They say that the definition of insanity is to expect the same action to result in two different outcomes. If so, those jolly fellows over at M.I.C. Gadget have a past-time of plunging marshmallow-covered fingers into their own self-administered trepanation holes, because just a couple months after they got C&Ded by Apple over their Steve Jobs Ninja Action figure, they were back at it again with the iHub: a USB hub actually featuring Apple’s iconic logo.
Can anyone guess what happened? We certainlyt did, but now, Apple Bitch confirms it: Apple’s lawyers were just all over the iHub from mother day frackin’ one.
Apparently, M.I.C. Gadget sent this email out to people who had ordered an iHub, saying they were stopping sales:
Dear Customer, We are warned by Apple Inc. to stop selling the iHub and pull it down from our store. If you have already made a purchase, you are one of the lucky ones. We ship all orders within 3 working days after payment made but due to the Easter Public Holiday from Apr 22~25, shipping resumes only Apr 26. As we have many orders to process, there will be a slight delay. Delivery takes 10-14 working days after ship out from Hong Kong and tracking will be provided upon ship out. Please accept our apologies and rest assured that we are working hard to rectify this. w/rgds, Cyril Chang
Expected, but a pity. USB hubs are about as boring a genus of gadgets as you can possibly find, but the iHub one was cute. I hope Apple starts making one.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
14 responses to “Apple C&Ds M.I.C. Gadget Over That Darling Little iHub”
They also removed the pictures of the original Jobs action figure, and the Ninja Edition. Both were discontinued for a while, but the pictures are gone, now.
I think the hub is cute also, but isn’t it kind of weird how everyone is going gaga over it when in fact it’s a cheap, and rather crappy USB hub?
Literally the *only* thing it’s got going for it is a glowy Apple logo.
I didn’t buy one because I couldn’t live with myself if I did. Buying something just because it has a product logo on it is a bit lame IMO.
Also, it’s for *sure* made in China at some illegal factory and almost certainly children were involved in the work force, and horrible toxic chemicals too. All that stuff everyone regularly takes Apple to task for.
If Apple starts making one, it will cost $29 (a popular Apple price point) to reproduce the functionality of my dollar store USB hub hiding behind my iMac.
They knew full well Apple would stop their clock on this….also knowing the publicity they would get in the few days it took Apple to respond. Anyone with half a brain in business knows you can’t use another company’s logo and product branding without paying a huge fine for a blatant disregard of patent law.
Not a good way to apply for a job at Apple either.
Available on ebay still.. search iHub
I would buy it. Why? Quality and hopefully something like a magnet or an aluminum chassis. The Apple battery charger and Apple batteries are great. I would love to see a USB hub and that isn’t because I’m a fanboy of any description, it’s purely because most hubs are of poor construction.
I couldn’t agree more with you.