Editorial Commentary

Editorial Commentary: Yesterday was a pretty slow day for exciting Mac news. I wish I had a review handy but I don't, sorry. Doing some holiday shopping took me to our local Best Buy--yech, the oft-derided local CompUSA is almost MacHeaven compared with our Best Buy. A number of readers wrote me regarding the Creation Labs/Goo Software issue mentioned yesterday (for the best summary see MacInTouch's special page). One reader mentioned that Wired Magazine similarly leaned on a publication once called Women's Wire over the trademark issue. Well, at least they were both periodicals. In so far as I know, Creative Labs only makes hardware with the word "blaster" and Goo's former "Spam Blaster" was software. I'm trying to figure this out--maybe it's because both types of products have "...ware" in them or because they both work in computers? Let's see then, computers work in buildings and so do windows. Hey, can Anderson Windows send a cease and desist letter to Microsoft for using "Windows" in Windows 95? Now, that would be fun--more like a David after Goliath. Many said Goo Software could've just changed the name of its former "Spam Blaster." I'm sure that's right. How about "Spam Buster?" ... and risk the legal muscle of the "Dust Buster" trademark owner? Nope, both work in a home. "Spam Slammer," now there's a good one. Wait a minute, slamming is consuming in one sense of the word so there's the owner of edible Spam trademark to worry about. Or maybe something like "Unwanted Email Butt Kicker" would be safe ... no wonder Goo just went out of business instead of going crazy....