change the record.
Does any of this make software/film/fashion/literary or any other piracy right?
Care to make an argument in defence of s/w piracy?
If not, then quit grousing.
“Rain on your wedding day is not irony; it’s weather.”
Now if it rained at your wedding shower, that would be irony.
“Rain on your wedding day is not irony; it’s weather.”
If you were marrying a weather forecaster and he/she picked the date.. now that would be ironic.
Jeff, open source is a great thing, but it doesn’t really apply here. If someone had created an x86 version of the Mac GUI and released it as freeware, I don’t think anyone would have complained. If Apple had sued, they would have been booed as villains. But it’s something else entirely to plagiarize someone’s else concept and sell it for a profit.
Early products that uses windows before Micro$oft in 1985: Xerox’s Star, Tandy’s DeskMate, VisiCorp’s VisiOn, Apple’s Lisa, Quarterdeck’s DesQ, IBM’s TopView, etc.
Consoles that were created before the Xbox: too many to list (f**king google it)!
It seems M$ has done little to innovate. Stop the BS!!
“Consoles that were created before the Xbox: too many to list (f**king google it)!
It seems M$ has done little to innovate. Stop the BS!!”
Yes, MS did not invent the gaming console, but then again, apple didn’t invent the personal computer.
Sure Apple made the first market-accepted practical GUI: Macintosh; but then again, MS made the first market-accepted practical Network for inter-console gaming: X-box Live.
You guys are misusing the word “innovate.” If you have TIGER open your dictionaries. “innovate” does not mean the same thing as “invent”
Apple innovated the iPod, they did not invent MP3 players. Are you going to say that Apple stole the idea?
Yes MS has some really shady business practices, but you are choosing really bad examples to make your argument. If you want to talk about stealing, talk about NetScape and IE, not Macintosh and Windows.
Actually, yes, Apple DID invent the personal computer. The Apple I was the first one that was programmable with a keyboard, and which the average person could buy, set up and use.
Anyone reading this ought to be made aware of some facts about Jeremy Reimer:
Jeremy Reimer doesn’t even have a single degree that is about the field of computer sciences or even a certification in comp. sci. fields (like MCSE).
He is utterly lacking professional/in-the-trenches experience in computer science as well.
Yet I see you cited Jeremy Reimer here as somekind of expert in the field of comp. sci.?
Research who it is you are citing for your own sake.
Making a ‘sidewalk-surgeon/quack’ out to be an expert in a particular field is just bad business.
I.E.-> Jeremy Reimer is just another wannabe poseur with no skills period in computer science, who merely scours wikipedia and other sources and spits back already known information.
This is intelligence? This is being an expert??
I know not: I could do the same myself and so could you other readers.
In other words, nothing fundamental or original exists in the lot of his ‘articles’ for arstechnica. This makes complete sense – he is not qualified to do otherwise.
(His ‘articles’ are mere high-school level termpapers @ best)
They are written by a charlatan named Jeremy Reimer posing as a computer expert.
(If this is hard to believe, ask Jeremy Reimer yourself if he has a degree or certification in the field of comp. sci., but more importantly if he has years of actual professional work experience in computer networking, programming, etc. in this field)
You will see he is nothing more than a wannabe trying to pull the wool over your eyes and come off as some sort of authority in this field when he is anything but that).
Jeremy Reimer’s just some dunce attempting to create the perception of being a noted authority in the field of computers, with no noted accomplishments in this field, other than writing articles for the playpen arstechnica because he is a forums member there.
You don’t see the likes of IBM, Microsoft, or any known/respected companies in the field of computers citing Jeremy Reimer do you? This is because they know better.
Reimer is completely lacking in education, professional experience, & skills is why and this is why he is only capable of being ‘published’ @ arstechnica. This ought to make you question their expertise & judgement as to who is an expert author as well!
That alone should make you think twice before citing him as somekind of expert.
Jeremy Reimer has no degree or certifications in computers and no professional hands on years to decades of experience in them either.
Jeremy Reimer was caught email harassing, impersonating, & bothering others online needlessly. That ended up having Jeremy Reimer’s website have portions removed and his friends that helped him in it (a Mr. Jay Little of Atlanta Ga. USA) had their websites removed in their entirety. See here for that:
http://www.windowsitpro.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=41095&cpage=212#feedbackAnchor
Also, others from educational institutions where actual professional journalism & writing are taught, are questioning Jeremy Reimer’s validity & credibility as a writer, period, here:
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/node/933
All Reimer does is spit back what others wrote already anyhow. He is an ambulance chaser at best. A mere “hack” reporter.
Jeremy Reimer and his friends were also caught here:
http://www.windowsitpro.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=41095&cpage=213#feedbackAnchor
Posting as others (i.e. same person posting under multiple names/guises/nicks/handles) along with his friend Jay Little above to “support one another” when they were found SO technically inacurrate, they were laughed off that site and both of them outright left & that was after law enforcement were called on them both. Windows IT Pro is a widely read publication in the field of computers.