Apple fined for bad air, Apple TV trademarks, Adobe betas

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple has been fined for bad air emissions coming from one of its Sacramento facilities. Meanwhile, the company has filed for a pair of Apple TV trademarks. And Adobe has released public betas of After Effects and Premier.



Breathe, breathe in the air.



Apple has agreed to pay $43,200 in penalties to the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District for an air quality violation that occurred at its Elk Grove facility in April 2006, according to the Sacramento Business Journal.



"When a business neglects to observe air quality regulations the health of our citizens is jeopardized," district executive director Larry Greene said in a news release.



It's reported that the violation occurred over several days as Apple operated its emergency standby generator for a purpose other than maintenance or emergency power. The penalty was agreed upon by both parties as part of the Sacramento district's voluntary settlement program designed to prevent litigation.



Apple's Elk Grove facility was at one time a manufacturing plant tasked with churning out models of the company's bulbous bondi blue iMacs and Power Mac systems. After relinquishing production completely to the Taiwanese in the late 90's, Apple shifted Elk Grove into a general purposes facility, which now handles, shipping, sorting, returns and an assortment of other corporate tasks.



Apple TV trademarks



Meanwhile, Apple in recent days filed for two separate trademarks covering its Apple TV wireless media hub. The first, filed April 9th, was for the word mark "Apple TV," while a second, filed two days later, covers Apple TV as a "[Apple logo] TV."



Both filings lists Apple TV as goods or services under the following categorizations: "Computer hardware; computer networking hardware; set top boxes; digital electronic devices for recording, organizing, transmitting, receiving, manipulating, playing and reviewing text, data, image, audio and video files; computer software for use in organizing, transmitting, receiving, manipulating, playing and reviewing text, data, image, audio, and video files; computer hardware and computer software for the reproduction, processing and streaming of audio, video and multimedia content; computer hardware and software for controlling the operation of audio and video devices and for viewing, searching and/or playing audio, video, television, movies, photographs and other digital images, and other multimedia content."



Of note, neither filing makes reference to Apple TV as a gaming platform.



Adobe offers high-end betas



Alongside its announcement Monday that it has begun shipping Creative Suite 3 Web and Design bundles, Adobe announced free public previews of Premiere Pro CS3, After Effects CS3 Professional and Soundbooth CS3.



The professional video applications are components of Adobe's Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Master Collection bundles due to ship later this summer.



The public betas of Premiere Pro CS3 and After Effects CS3 are available through the Adobe Labs website.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    When I read the headline at first, I thought apple was fined for all three lol.
  • Reply 2 of 18
    Now if they could just fine Steve Balmer for spewing hot air, we'd signifigantly improve the health of all.
  • Reply 3 of 18
    why would apple run a generator for no apparent reason?!?
  • Reply 4 of 18
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Maybe it's cheaper than buying electricity in CA?



    You're in CT, notice how deregulation has affected our electric bills recently?
  • Reply 5 of 18
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by trevorlsciact View Post


    why would apple run a generator for no apparent reason?!?



    Let me get this straight. They CAN run the generator for maintenance reasons (like a monthly routine) or an actual power failure. That's NOT polluting the air. But if they run it for no apparent reason they ARE polluting the air. How stupid is that? And how stupid is the headline that declares Apple to be an evil, bad-air "doer"?



    I have completely lost faith in the news media of this world. Talk about drive-by Apple bashing. It seems to be that every single news outlet these days has either a political, social, environmental, liberal, conservative agenda/axe to grind. Whatever happened to just reporting the news without putting a biased spin to it. It makes me sick.
  • Reply 6 of 18
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Sounds like a safe bet that Apple has absolutely no plans for making the AppleTV into a gaming platform.
  • Reply 7 of 18
    .....
  • Reply 8 of 18
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    Let me get this straight. They CAN run the generator for maintenance reasons (like a monthly routine) or an actual power failure. That's NOT polluting the air. But if they run it for no apparent reason they ARE polluting the air. How stupid is that? And how stupid is the headline that declares Apple to be an evil, bad-air "doer"?



    I have completely lost faith in the news media of this world. Talk about drive-by Apple bashing. It seems to be that every single news outlet these days has either a political, social, environmental, liberal, conservative agenda/axe to grind. Whatever happened to just reporting the news without putting a biased spin to it. It makes me sick.







    funnily enough... i wholeheartedly second the ruling!



    what makes *me* 'sick' is seeing compainies with 500w halogens glowing all DAY long simply because they haven't put them on a timer or it's no-ones job to turn them off : (
  • Reply 9 of 18
    alanskyalansky Posts: 235member
    This is rich! Just take a drive through the Sacramento Valley on a summer day, then tell me how conscientiously you think the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District is policing most of the big polluters in the Sacramento area. This is a ridiculous take on a ridiculous article.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    Let me get this straight. They CAN run the generator for maintenance reasons (like a monthly routine) or an actual power failure. That's NOT polluting the air. But if they run it for no apparent reason they ARE polluting the air. How stupid is that?



    I believe the logical assumption is that running a generator produces quite a bit more pollution per unit of electricity than a power plant does. Thus, you have the generator for issues like maintenance and power failures, but are prohibited from general use.



    It doesn't seem too complicated or stupid to me.
  • Reply 11 of 18
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    I believe the logical assumption is that running a generator produces quite a bit more pollution per unit of electricity than a power plant does. Thus, you have the generator for issues like maintenance and power failures, but are prohibited from general use.



    It doesn't seem too complicated or stupid to me.



    Agreed, but why *were* they actually running the generator? Just for kicks? I don't think we have the complete picture at this stage.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    ....Apple has been fined for bad air emissions coming from one of its Sacramento facilities. Meanwhile, the company has filed for a pair of Apple TV trademarks. And Adobe has released public betas of After Effects and Premier.



    Breathe, breathe in the air.



    Apple has agreed to pay $43,200 in penalties to the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District for an air quality violation that occurred at its Elk Grove facility in April 2006, according to the Sacramento Business Journal....



    "Breathe, breathe in the air" --- ???? Looks like Ai is taking creative license to a whole new level here.

    Keep up the great work AppleInsider (seriously), but try to get the writers to write when not high on somethin'
  • Reply 13 of 18
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,600member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by trevorlsciact View Post


    why would apple run a generator for no apparent reason?!?



    To test it.



    If you look at emergency generators, the instructions are to run it for a while every month, or other interval, depending on the type, model, and size.



    It's like GFI's in the home. You are supposed to test them every month. Same thing with smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, etc.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    To test it.



    If you look at emergency generators, the instructions are to run it for a while every month, or other interval, depending on the type, model, and size.



    It's like GFI's in the home. You are supposed to test them every month. Same thing with smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, etc.



    What is GFI?



    BTW, the article says that "maintenance" is okay. So testing it is fine (hah! pun unintended...). What I mean to say is, testing it is alright, they wouldn't be fined.



    What did they do besides maintenance/testing or emergency with the generator that got them into hot soup?
  • Reply 15 of 18
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,600member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    What is GFI?



    BTW, the article says that "maintenance" is okay. So testing it is fine (hah! pun unintended...). What I mean to say is, testing it is alright, they wouldn't be fined.



    What did they do besides maintenance/testing or emergency with the generator that got them into hot soup?



    Ground Fault Interrupter. When the current to ground reaches a few milliamps, the wall jack opens the circuit. It's required in homes if the outlet is closer than 2 feet from water, and required in kitchens and bathroms.



    I can't possibly figure out why they would turn that on if it wasn't for testing, or some required use. This isn't some 10 Kwatt unit.



    The only other reason would be if someone at the site screwed up. It wouldn't have paid for either Apple or the local authorities to take it to court, so they settled.



    The only real problem is that it will give Greempeace more ammo.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    ...The only real problem is that it will give Greempeace more ammo.



    Hah! Good one. ...Bloody Greenpeace.........
  • Reply 17 of 18
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PBG4 Dude View Post


    Maybe it's cheaper than buying electricity in CA?



    You're in CT, notice how deregulation has affected our electric bills recently?



    I know that some towns in silicon valley do not kowtow to PG&E (at least Palo Alto and Santa Clara). Sacramento is not in silicon valley, but the point is that I'm not sure that the utilities game is forcefully monopolized in California.
  • Reply 18 of 18
    A drive through the Sacramento Valley?



    Never heard that one before...
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