| Home > Technology > Did the now-sued Apple rumour sites prevent Apple Inc.'s early entry into the Podcast market? |
| Did the now-sued Apple rumour sites prevent Apple Inc.'s early entry into the Podcast market? | | Date Created: 14 Mar, 2005, 08:14 AM |
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The enormous interest in how the Californian court is dealing with Think Secret and others' publication of alleged "Trade Secrets", and Apple's pursuit of alleged breakers of internal NDAs, has likely stunned many.
Some are stunned that Apple would continue to pursue these sites, citing bad PR karma.
Moreover, first-tier news gatherers and publishers such as the New York Times have offered extensive coverage, including the question of what makes the difference between a blogger and a journalist.
Coverage by others has bypassed that discussion and its implications for the US Constitution's Amendments, and focussed more on the alleged breaking of laws regarding the protection of "Trade Secrets".
I recall very clearly the beginnings of this storm, at least as it relates to the Asteroid story.
On November 24, 2004, I sent a colleague a jpg from the Powerpage homepage which showed an artist's rendition of the Asteroid breakout box, complete with rear view connectivity slots. (See part of it, above).
It appeared to include an iPod as part of the mixing panel. Given the efforts we are hearing from various podsquadders in cobbling together a simple resource for local and portable podcast creation, it is possible that this breakout box may have offered a very simple and relatively inexpensive solution. Those of us who have stayed with Apple through thick and thin would have expected Apple to be quick out of the blocks with such a device, and associated software.
If it had gone ahead it may have offered other creative types solutions or inspiration. Who knows? And who knows if the published rumours that its production was halted due to poor implementation are true or not?
What seems clear to me is that it may be true that podcasting was well and truly on Apple radar early in the process, in contrast to the many who whined that Apple was ignoring the "movement."
I was concerned that many of those I expected would be "in the know" with regard to how Apple operates seemed to get it so wrong, especially after the release of the iPod Shuffle two months ago. Their "podcentric" views, while illustrative of an eagerness to see a new medium be recognised, derided Apple for ignoring the growth spurt podcasting was undergoing.
I blogged about it here, in a blog entry entitled "Podcasters: Curb your whining about the Shuffle and taking a podcast-centric view of the world" (January 15, 2005) and offer a quote of my own which concluded the entry:
"Nothing will divide the podcast community faster that seeing some people make real money out of podcasting, the spectre of losing its amateur fun status, and creating multiple levels of haves and have-nots. Those who have the smarts to make doh from this I wish good luck and good fortune, and hopefully you'll pave the way ahead for other unrecognised talents to find their place in a professional podcast universe.
When such a universe develops sufficiently, such that Apple can see further growth for its iPod platform, you bet they'll leap in with legendary innovation. The models are there with iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD and Garageband, such that Apple caught the digital DIY wave early. The big Waimea Bay-style wave of podcasting is still developing and not ready for Apple to turn its board around and surf in to the shoreline yet.
When it does watch the Rios and iRivers of the world try to keep up. They'll need more than just a cute surfboard and knowing that water is wet."
I have to stop and think whether Asteroid was that surfboard. Did Apple see the podcast phenomenon earlier than most give credit for, given that discussions about Asteroid reached a peak in November 2004, just three months after Adam Curry's first podcasts and about five months after Dave Winer's audio-delivered Morning Coffee Notes. Which suggests Apple had been working on Asteroid for quite some time.
This leads to an intriguing new spin on those who lambast Apple for denying free speech. Is it ironically possible that Apple was indeed making efforts for more free speech via a device which makes podcasting easier, together with the likelihood of new software, giving Apple its traditional "whole widget" approach?
I still have the jpeg of the Powerpage illustration of the Asteroid mixing panel, which was was initially published at this address: http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/powerpage.woa/wa/story?newsID=12721
(Link included for reference: it now links to the current Powerpage listsing).
Did the publication of the Asteroid information - I am unsure of whether I ought to republish the complete illustration for those who never got to see it, and for whom the Google archive no longer works - set back Apple's entry into the podcast industry, as it can now be referred to, judging by the commercial startups I am reading about on podcast discussion lists?
I'm sorry if this blog entry muddies the waters, but my intuition on this one tells me - and it has for some time - that we are missing some essential elements of the story, given the unusual vehemence with which Apple is going after the rumour sites in question. Is it possible that Apple saw the podcast business early, and had the rug taken from under its feet, something that would get up Steve Jobs' nose big-time?
Given how Apple prides itself on delivering to amateurs applications to help them create like professionals, an Asteroid breakout box would have been a natural extension to that commercial philosophy.
Beaten to the punch with alleged leaked trade secrets in breach of NDAs, Apple has sent some messages now - some clear and direct, and some more subtle... and no doubt there are more to come.
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