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Steve Jobs' Idea for Ad-Supported Operating Systems Was Nearly a Reality

I had Netzero for FREE internet.

at the beginning it was somewhat nice as the floating bar could be anywhere...I'd move it in the IE top portion near the buttons as I used shortcuts on a laptop anyway. Then it was "upgraded" to be right at the top, all the way across the screen, then IE which meant the laptop screen was now TINY...albeit large compared to an iPhone but still.

Now I pay for internet.
 
If this actually came to fruition, I dont know whether or not the hiring of Gil Amelio would be considered Apple's greatest mistake any more
 
MacRumors said:
it is still unclear why Apple decided nine years later to file for a patent on the idea, whether it was due to a serious reconsideration of the idea or merely a tying up of loose ends that saw the company attempting to protect one of Jobs' ideas that had already been discarded.
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"It's a bad idea, and it won't work for us. But it might work for Google. Better stop them with a patent."
 
Ghastly, not one of Job's great ideas (of which there were many!)

I can't imagine this happening today anyway as Apple is a 'premium' brand, and this would obviously devalue and 'cheapen' its appeal. Not something Apple would want, I'm sure.

(Although having said that, iAd and iPhone/iPad users are well used to seeing adverts! I just think there would be something not quite right about it on the desktop)
 
Nearly everyone is calling out "bad idea" or "stupid" etc.

Fact is, back in those days Apple was still trying to get out of trouble and trying to get their OS to the masses.
Steve came back and their major OS strategy was to get NeXTSTEP into Mac OS X.
Mac OS 9 still was the "old" OS, and needed all the help it could get for people to use it. Sherlock 2 and a new G4 didn't crack it.
Mac OS X was still in its infancy.....

Man... those end-nineties were some worrying times.... The G4 lacked power and OS-wise Apple was in between the outdated "Classic" OS 9 and the not-really-ready OS X. Unbelievable really that Apple still made it.

Having Mac OS 9 "freely available" might have been a good idea. Of course, pay $ 99 for the "normal" version, much in line with the usual OS strategy.
But also give the users a free option to get hold of OS 9. One of the reasons why was to have these users ready for the OS X with "Classic".
Another reason was so that developers had their apps "Classic" and "Carbon" ready.

If every Mac user had OS 9, the transition to OS X might have been easier.
 
MacsRgr8 said:
Nearly everyone is calling out "bad idea" or "stupid" etc.

Fact is, back in those days Apple was still trying to get out of trouble and trying to get their OS to the masses.
Steve came back and their major OS strategy was to get NeXTSTEP into Mac OS X.
Mac OS 9 still was the "old" OS, and needed all the help it could get for people to use it. Sherlock 2 and a new G4 didn't crack it.
Mac OS X was still in its infancy.....

Man... those end-nineties were some worrying times.... The G4 lacked power and OS-wise Apple was in between the outdated "Classic" OS 9 and the not-really-ready OS X. Unbelievable really that Apple still made it.

Having Mac OS 9 "freely available" might have been a good idea. Of course, pay $ 99 for the "normal" version, much in line with the usual OS strategy.
But also give the users a free option to get hold of OS 9. One of the reasons why was to have these users ready for the OS X with "Classic".
Another reason was so that developers had their apps "Classic" and "Carbon" ready.

If every Mac user had OS 9, the transition to OS X might have been easier.
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Given the time frame, I see what they were trying to do. But people wouldn't go for it. If anything they would buy a cheaper pc without ads.
 
vmachiel said:
Given the time frame, I see what they were trying to do. But people wouldn't go for it. If anything they would buy a cheaper pc without ads.
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The "normal" ad-free $ 99 costing Mac OS 9 CD would still have been available.

I think it was more intended to get the ol' System 7 and Mac OS 8 users ASAP on Mac OS 9.
Get them "Classic" and "Carbon"-ready. Make the switch to OS X easier.
 
I wonder what would have happened if they did make a "Free" ad supported version of Mac OS 9 Because alot of people back then did not have internet. so how would the ads load?
 
Thank God this didn't happen. Actually this already exists.....it's called Android.
 
Personally I think this could be an example of a crappent and something that should not of been allowed to of been patented. Hell I would not be surprised if it would fail to hold up at all in court if Apple attempted to sue with it.

It shows a massive problem with our patent system that this was even allowed of been granted.
 
ideas

Maybe they just patented it so nobody would ever do something so horrible.

Or it could have been him just trying to figure out how to get the cost of the OS down. Which it looks like they figured something out. Probably just changed the accounting around to be more like iPhone/iPad & iOS. I'm sure the MacAppStore figures in to it all somehow.
 
Only Steve would be so greedy to think up something like this.

Even scarier is the fact that he would have CONvinced his worshipers to lavish praise on the idea.

The followers, would then have lined up in droves to give their money to the temple of Apple.

Tim Cook has never looked so good.

The stable, mature, highly intelligent CEO that will settle Apple down and make it into a world class operation.
 
How do we know this was just patented so other companies could not do the exact same thing without paying Apple a fee? We don't. Not every patent is made for the company's direct use.
 
djdover said:
Merely playing the devils advocate, but do you people only read the first few lines of articles? To those saying thank god it didn't happen, and that you would rather pay the $99...








The option to get an ad free OS would of existed according to the article. Woah.
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To answer your question: yes, people only read the first few lines of articles.




Naaaaak said:
"It's a bad idea, and it won't work for us. But it might work for Google. Better stop them with a patent."
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Yep.



I don't think it's a bad idea. You would still have the option to buy an ad-free version, so the ads wouldn't affect you since you would be buying the OS anyway. This would just allow people who couldn't afford to buy, or don't want to buy, to be able to use the OS as well.
 
Apple TV

It makes a lot of sense to use it on an (yet to be announced) Apple TV.
 
If they were to sell a free iPod touch, and show a minute ad on it after an hour of use. Guess who would get it everyone. And apple would make a lot of money if they restricted it a lot more than it is now. Make it so no one could jail break it. Even it the iPod touch was the second generation model everyone would get cause its free.
 
Luckybobby said:
If they were to sell a free iPod touch, and show a minute ad on it after an hour of use. Guess who would get it everyone. And apple would make a lot of money if they restricted it a lot more than it is now. Make it so no one could jail break it. Even it the iPod touch was the second generation model everyone would get cause its free.
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Well, they wouldn't "sell" a "free" iPod touch. ;)


I bought the $79 Kindle with Special Offers, and the ads don't bother me at all. In fact, I've taken advantage of a few offers and probably made back around $40-50 in savings. Amazon did it right, I'm sure Apple could as well.
 
deannnnn said:
I mean, it makes complete business sense as to why this would exist, and therefore it's technically a good idea... but thank God it doesn't.
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Ohh man. If this has been just an idea by Microsoft, this thread would have 3000 comments, people furiously bashing and no one would ever even say "it makes complete business sense".

Do you guys remember Netzero? Free internet with ads, just like this? Well, go back to the comments people had on that.

I am impressed that anybody as smart as the people that works at Apple even thought about this. Thank God never happened.
 
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