Bonum Certa Men Certa

Apple Makes Toys, GNU/Linux Still Ahead of It

Jealous Jobs

Ballmer's slide on Macs and GNU/Linux
Steve Ballmer's presentation slide
from 2009 shows GNU/Linux as bigger than Apple on the desktop



Summary: News about Apple's primitive products (from a technical perspective) trying to catch up with their Linux-powered counterparts

Given Apple's patent lawsuits against GNU/Linux [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], it's hard to see why any Free software developer would choose to develop for Apple, let alone buy anything from the company. One of the latest products from this company is being mentioned far too much by the technology press. It's a disappointment even in the eyes of some avid followers of Apple [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] and just like Palm OS, iPad and iPhone have no multitasking. No multitasking! It's not a joke. Now there are rumours about no camera support, either.



Can Apple catch up with Linux and actually implement multitasking? Some people think so [1, 2]. Those folks at Apple are 'stealing' from Linux again (just as they did from BSD when they made OS X)? Does it make them "great artists"?

Multitasking, or the lack thereof, has been one of the most prevalent complaints about the iPhone as a serious business smartphone--although I am not sure it is iPhone users who are doing the complaining. The lack of iPhone multitasking was a prime target of Verizon's "Droid Does" marketing campaign for the Android-based Motorola Droid.


The iPad has no multitasking ability, either. These devices are toys and they are also built by children, based on this news report.

That iPhone you adore may have been built by a child.

Nearly a dozen underage teens were working for Apple-contracted facilities in 2009, the company has revealed. The news was posted to Apple's Web site under a section labeled "Supplier Responsibility."


To make things worse for Apple, they have lost the right to own the small "i". [via]

Apple has been dealt a severe blow having been told that it no longer has a monopoly on the letter "i2" as part of the name for its products.

A trademarks tribunal has knocked back Apple's bid to stop a small company from trademarking the name DOPi for use on its laptop bags and cases for Apple products.

Apple argued that the DOPi name - which is iPod spelt backwards - was too similar to its own popular portable music player, which has sold in excess of 100 million units worldwide.


Apple is a control freak. More on that later, in a much longer post about Apple's bullying.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Register MS Has Just Published "AI" Webspam That Mentions "AI" 54 Times. It Was Paid to Do This.
Who pays for all this "AI" hype or "buzz"?
Gemini Links 14/07/2026: Self-Advocacy Online; "The Internet Is Dead: How the Web Lost Its Human Soul"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 13, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, July 13, 2026
Modern Technology Harms Women More Than Men (Because the 'Tech Bros' Who Dominate STEM Have a Poor View of Women)
“Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance.”
Internet Relay Chat Trolls Are Not Expressing Opinions, They Are Saboteurs
For the record
Links 14/07/2026: "The Freedom of Information Act Is in Serious Trouble"; Irish Datacenters Use Up Almost 25% of Total Energy
Links for the day
The Register MS: "AI" Puff Pieces for Sale, Not Journalism at All, Just "Webspam"
The Register MS isn't the sole culprit
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 12, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, July 12, 2026
How We Do Techrights (and What's Changing Next Week)
Many former news sites no longer yield much non-meaningless news (not anymore); there's a gap to be filled
Links 12/07/2026: Palantir Unrest and Wireshark 4.6.7
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2026: New Instrument Time and PalmOS Experiences in 2026
Links for the day
Red Hat Staff Says IBM Policy Has Stigmatised Him as a Tool and a Slopper With Plagiarism Tools
IBM is killing Red Hat with slop
Freedom of Choice or Freedom Versus Choice (or When All Choices Are Incompatible With Freedom)
When some business asserts that it gives people different options, then it can rightly argue that it offers some choices, but that is not the same as freedom
Techrights IRC Turns 5 Without a “Code of Conduct”, “Code of Conduct Committee”, and All Those Bureaucratic Nightmares
18+ years if one counts our time in Freenode as well
Why U No Use AI???
Many hype waves come and go
There Are Still Slopfarms in Google News
Google is trying to participate in if not lead this pyramid scheme
The Cyber Show Explains How Slop and Promotion of Slop is About Taking Control Away From Computer Users
"On making a trustworthy machine"
Keeping Available the Site at All Times
Informal arrangements and crowdfunding keep our work available despite resistance (including from people who break the law)
What If "Era of AI" and "AI Revolution" (Fake News) Never Happened?
So how much longer before the bust (or bubble-burst)?
GNU/Linux Approaches 5% in Australia
5% by year's end?
Europe/EU is Moving Towards Independence, Fast to Adopt Free Software
More and more states (governments, public sector) in Germany are dumping Microsoft
GNU/Linux Grows at the Expense of Windows
People who want to get work done already left Windows
Tux Machines Growing as a Volunteers-Run Site
Historically the site did not have many original stories, but this changed as the audience grew and the site gained more recognition
Links 12/07/2026: European Commission Versus ‘Addictive Design’, "Google Loses Final Appeal Over $4.7 Billion EU Android Antitrust Fine"
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Market Share Increases Some More Today, statCounter Measures It at 7.3%
Will more such thresholds and records be broken?
Gemini Links 12/07/2026: Studying Languages and 2026 Old Computer Challenge (OCC)
Links for the day
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XIII - At the EPO, Cocaine Addicts and Their Friends Are "Protected Class"
What does that tell us about the EPO?
Increasing Output by Focusing on Originals
It's probably more important to carry on with these than it is to keep abreast of non-crucial news
Amid Strikes and Industrial Actions, Young Professionals at the European Patent Office (EPO) Kept on 'Short Leash', According to the Local Staff Committee The Hague
Issues affecting Young Professionals
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 11, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, July 11, 2026