A charming outfit, Apple. Within hours of the iPhone’s launch, bright people with nothing better to do were producing ‘skins’ that mimic the iPhone’s pretty menu on Palm and Windows Mobile smartphones; once installed, the skins link the iPhone-like icons to comparable apps on the phones.
They were offered free on nerd forums and via blog posts. So Apple’s legal juggernaut clanked into shock-and-awe mode and started firing off ‘cease and desist’ letters to everyone involved. Here’s part of one of them: “It has come to our attention that you have posted a screenshot of Apple’s new iPhone and links that facilitate the installation of that screenshot on a PocketPC device … The icons and screenshot displayed on your website are copyrighted by Apple. Apple therefore demands that you remove this screenshot from your website …” That’s the sound of an air strike arriving to deal with the gnat.