Open Memo to Apple Computer

October 24, 2003 Dear Steve et al at Apple Computer, Congratulations on the recent hardware announcements and release of Panther. Apple continues to innovate in the world of personal computers. Thanks for all the hard work. Our lives are a bit better and brighter for your efforts. There is, however, one issue I must raise. It is regarding a specific feature introduced in Panther. As you are aware, keyboard application switching is significantly improved. What is disappointing is that this "improvement" is a near pixel duplication of a Proteron product, LiteSwitch X. And despite the obvious similarities, Proteron has received no recognition or credit. This memo is written for two reasons. First, to request that Apple officially recognize that LiteSwitch X played a role in the formation of Panther's switcher. For tens of thousands of users the feature has existed since May 2002. A developer at Proteron first conceived of it. Proteron developed and published it. Now Apple has made it their own, an "Apple innovation", without recognizing Proteron. This memo is also written to publicly highlight your behavior and request more of an explanation. What happened with LiteSwitch X is a repeat of recent Apple history, a la Sherlock 3 and Karelia's Watson. You have again absorbed a third-party innovation into the OS without crediting the original authors. Why not give credit to your developers? Does Apple lose anything? Does it hurt Apple or the Mac OS to recognize that someone's ideas are so good they belong in the Mac's core feature set? Is there any harm in hailing the achievements of the "little guy"? We're flattered by the imitation. And we don't blame you for incorporating great features into the OS - it is good for Mac users everywhere. But it is definitely going to hurt our bottom-line during hard times. And we don't even get credit for our work. I feel that what Apple has done by incorporating third party features into the Mac OS without recognition is both disappointing and dishonest. I invite you to change your approach. There is no shame in recognizing quality work whenever and wherever it appears, especially when it is coming from within the Mac community. We love what you've done with Panther. We love developing for the Mac. As you continue to innovate, please recognize those who have helped you. It's a basic courtesy: give credit where credit is due. Sincerely, Samuel Caughron et. al. Proteron LLC