| Cult of Mac

Why the departure of Apple designer Daniel Coster matters

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Daniel Coster, fourth from left, is leaving Apple's vaunted industrial design team.
Daniel Coster, fourth from left, is leaving Apple's vaunted industrial design team.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

The departure of veteran Apple industrial designer Daniel Coster is significant because, like the Mafia, no one ever leaves Jony Ive’s design studio.

Coster, a core member of Apple’s design team for more than 20 years, is perhaps only the third member of Ive’s tight-knit industrial design group to leave in almost two decades. And one of the others died.

Apple forced to pay $450 million after Supreme Court rejects e-book appeal

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Apple's eBook appeal is just getting started. Photo: Apple
Apple's e-book legal battle is finally over.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s nearly three year legal battle over charges that it conspired with publishers to raise the price of e-books is finally coming to end.

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Apple’s appeal, which leaves the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in place. Apple will finally have to pay $450 million as part of the settlement.

Why iOS 8 turned iBooks into a must-read

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Apple's eBook appeal is just getting started. Photo: Apple
Apple's eBook appeal is just getting started. Photo: Apple

It seems like there’s a revolt among a segment of diehard Apple fans every time a new app comes preloaded in iOS. No one likes bloatware, and Apple is usually good about keeping crap out of its software. The main problem is that iOS apps can’t be deleted and phone storage these days is precious.

Yet it turns out that choosing to include iBooks as a stock app in iOS 8 was the best thing Apple’s ever done for its ebooks service.

Apple May Face $500 Million Bill From E-Book Price Fixing Case

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Apple was found guilty of e-book price fixing by federal judge Denise Cote earlier this month, and it looks like the total bill for colluding with book publishers for the launch of the iBookstore will be pretty steep.

The five publishers in the case – Hachette, Penguin, Random House, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster – have already paid out $166 million,  according to figures obtained by GigaOm. Based on the settlement payments publishers have already shelled out, it looks like Apple might have to pay $500 million to the states and class action lawyers in the case.

Build Your Knowledge And Business With The Online Entrepreneur eBook Bundle [Deals]

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CoM - The Online Entrepreneur eBook Bundle

There are a lot of budding entrepreneurs that are taking their ideas online – but many of them do not have the tools or skills to make a real go of it. Simply surfing the web looking for tips and tricks isn’t enoguh these days, you need to have more at your disposal than that. And Cult of Mac Deals has put together a deal that will really help out anyone who is looking to build their knowledge – and a business – online.

The Online Entrepreneur eBook Bundle contains three eBooks that will help turn your website into a marketing dynamo. And you’ll get them for just $20!

Apple’s Early iPad Prototype Had 12-Inch Screen, Was 3 Times Thicker Than iPad 2

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This early iPad prototype was a mammoth.
This early iPad prototype was a mammoth.

Remember that early iPad prototype we showed you yesterday, built between 2002 and 2004, which looked like an old white iBook with a touchscreen? Now some new shots have surfaced that show a comparison between this and the iPad 2, and there are some interesting differences.

First of all, Apple originally built the iPad with a 12-inch display, and it was huge.

You Can Buy This Funky Looking Apple Prototype eMate 300 For Only $8,500!

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This crazy thing is like a crossbreed between the Newton and iBook

If you’ve ever wanted to own a rare piece of Apple history that looks like totally rad then this new eBay listing for a Prototype Apple eMate 300 might be the perfect. The only eMates Apple produced had a solid dark green casing rather than the clear casing you see above. The seller estimates only 6 or so of these clear eMate 300s were produced and it looks quite similar to the first generation iBook that derived a lot of inspiration from the eMate series.

If you got fat stacks of cash that you’re just looking to throw around, you can buy this bad boy on eBay right now for a whopping $8,499.00. Take a peak after the jump for even more pictures of Apple’s crazy touchscreen eMate prototype.

Museum Pieces: Smithsonian Wants Your Apple Gear

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In a bid to preserve some of the best modern industrial design for future generations, Smithsonian’s National Design Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt, is asking Apple fans to donate their old and not-so-old devices.

Aptly, webmaster William Berry calls the request a “wish list:”

Newton Message Pad (1993)
iBook (2001, white)
iPod, 1st generation (2001)
iMac G5 (2004)
Macbook Pro (2006)
iPhone, 1st generation (2007)
Macbook Air (2008)

While you can get rid of something that has given up the ghost, your device should still be in excellent (external) condition, with original parts and power cords or batteries.  All donors will be listed on the credit line whenever the works are displayed or published.
The  generous-minded can get in touch with Cynthia Trope, Associate Curator of Product Design and Decorative Arts, at tropeci@si.edu.

What, if anything, would you be willing to part with for a museum?