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Apple vs MacOS Rumors: the thick plottens

When is a story's illustration not a story's illustration?

An attempt to re-post an article that Mac Web site MacOS Rumors originally published and later claimed had been pulled at the behest of Apple's legal department isn't quite what it at first appeared.

The copy of the MacOS Rumors was posted on the Apple-hosted mac.com site. It contained what to all intents and purposes appeared to be a crude mock-up of Apple' allegedly upcoming cube-shaped Mac enclosure.

We naturally assumed the picture was part of the missing MacOS Rumors story and later wondered why the heck the pic had been removed from the second site too.

A sign of further Apple interference, perhaps? It seemed possible, since the image contained Apple's trademark logo, just the sort of thing to get Cupertino lawyers rubbing their hands in anticipation.

But not so. The image, it now transpires, had nothing to do with the original MacOS Rumors story. What the heck was it doing there then, you may well ask. According to the pseudonymous 'Alan Smithee', the pic was "NEVER on [MacOS Rumors'] original page. I got it from a person who was in a position to be in contact with Meader [Ryan, owner of MacOS Rumors], who said it was on the original page. This was late at night. I was sleepy. I didn't question it, even though at the time, I couldn't recall ever seeing this picture on Ryan's page".

Which is kind of ironic given that many Mac users dislike MacOS Rumors primarily because it allegedly doesn't question information passed to it.

Ah well, the poor fellow was sleepy. Probably all that energy expended getting all hot and bothered Mac rumour sites. If you don't like it, dude, don't read it - no one's forcing you...

Now, if the picture didn't appear on MacOS Rumors, - and thanks to the Register readers who were kind enough to put us right on this score; and we readily admit we didn't see the story when it was up on MacOS Rumors - our own analysis of the situation needs revising. Not surprising, this, since how were we to know that a picture placed alongside the missing article as if it was a part of it... er... wasn't a part of it.

The continued presence of the original MacOS Rumors article on 'Smithee's' site certainly calls into question the veracity of MacOS Rumors' 'Apple forced us to pull the story' claims - as, more specifically, does 'Jonathan Apple's' successful scheme to get false insider information inserted into the MacOS Rumors story.

Meanwhile, we eagerly await info from our Apple sources on whether the company's lawyers did indeed contact MacOS Rumors - though it's increasingly looking like they didn't... The site itself, we note, has yet to defend itself against the claims of Smithee and co... ®

Related Links

Alan Smithee's Homepage
Exposé: How you can be a Mac OS Rumors Inside Source!

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