Apple’s unsolicited idea submission policy | Hacker News Reader

Apple’s unsolicited idea submission policy

apple.com

7 pointsd_r12 comments

I submitted the idea for GarageBand to Apple. I think it was through a bug report or some other generic contact Apple form. I was a senior in college at the time. I asked for a basic music loop program with an iCal interface.

I didn't really care about ownership of the idea. I just wanted the program made.

The fact that they made GarageBand was probably just a coincidence, and not based on my idea (since they already had sound editing programs like Final Cut and Soundtrack), but I was still pretty happy when they announced it.

Isn't this pretty standard?

Interesting stuff. Reads like Apple sees itself as a walled garden of creativity, innovation and initiative. Any external, unsolicited idea that crosses the semipermeable walls of Cupertino is swallowed into a black hole becoming Apple's property.

This gives a whole different meaning to all the recent "ideas are worthless, execution counts" talk. If you're very lucky, your idea may result in another exceptional Apple product which you can then buy in a store.

Or, instead of this breathless narrative, we can acknowledge that this is a standard boilerplate legal safeguard employed by hundreds of companies, particularly those that rely on intellectual property or creative work.

But that would require you to Google ["unsolicited ideas" policy], the first two SERPs of which would tell you that the same safeguard is published at Taser, Sling, Fujifilm, eBay, Zynga, Husqvarna, Krispy Kreme, LG, McDonalds, Dickies, American Spirit Tobacco, Reynolds, Nabisco, and The Late Late Show With Craig Furguson (and all other CBS shows).

If you wanted to be creative, you could also use advanced Google-fu in the form of ["unsolicited ideas" (cisco|google|adobe|microsoft)], whereupon you'd learn that all those companies also have that safeguard.

Sheesh.

You're absolutely right, of course.

But nevertheless, it's still a funnier jab with Apple than it would be with any other company.

Good clarification.

No.

(The parent was edited; originally, it read, ", but doesn't this just mean that the same narrative applies to all those companies too").

It's much more about avoiding potential legal liability issues in the future. I wouldn't be surprised if all the large tech companies have similar clauses.

You may be right. But how is anyone supposed to approach Apple with business proposals under these conditions?

Like a professional: by arranging an introduction, and asking for a meeting about your idea.

The reason every company in the world has this document somewhere is that crackpots will send random documents to them ("here is my proposal for an Apple telephone, I call it the Apple Telephonogram Pro, and it uses lasers") and then later sue them when they release an overlapping product ("the iPhone is a rip-off of my Apple Telephonagram Pro!").

It's a pretty standard policy, actually. They're trying to prevent frivolous lawsuits down the road. Imagine, if you will, that, all the way back in 2007, someone sent Apple an unsolicited idea for an awesome new product called the iPad: it should use the iPhone OS, but be bigger than an iPhone! Basically, it should be an oversized iPod touch, they say.

A couple years pass, and Apple announces...an oversized iPod touch called the iPad! This 9.7" multitouch device ever-so-closely resembles the three year old suggestion. The guy who sent in his unsolicited idea files suit in east Texas suggesting that Apple 'stole' his idea.

Here are some other, similar policies:

http://www.microsoft.com/About/Legal/EN/US/IntellectualPrope...

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/about_canon/standard_display/a...

"The sole purpose of this policy is to avoid potential misunderstandings or disputes when Apple’s products or marketing strategies might seem similar to ideas submitted to Apple."

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