Dave Gray Gets A Letter From Apple Authorizing “podcast”
Remember in October when Dave Gray, one of the hosts of TPN’s GlobalGeek podcast, sent a letter to Apple with a cheque for $1 for using the term “podcast”? I thought he was just kidding around but apparently he did actually send the letter and the cheque - to Steve Jobs. Seriously.
Well… yesterday he got a reply.
Okay so I know we all know by now that Apple weren’t going to go after genuine podcasters (at least that’s their story THIS week). But it’s still good to have it in writing. Good on ya Dave!
November 30th, 2006 at 2:02 am
I note that Apple also permit the use of split infinitives.
November 30th, 2006 at 7:04 am
There’s nothing at all wrong with split infinitives … in English.
November 30th, 2006 at 9:21 am
There’s nothing wrong per say with split infinitives in English its just bad form in professional writing. Most people don’t even know the rule exists or what it means anymore.
It can be funny though, if you know what it means.
“And all dared to brave unknown terrors, to do mighty deeds, to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before” DNA
November 30th, 2006 at 9:40 am
There’s nothing wrong with splitting an infinitive. What is “bad form” however is writing “per say” when you mean ‘per se’!
November 30th, 2006 at 9:50 am
“There’s nothing wrong per say with split infinitives in English”
Apparently there’s nothing wrong with misspellings in Latin, either.
November 30th, 2006 at 9:57 am
That’s pretty cool that they replyed back. And within a month and a half!
November 30th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Dude, I have a learning disability leave off.
I don’t have the time or the inclination to double check that I have the correct spelling out of a whole bunch of phonetically identical versions of words in a comment. Rest assured that in a piece of professional writing I would confirm that I have the correct spelling. It is surely splitting hairs (or as the french would have it ‘quartering the horse’) to have a go at someone for incorrectly spelling a latin expression when, unlike much of the population, they do know what splitting infinitives is.
Ironically I can spell weird and generally useless words like etymology just fine… and my spelling in french is perfect… go figure
November 30th, 2006 at 10:17 am
Who gives a Rats Clacker whether it is spelt right or wrong or its grammatical incorrect! Its the content that matters and if you can understand the point being made, then thats the main thing.
Molly
PS. If there are any spelling or grammatical errors in this comment and it is annoying you, GOOD!!!!!!!!!! Be annoyed.
November 30th, 2006 at 10:52 am
An exclamation mark is just a crutch to hold up a weak sentence. So your sentence “GOOD!” is so weak, it needs, like ten crutches.
OOOH! BURN!
November 30th, 2006 at 11:43 am
Interesting that Apple is trying to claim ownership in every other use of the term “pod” as used alone or in conjunction with any other term. They have opposed every pod-related trademark application. Curious, that for Apple to even secure “iPod,” they had to argue that a pre-existing “Pod” mark was significantly different in sight and sound. I guess these other folks should have sent Jobs a letter and a check.
November 30th, 2006 at 11:51 am
Here they are discussing the use of split infinitives.
On Digg they are talking about the spelling of the word “cheque”.
I think that is amusing.
November 30th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
I don’t claim to have full grasp of correct punctuation; however, I’m pretty sure that if you are going to have a go at exclamation points you should ensure that your sentence is correctly punctuated.
You might want to consider the correct punctuation of conjunctive adverbs in the first sentence and have a little think about where the pause should be in the second sentence.
If you want to be pedantic at least have the balls to do it onymously (isn’t that just the BEST word).
November 30th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Dave - if it were on Slashdot, you’d be told that “In Soviet Russia infinitives split you”… or something like that.
Miriam shouldn’t they do it cognito?
November 30th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
I don’t think cognito is strictly speaking an english word. Onymous is.
November 30th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Yeah I have been thinking about what the Slashdotters would be saying.
The other thing that has been popping up is that Leo Laporte has copped a ribbing for calling his shows “netcasts” - bloggers are sighting this story and saying that they hope it will now shut him up and that he wil stop using the term “netcast”. Which is quite lame IMHO.
Would that not be English with an “E” as opposed to an “e” the capitalization when using the word “english” has confused me no end.
November 30th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
Oh probably
the curse of speaking such an incredibly confusing language.
November 30th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
See Cam, all this crap about spelling and writing of words is the exact reason you should install Podpress (http://www.mightyseek.com/podpress) and allow for Audio Comments (Thanks to your mate and mine Michael Bailey and Mobatalk).
Molly
November 30th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Oh yeah. I said it on Dig and I will say it again here: I told you so!
In saying that, congrats on the buzz! How you going to top this though?
Molly
PS. Cam, there is a plugin that allows automatic Digg icons on each post, its a little buggy but for your audience might be a good idea!
November 30th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
OK.
I had to efficiently refer to Wikipedia to find out what a split infinitive was.
November 30th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Man I love Wikipedia. My English is Shizen Houzen and as such, had no idea what they were all taking about but thanks to Wikipedia, I know know what I don’t give a rats clacker about!
Thanks Wikipedia!
Molly
November 30th, 2006 at 11:47 pm
Apple never tried to appropriate or “claim ownership” of podcasting-words. What they did was prevent others from registering these words as trademarks when the usage was outside of the podcasting area. Apple’s actually the good guy here.
November 30th, 2006 at 11:48 pm
OMG! That’s so cool!
Podcasts rock my body! C’mon! Let’s make some PODCASTS!!!!! YEAH!
No need to pay Steve
December 1st, 2006 at 11:54 pm
@Miriam Parkinson: Even in French, horses are not split in multiple pieces. The expression is “couper les cheveux en quatre”. “cheveux” means “hair”. “chevaux” means “horses”. So the French split the hair in four pieces. No animal gets hurt.
December 2nd, 2006 at 10:40 am
good to know
obviously there was a misspelling at some point because the dictionary of phrase and fable thinks its horse… I always thought it was slightly odd.
December 2nd, 2006 at 7:34 pm
What chutzpah.
You have to give the guy credit.
November 15th, 2007 at 10:37 am
>>There’s nothing wrong per say with split infinitives in English its just bad form in professional writing.
>>the dictionary of phrase and fable thinks its horse…
What is indeed “bad form” is also writing “its” when you mean ‘it’s’!