Apple patent application reveals ad-supported OS, desktop Armageddon

You know, a lot of patent applications are company attempts to guard against the future however it might play out. But sometimes they predict the product pipeline as did this application for what ultimately became Apple's new Magic Mouse. So seeing an Apple patent application for "Advertisement in Operating System" attributed to "Inventor" Steven Jobs himself is enough to send chills up the spine. The idea is to make the OS free or at a reduced cost, something Google knows a thing or two about. Unfortunately, the idea presented would offer "visual or audible" advertisements that "disables one or more functions while the advertisement is being presented." Ugh.

[Thanks, Mike]

[Joeyjoejoe Shabadoo Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:04AM]

The horror, the horror

[Prospero Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:17AM]

this has to be a joke...

[blitzkrieg Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:19AM]

I this one really weird. Then again, Apple makes tons of patents, and most of it never see daylight.

It shouldn't be long until fanboys like Detox and steveorevo come to Apple's defense.

[ImDaIllest Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:30AM]

well what do we have here! BWAHAHAHA... sorry i cant stop laughing, anyway look whos taking a page out of MS Zune's book huh, except its like a hundred times worse. i mean come on in the OS jeez, sucks for you apple folk... BWHAHAHAHA....
Almost as if they're shamelessly touting it by getting it patented... BWAHAHAHA....

[Heysoos Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:34AM]

'BWAHAHA'?

what the fuck is 'BWAHAHA'?

[ImDaIllest Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:38AM]

@heysoos

thats justice, sweet justice! and you feeling salty.

[albertocab Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:43AM]

You got to be f'ing kidding me. MAN, Honestly been an Apple user since 1989. Even spent 8k recently upgrading. But if this becomes reality, am out. I will never buy another Apple product again. This is bull crap. Apple stands to make more money in advertisements then it would selling their OS. It's really the only reason to do it. What greedy bastards? I don;t care if Apple was going bankrupt before Steve Jobs. F Jobs. At least back then Apple stood by their customers. I guess Apple forgot what kept them alive for the past 30 some years.

[Heysoos Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:49AM]

@imdalliest

Ah, that is gold. How embarrassing.

[hey buddy Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:53AM]

Alberto, really man... Part of what has helped them stay alive is their savvy patents, whether they use them or not. This is simply that: a patent on an idea. I doubt this will happen. But then again, Google started putting ads on Maps, so that sucks. If it happens I'll come back and copy-paste your comment.

[ImDaIllest Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:03AM]

@heysoos

yeah thats about right, you should be feeling embarrassed. oh, and stop stocking my comments, creep.

[Heysoos Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:11AM]

You got made to look like an idiot and took it as a win. Well done. Claps all round for the 13 year old who can use teh internetz.

[fais Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:14AM]

@ Vinillacide you sir are incorrect.

Muahahaha is expressing a laugh of maniacal nature (think Dr Evil) where as Bwahahaha is more of a bursting laughter (think spitting out your tea on your keyboard). The bursting nature of the Bwahahaha also justifies the capitals.

Therefore Bwahahaha is the corerect expression in this instance to express the hilarity of this situation.

[Michael Scrip Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:22AM]

Right... because OSX is the most expensive part of a Mac.

What's next? Those scams where you get a "free" computer if you agree to watch a certain amount of ads per day? Didn't those die in the 90s?

I'm sorry... if I'm looking to buy a new computer... I'm not even thinking about the cost of the OS.

[TehSilentWolf Posted Oct 23rd 2009 3:12AM]

@ alberto

I don't really think you'd need to leave apple, just pay for the OS rather than getting the free one.

I can't really see this being useful for apple, but for Widows it could be pretty good, like if someone needs an OS just for like a couple of weeks after building a new computer or something.

[ImDaIllest Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:30AM]

@Fais

I was about to look that up. Thank you kind sir!

@heysoos

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

@vanillacide

yes, and from the looks of it he sourced it from urban dictionary, nice source btw, NOT.
And FTW
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bwahaha

[Satz Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:36AM]

and some people here http://gizmodo.com/5377481/bloatfest-microsoft-office-starter-2010-edition-to-have-fcking-ads

were bitching about small ads on "FREE" MS Office starter edition

[Heysoos Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:46AM]

It says- in the very source you linked- that it is "stereotypical evil laughter". The capitals might have been justified once, but the entire construction of your comment makes you come across as a bumbling idiot.

[MarkAnderson Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:47AM]

You know, back in the 80's there was a guy called Clive Sinclair. He was a genius who revolutionized computing in the UK with first the ZX81 and then the Sinclair Spectrum. It sold millions and was rightly lauded as the popular choice (bear with me on this one C64 fans!). He could do no wrong, the world was at his feet and he was even knighted for his efforts.

He was untouchable.

And then he bought out the Sinclair C5 and ruined it all because you can obsessively focus on bad ideas as well as good ones.

Mr Jobs: I hope you're listening.

[ImDaIllest Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:53AM]

@satz

that article is one of the reasons i dont read gizmodo. I think they're more biased then engadget, not to mention liberal, just look at the title!

[Nick Meijer Posted Oct 22nd 2009 7:07AM]

Could you guys just stop freaking out already!? This is just a PATENT. There is no chance in hell that Apple is going to use this in their own OS. They're not dumb people.

[Joao Cagao Posted Oct 22nd 2009 7:16AM]

Maybe this wouldn't be for Apple's computers at all. Could be just a free OS for anyone with a PC to give it a test drive & see what OSX is all about, something you can easily uninstall and go back to Windows at any time. What would that do for the Mac market share in the long run? Not that I want any ads popping up on my screen anytime soon, just looking for the possible reason for it.

[JS Posted Oct 22nd 2009 7:35AM]

With more and more free shit, we're gonna end up with a pyramid scheme of ads. Eventually everything will be free until someone points out the emperor has no clothes. Ad supported cars, now that'll be cool. You can't change lanes or press the brakes before watching a relevant 30 second ad.

[Drey Posted Oct 22nd 2009 7:43AM]

@imdaillest

It's "stalking" Kid! Unless he's imposing on your rights with a piece of female attire!




BWAHAHAHAH!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2009 7:58AM]

Its not you guys, I just can't stop laughing at the NACHO CHEESE

[Heysoos Posted Oct 22nd 2009 8:09AM]

I'd say if you actually make the sound 'bwahaha' when you laugh a complete failure to grasp the english language is the least of your worries.

Oh, wait...

[Frankenstein Black Posted Oct 22nd 2009 9:30AM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8
"Again, who knew 25 years later they would become what they despised the most"...
by
Frank Black

[Jordan Posted Oct 22nd 2009 10:25AM]

HELL NO

[One Love Posted Oct 22nd 2009 10:51AM]

I hate my yellow teeth.

[Kamal Posted Oct 22nd 2009 11:24AM]

I am thinking they are gonna make it available for non-apple hardware and will only have ads on non-apply hardware, i.e. hackintoshes. People are doing it anyway, apple just wants to be able to make money off of it and perhaps give non-apple hardware a bad image.

[MrAffrox Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:16PM]

...or maybe they're doing this to keep other companies from implementing this crap, and keeping Google from doing it with their OS.

[pavelbure Posted Oct 23rd 2009 5:24PM]

this is nothing more than,"hey nobody thought of this, let's patent this."

[bjsguess Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:55PM]

Overcharge on the hardware by 2-3 times BUT we will hook you up with a sweet deal on the OS - saving you $129.

Genius idea.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:57PM]

No NO if apple made a car it
would only run on apple gas,
It would blow up the second the new apple car came
there would be no servicable parts,
The battery would be hidden in the frame of the car
the windsheild would get so scratched after one week you couldnt see through it
would use nonstandard tire sizes
any recall would be a new feature.
The radio would only work with I tunes

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 22nd 2009 3:47PM]

This doesn't mean they'll stop charging for it, though.

[davepermen Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:05AM]

and everyone would use the free to install adblock software :)

[3rdsun Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:47AM]

Linux is laughing at Apple's lame attempt to be free to the masses. Ad supported my ass

[ImDaIllest Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:49AM]

OR you can just pay and have no ads! but if you want to break a few rules and get it free, go right ahead, but that would be stealing though.

[Toreon Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:05AM]

Very interesting concept.

[hey buddy Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:44AM]

"Interesting" as in a "You've been called into the boss' office on the day they lay-off redundancies" sort of interesting!

Sounds horrible to me! "-Save File: brought to you by Axe Body Spray-"

[ImDaIllest Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:15AM]

whats is an interesting concept? Greed? nope not really its been around for quite some time now... im looking at you MS.

[Sirius Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:43AM]

The good thing is, now that Apple's patented it, no one else can use it to torture us!
Let's just hope Apple leaves this one in the "do later" tray forever...

[Ridgecity Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:06AM]

Ad supported? don't we already support the OS by buying their machines? so what does the Apple tax pays for?

[Apocalyptic 0n3 Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:47AM]

"The idea is to make the OS free or at a reduced cost"

Apple hating may be the cool thing to do, but at least read the article next time.

[CJ Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:50AM]

Yes, because if I pay thousands of dollars for hardware, I want to save 30 on the OS.

[hey buddy Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:57AM]

CJ - Or it could be a way to generate money if OS X wasn't locked to Apple hardware... See where this may be heading?

[MarkAnderson Posted Oct 22nd 2009 6:44AM]

Sure. Adverts in a OS.

Or just keep the Windows or Linux the box comes with.

Tough choice.

[Ryan Trevisol Posted Oct 22nd 2009 8:53AM]

Looks like I'll be skipping OS X 10.7

[mant43 Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:06AM]

hmmm

[OnAir Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:06AM]

oh my god.

[omegamale Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:07AM]

fair do's
you get what you pay for....