MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Oct 22, 09 - 09:58 am Comment from: iPhoner

Didn't Netzero have this same lame approach to web browsing at one point? I had to look up at the date to make sure this wasn't April 1.

FAIL.

No way. This has to be a joke

Hey, if you want a sweet Mac at a netbook price, there's an App for that!

People hate ads, but seriously if you could get an iPod for $20 in exchange for watching one or two ads a day, I bet a lot of people would jump at that.

If Apple patents this... does that mean Microsoft would have to license that patent from Apple, if they wanted to do the same thing?

This sounds very un-Apple-esque . . .

wouldn't this fall under Steve's mantra of "we can't ship junk"?

it depends for how long the contract would run...

Oct 22, 09 - 10:10 am Comment from: 84 Mac Guy

For the people who would buy these ad-supported Apple products, their Genius Bar would be in the back of Walmart.

No, think magazines on the iTablet. Apple has been shopping a reading device to magazines, right?

Now imagine that you can get a "free" subscription to Sports Illustrated, Time, whatever, provided you put up with ads. And the ads won't be sidebars or popups that can be blocked with Pith Helmet etc. You will have to spend x amount of time on an ad page or interact with the ad somehow in return.

OR - you can pay for the magazine through iTunes, and read it without ads!! Either way, the magazine makes money - the death of free content. It's Rupert Murdoch's wet dream.

Slick.

Oct 22, 09 - 10:17 am Comment from: HMCIV

First Ad for every Mac: All your PC are belong to us!

Oct 22, 09 - 10:18 am Comment from: critic

"If Apple patents this... does that mean Microsoft would have to license that patent from Apple, if they wanted to do the same thing?"

Yes

"Either way, the magazine makes money - the death of free content. It's Rupert Murdoch's wet dream."

Also yes.

It's not being used for subsidized hardware, it's related to the new ability to purchase inside apps. It's a pre-emptive strike to get the patent on having the app control the screen while a purchase takes place.

It will primarily be used on the iPhone/touch but could extend to TV and the Mac's if they ever gain access to run the store Apps.

I can't wait to watch adds on my computer the whole day and pay attention to them too!

Sounds very Microsoftesque and 1984 and all that. But I suspect that the truth is it will be used rather more subtly in very much the way that 'I Get it Now' states. Its for the tablet to help you trial magazines and all sorts of content before you decide whether to subscribe. makes sense I use plenty of software that works in a similar way like Little Snitch where you can trial it or indeed use it for ever if you want a less than ideal experience, or at any time pay for that ultimate experience. With publishing the way it is it will be an ideal solution to the threat of going out of existence.

Oct 22, 09 - 10:29 am Comment from: critic

"And the ads won't be sidebars or popups that can be blocked with Pith Helmet etc."

I believe this would be the MDN administrator's wet dream.

Maybe Apple is patenting this so that other people can't do it.

Oct 22, 09 - 10:37 am Comment from: Predrag

Many here don't quite get it. Advertising is the lifeline of all industries. Getting the message to the consumers is what drives the economy and makes us individually rich. The interned allowed much more accurate advertising (so I no longer have to page through/fast forward through ads/commercials for Depends, or Nicorette, or lawn fertilizers). The point is, you will NOT buy a thing that you really need if you don't know it exists.

Apple is patenting by far the best method to bring the message from the manufacturer to the consumer. Each and every one of us who have enough money will always be able to buy an unsubsidised version of Apple's hardware product and enjoy uninterrupted performance. Those of us who cannot afford this (and would have otherwise never bought and Apple product because of that) will now be able to sacrifice some of their time in exchange for discounted (or free) hardware.

I can't possibly see what part of this is Microsoftian (MS actually never embedded ads in their products; PC makers are the ones installing "crapware", not MS).

And Apple will continue to "never ship junk". The product will still be the ultimate synergy of design and function. The content will only depend on how much you paid for that product. Presumably, the ads may eventually go away (once you paid off the up-front subsidy).

If Apple starts using in-product advertisements -- especially ones as intrusive as the diagrams in the article suggest -- Apple might as well start telling its customers to "...Bow to us. Bow to the technology company of slime, the technology company of filth, the technology company of putrescence. Boo! Boo! Rubbish! Filth! Slime! Muck! Boo! Boo!! Boo!!!"

Great, more ways for MDN to foist awful ads upon us. I like the site, but come on. It's about the worst for ads.

Awfully S I L E N T about this aren't ya MDN.

Well I won't be. THIS SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Oct 22, 09 - 10:44 am Comment from: breeze

A shot across Google's bow as Apple shows google that it can get advertising revenue too...

@horrific apple apologist AAPL Owner:

No, no people WON'T go for that! For da luv of gawd!!!!!!!!

Oct 22, 09 - 10:46 am Comment from: breeze

TO ALL THE WHINERS:

It's OPTIONAL... - IE: You don't have to accept advertising if you don't want it.

Oct 22, 09 - 10:48 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

NO fucking thane, Apple!!! Keep it.OR you're just getting scattershot patents to cover everything and not REALLY planning to deploy such a heinous and intrusive scheme that would even make Microsnot blush.

Perhaps this advertising thing would be an acceptable situation if Apple gave users a choice to have their purchase subsidized by in-product advertising or not. However, I seriously doubt that's what Apple has in mind. Knowing Apple, we'll even see this kind of in-product advertising scheme included in iPod/iPhone/Mac firmware updates, software updates for users of Apples software in Windows, etc.

Also, Predrag says "MS actually never embedded ads in their products..." That is a total lie! As someone who configures consumer-level Windows PCs as a significant portion of his living, I can tell you that "Anytime Upgrade", Microsoft trying to reset search/homepage settings during Windows Live software installation, and trial versions of Office are just some forms of Microsoftian advertising. To be fair, Apple engages in some similar practices (e.g. iWork trial software).

Oct 22, 09 - 10:52 am Comment from: untergeek

I'm in agreement with "I get it now."

I think that this is an extension of the "paid content/extra features" concept in iPhone Apps where you can get the app for free but pay to access other features or content. With this extension we're reading about here you either watch ads, or you use a micropayment system, fully established (iTunes Store) to buy-out of watching ads. It's a win-win scenario for device manufacturers (in this case, Apple) and content providers (magazines, newspapers, books, TV, movies, etc).

This could also be the big break that Apple TV has been waiting for. It'd be sort of like Hulu, but on any device you want (Tablet, iPhone, Apple TV, Desktop/Laptop computer, etc) and with more content than TV. This is a lot bigger than it sounds, even at first re-analysis. It truly could be industry shaking.

Scott is spot on. MDN is by far the most shit infested piece of crap ad spot on the internet. Even the fastest browsers are loaded up and turned into a hell induced pin wheel fest.

Rot in hell MDN.

Oct 22, 09 - 10:59 am Comment from: Predrag

Thinker:

You are confusing Microsoft with ordinary PC makers. When you buy Microsoft Windows (any kind), and install it on a virgin hard drive. NO crapware or advertising is there. No search engine reset, no MS Office Trialware, nothing.

If you subsequently DOWNLOAD free MS Live software, obviously there is a reason why it is free -- you'll have to see some ads with it, and MS will switch your search back to Live. But for s PAID MS product, they never dumped ads on you.

Hardware makers, on the other hand, are world champions in the number of crappy ads and software foisted upon unsuspecting people.

Oct 22, 09 - 11:07 am Comment from: Predrag

Nobody here bothered to read the FULL article, obviously, which explains such vitriol against the idea.

This is by far the BEST idea for incorporating advertising in a hardware/software product. If you are poor (or cheap), you can watch as many ads, as often as you want. If you aren't, you pay your money and the ads go away (and presumably, the advertising component of the software is completely purged from your system).

Example (for the myopic who don't get it): I buy my brand new iTablet for $300. I bring it home, set it up. I am now presented with two choices:

1. Set up the ad-serving application. This lets me watch ads in exchange for usage time;
2. Pay some money (say additional $500), and the ad-serving application and all its components are removed from my iTablet. I never get to see a single ad.

The poor (and the cheap) among use their time while waiting in a DMV line, or riding a bus, and watch ad after ad after ad, thereby buying themselves a lot of uninterrupted usage. They would also be allowed to buy specific chunks of time, if they didn't want to watch the scheduled ads (for example, I'm doing an iMovie edits, an message pops up, telling me I'm due for an ad; one button says "Watch ad", the other says "buy extra time"; I click the other button, it offers me choices (1hr, 2hr, 6hrs, 12hrs, full day); I do a one-click purchase, my Apple account is charged $10 for the full day and I can continue to work.

This method will get Apple hardware into the hands of folks that could otherwise never afford it. Can anyone explain to me why this is a bad idea?

Oct 22, 09 - 11:09 am Comment from: Predrag

That was really littered with bad English... Sorry folks, hopefully, the point comes across.

@ I get it now
I think that you have, in fact, got it.

Oct 22, 09 - 11:13 am Comment from: alansky

No matter how one describes the workings of such a plan, it sucks big time. The world is already up to its neck in the shit of rampant advertising. We need more advertising like we need a box of cyanide pills.

Oct 22, 09 - 11:16 am Comment from: Predrag

By the way, the patent was filed in April 2008 (a year and a half ago).

I wouldn't be surprised if the actual software is ready for an imminent release.

Wanna' bet the ads are "Obama The One Lord Forever?"

Or maybe: "Green is the New Red, Comrade World Citizen."

There's a reason the saying for "something overdone to the point of nausea" is: ad nauseam!

Seriously, what is Apple/Jobs thinking.

Oct 22, 09 - 11:20 am Comment from: alansky

P.S. Mind you, many people would jump at an opportunity like this. People are sheep. They already slurp up the slop on tv with gusto. What to do?

Oct 22, 09 - 11:21 am Comment from: papasmack

Well, it couldn't be more annoying than this website. I just love having to play avoid-the-popup with my mouse.

Oct 22, 09 - 11:21 am Comment from: breeze

@ Predrag: read the FULL article??? Understand???Comprehend???....Wow now there's a novel idea.

Oct 22, 09 - 11:25 am Comment from: Botvinnik

bad, bad idea.

Oct 22, 09 - 11:26 am Comment from: Predrag

breeze:

I know... Well, what can you expect?

Handsome Smitty

You will always be able to buy your hardware at normal, full price and never see a single "comrade world citizen" (or any other) ad (although, if you were cheap enough to buy the ad-supported version, you'd probably be getting those pick-up truck and penile enlargement ads)

Oct 22, 09 - 11:34 am Comment from: Predrag

alansky

We are up to our necks in this shit of rampant advertising because the ad business is still doing the "carpet bombing" method, blanketing masses with ads that interest very few of them.

This technology would allow an advertiser to specifically choose who will see their ad. If and advertiser can spend $100M on a campaign, they could buy themselves plenty of air time on TV, thereby annoying the hell out of millions of people who simply don't care for their retractable awning product (I would have no place to put one, as I live in an apartment), with perhaps only a few thousand people who would end up buying. Or, they could make sure their ad is actually SEEN by about a 100,000 selected folks who live in the southern states, have a house and a household income above $40k, and could presumably afford their retractable awning. Delivering their commercials using this patented method would ensure it is actually SEEN, and only by a fraction of the audience attacked via carpet-bombing campaign through national TV.

If this were the dominant method of advertising, we would all get to see significantly FEWER ads that would be much more interesting to us than the usual stuff we get to see now (viagra, Depends, Bud Lite, etc).

Oct 22, 09 - 11:35 am Comment from: breeze

What exactly is it about: USER CHOICE or PREFERENCE that you whiners don't get???

Oct 22, 09 - 11:38 am Comment from: DLMeyer

Is it possible that Apple wants to own the patent on this just to either prevent someone from using it or to profit when someone decides to pay the license fee?
Handsome Smitty already saw the penile enhancement ad, bought it, then discovered (too late) that it was a process that makes you so stupid you THINK you've been "enhanced".

Oct 22, 09 - 11:42 am Comment from: deepdish

Hey, it depends on how low the price on the hardware is.

Free AppleTV but you have to watch some ads, hey, I might bite.

$100 MacBook but I have to watch some ads, I might bite that too.

Oct 22, 09 - 11:54 am Comment from: CYxodus

Didn't we make fun of the Zune HD for doing this? I vote no on this. I want to use my stuff without jumping through hoops.

Hey! I can try that!

Send me a top 27 inch iMac fully loaded with everything.

They say a large screen promotes efficiency so maybe I wont notice the ads too much ......

Oct 22, 09 - 12:10 pm Comment from: breeze

@CYxodus - Opt out. Once. Just say no instead of ranting in public.

Oct 22, 09 - 12:11 pm Comment from: Brau

Hmm. Give it away "free", irritate them constantly until they pay. Sounds eerily familiar.

This patent is jawdroppingly stupid and beyond tasteless. It makes absolutely no sense coming from Apple, let alone Steve Jobs. This is exactly - EXACTLY - the kind of shit that would come out of the most perverted corners of Steve Ballmer's mind. So here's what I suspect:

It's a trap aimed at Microsoft.

Considering that, minus the subsidy part, the ZuneHD does exactly what this patend describes I'd say there's actually a precedent for this suspicion; MS and their fleet of copying machines happen to come out with something that's described in an Apple patent a short time later. Uncharacteristically, that something happens to be a ruinously bad idea. Said idea predictably leads to ruin(ZuneHD).

I think it makes for an at least somewhat plausible case, eh?

There is no way that this has anything to do with Apple.

"What's the catch? You'll have to endure a very complicated and savvy advertising scheme that makes sure that you're paying attention. If not, the system can freeze the user out until compliance is met,"

Geee... sounds like a Microsoft product.

No Thanks.

Don't people get enough of that crap from Microsoft already. Does Apple really need to join the rest of that crowd?

Oct 22, 09 - 12:52 pm Comment from: jtc

I dont get what people are bitching about with the ADs from this site... I dont get any.. and when I did it was just one AD when I first opened the site.