Apple has been demonstrating recently that it would rather code their own imitations rather than buy the rights to an existing software produc (Watson, Konfabulator).
This is also quite amazing given the fact that Apple already had the rights to the OS7+ Graphing Calculator. Couldn't they have just reworked and recompiled that app from the existing codebase?
i forgot where i read it, but apple's philosophy can be summed up by the following (and i believe this came from an internal rep or engineer or something... at least someone who had some knowledge of their policies):
"apple buys technologies they can't - or won't - develop themselves. they don't buy ideas."
Exactly how does Pacific Tech expect to stay in business without Apple's business?
As in the other thread about graphing calculators, you seem to assume that Pacific Tech is intended to be a business venture. This is not the guy's primary occupation. Think of it more as he's providing a service or working on a hobby and sharing the results with whomever wants to use his product.
Quite the contrary, JamesG. For a while Apple was shopping like mad. iTunes, Final Cut Pro, on and on apps were derived through acquisition.
Watson/Sherlock I'll give you but concerning Dashboard/Konfabulator, there is a great article out there that explains that Dashboard is a far more integrated tecnology than the Javascript hack that is Konfabulator.
Sorry to be digging up this old thread! But I have a few comments I wanted to make.
Judging from the screenshots it seems that Apple has renamed 'Curvus Pro X' into 'Graphing Calculator' despite the fact that there already exists a product with that name coming from Pacific Tech. Anyone care to comment on the legality of this?
It seems that if PT will ever port its product to Mac OS X they would have to rename it, something most companies don't want to do.
Also, I hope that Apple takes the time to visually polish this app in time for its release. As it stands now it still sports the old icons carried over from the time it was still an aqua-application. I always felt that aqua buttons has no place in the textured windows and that they should instead sport custom brushed metal-buttons, like The Finder, Safari and many others.
I'm guessing that "Graphing Calculator" or "Graphic Calculator" is generic enough that it would be hard to claim rights to it, especially if it's not a well-established product.
I'm sure that, if they get anything done with this app, it will be the appearance of it. Might still act like a beta though.
Sorry to be digging up this old thread! But I have a few comments I wanted to make.
Judging from the screenshots it seems that Apple has renamed 'Curvus Pro X' into 'Graphing Calculator' despite the fact that there already exists a product with that name coming from Pacific Tech. Anyone care to comment on the legality of this?
It seems that if PT will ever port its product to Mac OS X they would have to rename it, something most companies don't want to do.
Also, I hope that Apple takes the time to visually polish this app in time for its release. As it stands now it still sports the old icons carried over from the time it was still an aqua-application. I always felt that aqua buttons has no place in the textured windows and that they should instead sport custom brushed metal-buttons, like The Finder, Safari and many others.
That is an interesting observation. However, I have no doubt that this issue has been resolved for quite some time. The Graphing Calculator was not a commercial product prior to the introduction of the Power Macintosh. Except for Pacific Tech's website, I have never seen Graphing Calculator offered for sale as a standalone product. I also note that the product has an alternate name, NuCalc. I suspect that one of two things is true. One, it may be that Apple has already purchased the rights to use the name Graphing Calculator from Pacific Tech. The second possibility is that Graphing Calculator was always an Apple-owned product name and that Pacific Tech was allowed to use the name on the commercial version of its product. I take the product's alternate name as an indication that the latter may be true. Of course, Graphing Calculator may have been too generic for a product name in certain international markets.
So now we have *two* apps named Graphing Calculator for the Mac. Unless Apple chooses another name for its software prior to its release; this is gonna create some confusion. \
Comments
Originally posted by JamesG
I have to say that this move stuns me.
Apple has been demonstrating recently that it would rather code their own imitations rather than buy the rights to an existing software produc (Watson, Konfabulator).
This is also quite amazing given the fact that Apple already had the rights to the OS7+ Graphing Calculator. Couldn't they have just reworked and recompiled that app from the existing codebase?
i forgot where i read it, but apple's philosophy can be summed up by the following (and i believe this came from an internal rep or engineer or something... at least someone who had some knowledge of their policies):
"apple buys technologies they can't - or won't - develop themselves. they don't buy ideas."
Originally posted by Mr. Me
Exactly how does Pacific Tech expect to stay in business without Apple's business?
As in the other thread about graphing calculators, you seem to assume that Pacific Tech is intended to be a business venture. This is not the guy's primary occupation. Think of it more as he's providing a service or working on a hobby and sharing the results with whomever wants to use his product.
Originally posted by sCreeD
Quite the contrary, JamesG. For a while Apple was shopping like mad. iTunes, Final Cut Pro, on and on apps were derived through acquisition.
Watson/Sherlock I'll give you but concerning Dashboard/Konfabulator, there is a great article out there that explains that Dashboard is a far more integrated tecnology than the Javascript hack that is Konfabulator.
Screed
The article, at least the only really good one I found, i at http://daringfireball.net/2004/06/da...s_konfabulator
Originally posted by AppleInsider
Screenshots: Graphing Calculator 1; Graphing Calculator 2; Graphing Calculator 3; Graphing Calculator 4
Here are a couple of new screenshots of the new calculator in action:
2D
3D
Judging from the screenshots it seems that Apple has renamed 'Curvus Pro X' into 'Graphing Calculator' despite the fact that there already exists a product with that name coming from Pacific Tech. Anyone care to comment on the legality of this?
It seems that if PT will ever port its product to Mac OS X they would have to rename it, something most companies don't want to do.
Also, I hope that Apple takes the time to visually polish this app in time for its release. As it stands now it still sports the old icons carried over from the time it was still an aqua-application. I always felt that aqua buttons has no place in the textured windows and that they should instead sport custom brushed metal-buttons, like The Finder, Safari and many others.
I'm sure that, if they get anything done with this app, it will be the appearance of it. Might still act like a beta though.
Originally posted by Gavriel
Sorry to be digging up this old thread! But I have a few comments I wanted to make.
Judging from the screenshots it seems that Apple has renamed 'Curvus Pro X' into 'Graphing Calculator' despite the fact that there already exists a product with that name coming from Pacific Tech. Anyone care to comment on the legality of this?
It seems that if PT will ever port its product to Mac OS X they would have to rename it, something most companies don't want to do.
Also, I hope that Apple takes the time to visually polish this app in time for its release. As it stands now it still sports the old icons carried over from the time it was still an aqua-application. I always felt that aqua buttons has no place in the textured windows and that they should instead sport custom brushed metal-buttons, like The Finder, Safari and many others.
That is an interesting observation. However, I have no doubt that this issue has been resolved for quite some time. The Graphing Calculator was not a commercial product prior to the introduction of the Power Macintosh. Except for Pacific Tech's website, I have never seen Graphing Calculator offered for sale as a standalone product. I also note that the product has an alternate name, NuCalc. I suspect that one of two things is true. One, it may be that Apple has already purchased the rights to use the name Graphing Calculator from Pacific Tech. The second possibility is that Graphing Calculator was always an Apple-owned product name and that Pacific Tech was allowed to use the name on the commercial version of its product. I take the product's alternate name as an indication that the latter may be true. Of course, Graphing Calculator may have been too generic for a product name in certain international markets.
Originally posted by avitzur
Pacific Tech's Graphing Calculator is now available as a native Mac OS X application.
This is old news, but it is very good news. I have already paid the fee and downloaded the app. Welcome back, old friend
Originally posted by Mr. Me
This is old news, but it is very good news. I have already paid the fee and downloaded the app. Welcome back, old friend
Could you make some comments on how is the OS X version interface of GC? Or better, post some screenshots?
Thanks,
PB
Another screenshot at http://www.PacificT.com/MacOSX.html
and at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/25146
More images generated by the software are at http://www.pacifict.com/Shaders.html
Originally posted by ScienceMan
So what became of this? Did the CurvusPro-based version make it into the final product?
Yes, it's called Grapher.