Originally posted by Stevie BM@Jul 1 2004, 08:27 PMFor anyone who's interested, and hasn't already seen it, there's a superb article on Daring Fireball which basically debunks all of the "Apple ripped off/screwed Konfabulator" claims...
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Would you beleive the opinions of one article and take them as fact?
Originally posted by alilm+Jul 8 2004, 12:57 AM-->QUOTE(alilm @ Jul 8 2004, 12:57 AM)Apple were far from smart by making such an arrogant move. Theyre basically telling developers, "Come develop for OSX, and if we like your idea we'll take it and integrate it into the shell"While I dont feel that the guys at Konfabulator have much grounds to complain about, you can bet alot of smaller developers will think twice before releasing their next big OSX project.
Moreover, I think Konfabulator will win out of this anyway, by expanding onto the windows platform theyre gonna target alot more end users and Konfabulator already has hundreds of beautiful widgets for it.
Perhaps Apple should have remembered that if it ain't broke, dont fix it.
EDIT:
I think perhaps what is so frustrating out of this is that Apple are basically trying to bankrupt the Konfab guys which is lame for such a big company with inferior software.
~alilm
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So Apple shouldn't step on the toes of developers? Even when they can do a better job? Or should they be paying to use "ideas"? Can you name another company that does that?
Konfabulator has only done so well because before recently it was a more Shareware application. Now they're making people pay to simple use it (unless you want to have a nice ugly window remind you 24/7). If they do the same thing with the Windows port, then I doubt it's going to be such a success. Especially with free options (such as freely developed Applications released here at A-S or DesktopX and such).
‘Konfab. are pissed off because Apple are going to slap them down', to quote a friend. Konfab. developers should be working on new things to bring to it. It's pretty lame to say "Oh my God! Apple are doing their own take on Widgets! All is lost!", where would half the tech industry be if everyone did that every time someone implemented something better than someone else?
As said in that article; 'Dashboard is the modern day equivalent of Desk Accessories' and is a hell of a lot easier to develop for than Konfabulator.
So Apple shouldn't step on the toes of developers? Even when they can do a better job? Or should they be paying to use "ideas"? Can you name another company that does that?
Well, for a start I don't think Dashboard is a better application at the moment, simply because they have about 4 widgets compared to Konfab's hundreds.
Though it may seem odd to you, people do actually pay for good software. At the moment on the Windows platform there is nothing that rivals Konfabulator because nothing has the amount of Widgets available like Konfab. While Kapsules comes close, it doesnt have a large enough community behind it to support the great app with more widgets.
‘Konfab. are pissed off because Apple are going to slap them down', to quote a friend. Konfab. developers should be working on new things to bring to it. It's pretty lame to say "Oh my God! Apple are doing their own take on Widgets! All is lost!", where would half the tech industry be if everyone did that every time someone implemented something better than someone else?
Thats all well and good but Im sure it wouldnt be beyond Apple to steal any of Konfabulators new ideas, if theyre innovative enough, in that case, why should the devs at Konfab develop at all? If theyre guarenteed to be copied by a free program.
As said in that article; 'Dashboard is the modern day equivalent of Desk Accessories' and is a hell of a lot easier to develop for than Konfabulator.
False. They're almost exactly the same to develop for, they both use Javascript.
As I said, Konfabulator shouldn't be whining about this too much, but Apple should stop trying to appear as the 'Redmond, start your photocopiers' (read innovative) company they are trying to project.
I'll be brief because I'm lazy. :6
Originally posted by alilm+Jul 8 2004, 10:19 AM-->QUOTE(alilm @ Jul 8 2004, 10:19 AM)Well, for a start I don't think Dashboard is a better application at the moment, simply because they have about 4 widgets compared to Konfab's hundreds.• On the Tiger Preview page it does in fact state that the widgets/gadgets are 'under work'; also the Developer copy (from which the leaked stuff has come from (duh)) doesn't have all the widgets, and that's only so far.
• Tiger isn't out for another 6-12 months, developers will be working towards gadgets for Dashboard in the meantime. They'll be a good selection by release, I'm sure.
Originally posted by alilm@Jul 8 2004, 10:19 AMThough it may seem odd to you, people do actually pay for good software. At the moment on the Windows platform there is nothing that rivals Konfabulator because nothing has the amount of Widgets available like Konfab.
• Is that to imply I don't pay for software? I've bought more shareware software for my Mac than I most probably bought in two years on my PC. I've bought from Realmac Software, Unsanity (on three occassions) and many others. I'm heavily leaning on buying a license for Acquisiton, Comictastic and Transmit - because they all do a wonderful job and are great apps. But I wouldn't pay $25 for Konfabulator, I'd probably be more sympathetic if they offered a nicer "trial." Instead of reminding you every time you glance at your screen it's unlicensed.
• Quality, not quantity. Let's not forget there are dozens of similar looking widgets for Konfab. that do exactly the same thing. Some are not well done, some are useless. For simple things; I'd rather use Stattoo (which I do for Time and two HDD free/used space).
Originally posted by alilm@Jul 8 2004, 10:19 AMWhile Kapsules comes close, it doesnt have a large enough community behind it to support the great app with more widgets.
Thats all well and good but Im sure it wouldnt be beyond Apple to steal any of Konfabulators new ideas, if theyre innovative enough, in that case, why should the devs at Konfab develop at all? If theyre guarenteed to be copied by a free program.
• Then copyright these 'innovative' ideas, and sue, or deal with it. I'm sorry but it's a dog-eat-dog world, people, whoever, are going to steal your idea at some point. Yes it is terrible, but that isn't the point here because Apple did not steal Konfabulator's ideas. It's the same Genre, but not the same thing.
Originally posted by alilm@Jul 8 2004, 10:19 AMFalse. They're almost exactly the same to develop for, they both use Javascript.
Correction; Konfab. uses Javascript. Dashboard uses it's Webcore (forgive me if that's the wrong name), therefore Dashboard Gadgets can use HTML, CSS, Javascript, and anything else that can be viewed in an internet browser.
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