I don't know if you remember them, but Apple used to have a framework similar to Konfabulator and you could access things within that framework from the Apple menu: Desk Accessories! In my opinion, Konfabulator's developers simply revamped the Desk Accessory idea for Mac OS X, and should not feel bad that Apple is doing the same. Once we had System 7 with its multitasking, desk accessories were just lumped in with all other applications, and the old Apple menu was expanded to include anything you wanted. The folks making Konfabulator (and now Dashboard) realized that Desk Accessories were actually quite useful because they brought common tools all into one spot that could be accessed quickly from anywhere. They could even have been described as "widgets" that you could use within the desk accessory framework, and developers could make their own desk accessories. Apple didn't complain when Konfabulator stole the Desk Accessories from them, and Konfabulator's developers shouldn't be upset now that Apple has brought Desk Accessories back into their OS after years of absence... even if they did probably get the idea to bring them back by seeing Konfabulator.

Posted by: Matthew Smith at June 29, 2004 04:20 PM

Konfabulator stole its ideas from Apple's Desk Accessories - which came out on the Mac OS in 1984. Apple brought back Desk Accessories in the form of the Dashboard.

Posted by: James Katt at June 29, 2004 05:30 PM

Oh, yeah, now that you say it, I remember having the calculator, etc., under the apple menu. (Is that what you're referring to?) But that still seems to be a long way from being able to press a function key to overlay a whole slate of programs across the desktop.

At any rate, you guys aren't alone in what you're saying. Check out this quote from a blurb on Dashboard toward the end of this MacFixIt story http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2004062903391029: "MacFixIt founder and contributor Ted Landau commented to me that widgets remind him of early Mac OS Desk Accessories."

Posted by: Todd Bishop at June 29, 2004 05:52 PM

Damm Todd,

Wintard comes to mind when I read this crap. I can only wonder if your computer history only goes back ten years.

Here a few links to read up on:

http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Desk_Ornaments.txt&topic=User%20Interface&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/mac/Devices/Devices-16.html

Posted by: Joe at June 29, 2004 06:02 PM

While I don't dispute that Konfabulator has desk accessories in its ancestry, the implementation and appearance are completely and utterly different. Dashboard on the other hand, appears to be a direct copy of the spirit, appearance and implementation of Konfabulator rather than DAs. Desk accessories never had a simple programming arrangement - they were as hard to code as regular apps (which is to say, considerably harder than today's Cocoa apps). Put it like this - do you seriously think that Dashboard would have looked how it does had Konfabulator not done it first? The differences between Dashboard and Konfabulator make for a very short list.
I don't quite believe that it would have cost Apple more to have licensed Konfabulator than to have developed Dashboard, especially as the time and effort could then have been spent elsewhere - if there are any bugs or missing features in Tiger, you know where to place the blame.
There are precedents for Apple doing this right in MacOS history - for example the menu bar clock in System 7 was licensed from the creator of the shareware SuperClock.

Posted by: Marcus Bointon at June 30, 2004 01:59 AM

Well, I can understand why many users wouldn't give a damn about whether it is Arlo Rose making money off this idea or Steve Jobs. Hell, Steve is a jolly nice chap and why not give him your cash?

Also what good is Konfabulator or Dashboard for that matter? I'd never install it, much less pay for it.

As a semi-professional shareware developer however I see this very differently.

People like me rely on the sales of their own software to pay their bills, mortage, etc.: the normal things of life.

I don't know whether Arlo Rose has got a wife and kids, but the point is this: he just went bust last night because Steve Jobs knows a winner when he sees one.

The debate about how orginal or indeed useful Konfabulator is beside the point. It WAS very popular: that means people liked it. The real question is "Will there be another Konfabulator/Watson/DragThing/LaunchBar/Kaleidoscope on the Mac?".

I love the Macintosh not because of the technology but because of the community spirit. A great deal of the fun of being part of the whole "Mac thing" is to be able to find the latest shareware gadgets.

If you have ever come across DragThing, Kaleidoscope, Watson, LaunchBar or any of the other myriad of shareware titles that you just have to have, you'll know what I mean. The fact that Apple's "innovation" these days consists of integrating this sort of utility into the OS speaks volumes.

Writing a program like this is a lot of hard work, takes huge amounts of time and requires highly skilled people willing to do it. It takes a huge chunk out of your life and you simply can't do it for any amount of time without at least turning semi-professional.

What this comes down to is that as a developer I have to ask myself the simple question: "Can I really bet my own future and that of my family on writing Macintosh shareware?". At the best of times such a decision is fraught with the kind of uncertainty that you don't want anywhere close to your loved ones.

Yesterday that question changed: "Can I really do this when I know that Apple will steal my idea if it proves to be popular?" the answer is of course: NO.

I'll probably continue writing Mac shareware for now, but I'll be spending a lot more time in future writing software for Windoze. 97% market share and growing.. and in the end probably no worse than Steve Job's Apple, Inc.

Believe me when I say that I am by no means the only shareware developer that feels this way today. Apple has scored a huge own goal yesterday by slapping the loyal developers it so desperately needs in the face. And what for? A skinnable calculator? One more useless feature to add to the 150?

Please support shareware on the Mac by telling Apple how you feel about this:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/

Posted by: Frank Reiff at June 30, 2004 02:45 AM

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