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Of Apple, Apple and VoIPBy Rich Tehrani President and Editor-in-Chief The Apple Vs. Apple trademark case is intriguing to me even though it was settled 15 years ago. As you can imagine part of the problem in this case is the name of Apple (News - Alert) Computer which as you may have noticed is a bit similar to Apple Corps LTD the record label of the Fab 4.
One of the terms of settlement in 1991 was that Apple the computer company would not use its logo to promote music. Now, Apple, the Beatles' label is suing the computer company because it is using the Apple logo to promote music downloading. Apple Computer says it is promoting its software, not the music. So what do I find so interesting here? The fact that when Apple Computer decided to settle by agreeing not to promote music I am sure they never ever thought this would be a problem. Who would have imagined Apple Computer in the position they are now in? They are the online music leader with everyone else a distant second. It just shows you how difficult it is to predict how technology will morph and who tomorrow’s leaders will be. Perhaps the same is true in VoIP. Maybe a small upstart today or a company we never thought to be in VoIP will be the IP Communications leader of tomorrow. It could be someone totally unexpected. How about Bose who could deliver a killer noise-canceling VoIP phone. Or how about Sony – they could VoIP enable all their products instantly allowing us to communicate via a camera, TV, whatever. It could even be a retailer. What if Wal-Mart was to give free VoIP phones out for any purchase over $100 in their store and provide the service themselves. They could partner with AccessLine for example to provide the service. Perhaps what makes technology so amazing to me is that it is virtually impossible to predict who will lead tomorrow. There is a disruptiveness to our industry that lets the underdog win and keeps the incumbents on their toes. Technology it seems has reshaped just about every other industry around it making it too more competitive. For example online auction sites even allow people to bid on such things as cars, antiques and fruit. Speaking of fruit, I am sure Apple Computer wished there was an effective way to use technology to simply delete the Apple Vs. Apple lawsuit. Rich Tehrani is President and Group Editor in Chief at TMC and founder of Internet Telephony, IMS and SIP Magazines. In addition he is the Chairman of the world's best attended VoIP event, Internet Telephony Conference & Expo.
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