Apple takes a hint from north korea

Link:http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2009/10/apple-prepares-to-rock-the-market-with-hardware-subsidizing-program.html
Apple have patented a new product, and this one has me pissed off and thinking that Bill Gates isn't so bad after all. According to these fanboys this new innovation will:

Apple can further determine whether a user pays attention to the advertisement. The determination can include performing, while the advertisement is presented, an operation that urges the user to respond; and detecting whether the user responds to the performed operation. If the response is inappropriate or nonexistent, the system will go into lock down mode in some form or other until the user complies. In the case of an iPod, the sound could be disconnected rendering it useless until compliance is met. For the iPhone, no calls will be able to be made or received.

In the case of a desktop or notebook, the UI and its components (e.g., menu bars, icons, etc.) may be faded, darkened, brightened, blurred, distorted or otherwise visually modified during the initial state (or while the advertisement is being presented) so as to emphasize that the desktop UI is temporarily inactive.

You happily typing an email to an internet pal about the merits of cabbages, then "BING!" an offer comes in for party poker! Horay! Ack... click 'X'... it won't go... it won't go... it won't go... until you pass some kind of "test" which proves that you have read and considered party poker most carefully.

Ohh but it gets worse....

n some implementations where the computer device is an iPhone or iPod, the user may be prompted to press a certain button or keypad key in order to confirm that they are paying attention to the ads being presented. In one implementation, the approaches for verifying user presence can be made progressively more aggressive if the user has failed a previous test. For example, after the user fails the test the first time, the subsequent tests can be made to appear more frequently or at varying times. As another example, the test(s) can be made more subtle so as to render them more difficult to perceive, such as by reducing the size of a message box on the screen, or by making an audio prompt more similar to the advertisement in which it is inserted. If the user fails the test in step 314 the method 300 can perform step 310 over again; that is, the entire advertisement can be played again while the operating system maintains the function(s) in a disabled state.

...that's right folks, fail the test and you will have to re-sit it. Haven't sufficiently read up on the exciting offers offered by 'tit-bits.com'? Expect more "agressive" harassment on a device you have paid for.

Ohhh but that isn't all, there is a way to potentially avoid all this. Simply opt out of ads. By giving Steve Jobs even more money for his gold plated cruise ship fund...

In this step, it is determined whether the user chooses to pre-buy usage time. For example, the user may volunteer to watch the presentation of additional advertising content in order to accrue time extension credits. In another example, the user may have an option to pay a fee in exchange for the temporary or permanent advertisement-free use of the computer device. If the user chooses to pre-buy time, then the extra time is granted at step 312. Otherwise, if the user opts not to pre-buy time, then the method repeats at step 304. (All this text has been copied from Escapistmagazine.com. Thanks to cuddly tomato for the original story)

This is why i'm sticking with microsoft, they actually let me choose if i want to watch ads. They're also less likely to try to take control of the computers i buy from them.

agh, that's too much reading. You are turning into DJ!

Wait, you think sitting down and reading something for like a minute is hard? You have the attention span of a gold fish... And then i'm being generous.

Agreed ^ LOL

But man, that totally sucks!

Thank god I didn't get an Ipod!

I bought a second-hand iPod shuffle. Let's see them try to put adverts on that!

Shemuel wrote:I bought a second-hand iPod shuffle. Let's see them try to put adverts on that!

Well, they could make the ads with sound

...face...palm.....x5.........

never buying anything apple again.

Down with DRM

...and this is why you don't buy things from the company that made Macs.

What if they're big macs?

Darkjedi wrote:What if they're big macs?

Rofl, but no...

Anyways, its only for subsidiated devices... Instead of paying 1000€ for a macbook, you would only pay 400€ (p.e), being the rest paid by the ads you suffer...

Read that part, thingy?

That's why I'll NEVER buy a mac.


I'm Steve Jobs, and I'm planning to take over the world....