This is something that I, as a long-time Mac user who grew up in the 1980's, never knew. The parent company for The Beatles of the 60's is calld Apple Corps... and apparently was the inspiration for the name of Apple Computer, since Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are big fans of The Beatles.
And now, Apple Computer is getting sued for the third time by Apple Corps for trademark infringement. The "fuck"?
Okay, I can understand the legalese of the argument, and especially the precedents of the past two cases. By the letter of the law, it seems very straightforward.
But since when did The Beatles ever rely on the name of their company as the means of marketing their music? I sure as hell have never heard of that before today. Can there REALLY be that much confusion between a group of sixties has-been technophobes (yes, I do enjoy their music when it's on the radio) and an electronics company that makes the Macintosh computer?
Too bad the outcome is basically predetermined since someone got to trademark a common name like "Apple"... And that second lawsuit from the late 80's makes the least sense... having a computer that can play music recordings is a long way from entering the music business! Creating and recording music is a long way from making equipment that can play recordings of it. If Steve Jobs starts advertising a New Age rock group called The Roaches, that's when I'd start getting worried. Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"If Steve Jobs starts advertising a New Age rock group called The Roaches, that's when I'd start getting worried."
Of course, "the Beatles" was simply a rip-off of "the Crickets", anyway.
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
I believe we are not taking into consideration The Rutles.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I'm more interested in how a 53-year old man learned to say "The "fuck"?" so fast. Unless... ;.)
Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :
Kids say the stupidest things. Homer J. Simpson
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
Unless it's MinutiaeMan who's posting and not MountainMan.
Still, you can't be very into the Beatles if you've not heard of Apple. As I recall, they had a Apple store and if you've seen their later stuff on vinyl you would have seen that they have a picture of an apple in the center.
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
Do you think all my beatles stuff is worth more money now. Controversy can increase the value of that sort of thing. I've got a few rare items that could be worth putting on ebay but I like to hang on to that sort of thing. I don't know who some of you guys have had problems with in the past but all the paranoia about identity has afectted the whole process of comunication here. Since I'm already working under a disadvantage this just made a small thing a big deal that it never had to be. That and the fact that vulgarity in a public place dosen't set well with some people. The other MM probably understands that better than most. He appears to be one who studies things deeply and asks questions rather than jumping to conclusions.PS I once cussed out a non com so bad he burst into tears and collapsed. So the use of foul language is not something strange to me. Public places though, now thats a different story.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
NOW I know who he reminds me of! The character of Mr. Steinbrunner (sp?) as played by Larry David (I think) in Seinfeld. 8)
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
Still watching too much TV I see.
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
At least he can.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: Can there REALLY be that much confusion between a group of sixties has-been technophobes (yes, I do enjoy their music when it's on the radio)...
Most Controversial Statement Ever!
But, er, the Beatles were technophobes? Buh?
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Well, the Beatles are technophobes now, from what I've heard -- it took them years before they consented to the sale of their music on CD's rather than cassettes, and they still refuse to even consider the possibility of including their work in any online music store (not just the iTunes store). Yeah, a bit of an exaggeration, but appropriate considering they're shooting themselves in the foot with respect to sales of their work.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Well, they are approaching retirement age, after all.
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mountain Man: PS I once cussed out a non com so bad he burst into tears and collapsed. So the use of foul language is not something strange to me. Public places though, now thats a different story.
Whats with this elitist superiority thing? It seems like in every post you seem to add in some kind of story to brag about. Is it supposed to impress us or something?
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
MinutiaeMan, most of the classic Beatle tunes were written by Lennon and McCartney and I don't think that Paul controls the songs anymore and hasn't for some time.
To be honest, I'm not really sure who has control over the songs for purposes of online music.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
As I understand things, Jackson and Sony each effectively own half of the rights. Jackson used his half as collateral on a loan he took out from Sony that he has no hope of repaying, so eventually Sony will own the whole shooting match.
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
Last I heard about them in the news was when George and his wife beat up some young punk that broke in their house. George got stabbed. He and his wife put the punk in a coma. They have a pretty good Beetles site on the web. It might be worth looking at. Some of the info may be there.
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
You obviously completely missed the news that George Harrison died then...
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
Well I really thought he would make it. That sucks. I don't know how I could have missed hearing about that. It's been a long while back. And so much crap in the news that I just quit watching at all for a while. Did he die from the attack or something else? PS never mind I'll look it up myself.
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
He died November 29th, 2001 from complications of cancer.
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
Well the big C has taken far to many good people. At least that punk did not kill him. That really would have been too much after what happened to John Lennon.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Why, in my day, we pressed wax records at the watermill for five cents an hour!
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
So you live in albania, and that must have been last week. Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Mountie said: "PS I once cussed out a non com so bad he burst into tears and collapsed. So the use of foul language is not something strange to me. Public places though, now thats a different story."
OMG, is this Cliff Yablonski I'm hearing? What an honor!
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
Yeah I caught that myself. I didn't change it. just waited to see how long it would take for you to catch it. Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
What was that really huge thing that smashed up Balin's Tomb before it got an arrow in the mouth in LOTR again?
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
In ancient mythology it was called "JO MAHMA"
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
If you are fifty, I will eat my hat.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
If you're older than 21, I will eat your hat.
Posted by CaptainMike20X6 (Member # 709) on :
if you are younger than 19 i will eat your...
(girls only)
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
I am forty!
Also, it is okay to have sex with people who aren't children.
Maybe the nerds don't know this.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
You are not forty. Impossible, I say!
I'd older than Christ at 30 years and three months! Jeeez...I'm already a third past my guarenteed lifespan (baring Death by Misadventure). Depressing.
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
I really should switch from cryptography to artifical intelligence one of these days...
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
George Harrisons guitar was auctioned off on saturday. The winning bid was $434,750. I Guess the Beatles still have a few fans out there.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
That explains a few things.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Oh, I know they've still got fans -- like I said in my original post, I do enjoy listening to their music if it's on the radio or if my parents play it in the car during our long trips up to New York (or elsewhere).
My issue is, though, just how many people know (or care) that their company's label name is "Apple."
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
Trademarks are very important in business. The public is easily confused when different organizations have the same name. Bad business practise by one organization then reflects badly on the other and damages their reputation and cuts into their profits. Changing one letter in the name would solve the legal issue. Change the name to "APPLES COMPUTERS"
[ September 16, 2003, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: Mountain Man ]
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Cryptography! The NSA crypto museum is high up on my list of places to visit. Not that I have ever visited any place. I cannot even solve the morning jumble, though.
Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
It will tell you all you need to get started in cryptography.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Gosh, wow!
Cryptography is dependant upon numbers. One early people who used numbers were the Mayans. A good way to learn about the Mayans is to go to Guatemala. Posted by Mountain Man (Member # 1114) on :
When you mentioned the morning jumble I thought you meant the Newspaper Cryptograms that are based on letter substitution codes. Thats what 'The Gold Bug' deals with. The principles are probably similar to the Number puzzles that I guess you meant. Poe went to West Point. He dropped out but I guess he learned a little about decoding Cryptograms there. The story is very interesting. All Poe's stories are. http://www.planetmike.com/crypto/
[ September 18, 2003, 12:12 AM: Message edited by: Mountain Man ]
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Actually, there's a very obscure British comic that featurerd these little creatures that spoke in a language represented by made-up letter characters. But it was just transposed, so if you worked out what each letter's analogue was you could understand what they were saying. So, I used thr system as described in "The Gold Bug" and it worked perfectly!
Turned out there's one frame I missed in which a charcter reads out a sight-test card in English and one of the LHCs (they were called "Little Happy Creatures") does the same, providing a rosetta stone. But my way was much cleverer. 8)
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