“Innovation” at M$
Have I mentioned John Gruber at Daring Fireball is a God? Well he is. Bow down chillins, he da man.
His post today smokes the Blue Meanies like an earthworm on a barbeque grill.
http://daringfireball.net/2006/12/microsoft_workgroup_manager_icon
Microsoft Rips Off Apple’s Workgroup Manager Icon?
Monday, 11 December 2006
- Go to this page on Microsoft.com for Vista Business edition.
- Click the “Buy†tab or “Buy Now†button. The page content changes, to reveal this icon:
- Go to this page on Apple.com for Mac OS X Server.
- Scroll down and observe this icon for Apple’s Workgroup Manager app:
- Go “Hmm…â€.
- Think of a snarky comment making fun of the fact that Microsoft can’t even copy an icon without screwing it up by resizing it.
(Thanks to astute DF reader Humberto Becerra for discovering this.)
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Once again, Microsoft underlines where the real genius behind their products comes from: Apple.
After twenty years more computer interfaces look like Apple’s Macintosh user interface not Microsoft MS-DOS.
Remember all those C:> commands? UGH! They were a major stumbling block in wider adoption of personal computers. While Xerox PARC created the look and feel, Apple established the first viable commercial gold standard for GUI.
Apple’s legacy can be seen in Mosaic, Netscape, Firefox as well as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. It can also be seen when you toggle around your cellphone.
Microsoft has tried to meet this challenge by hiring former Mac developers to work on Windows. It has carefully studied the iPod and come out with the Zune. Imitation is the sicerest form of flattery, but it is not innovation.
Of course there only so many ways to express an idea, it’s just that Apple got there first, again.