It seems like Apple is risking a lot of flak from its iPhone-toting, iPod-carrying fanbase after The New York Times reveals that Steve Job’s company has applied a technology patent last year (and made public last month) that aims to display advertising on any device that runs on Apple OS like your iPod Touch, iPhone 3G, Power Mac G5, or any upcoming Apple device that will come our way. These ads aim to help deferring the costs of these products as well as Apple-related services such as iTunes.
But what is more startling is what it is written in the application’s claims: These adware-infested Apple devices could be configured to lock a portion, or the whole device, until the user acknowledges the ad. Imagine you are listening to your kick-ass Lady Gaga playlist only to be interrupted by a pop-up ad. If you wish to make your Apple OS-enabled gadget ad-free, the patent suggests users to pay for it.
What is even scarier is that Apple plans on putting the ad-placing technology on any device that has a screen like portable computers, personal media players, gaming devices, televisions, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and even embedded devices, whether or not it runs on Apple OS. This leaves you with no other option but to pay attention to the ad, even if it blocks your movie viewing.
And the most horrifying part of the patent is that if you keep on ignoring these ads, the patent would provide more frequent or more subtle ad placements. You are cornered and cannot escape from ads you do not need nor even bother.
Some tech experts hope this application would not come to pass, and if it does, they hope Apple would not act on it. However, judging from their recently-approved patents like multitouch gestures and Magic Mouse, we are gonna get screwed on this one.
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