Pastebot v1.2 and the Case of the Missing Eyes
- May 11th, 2010
- 87 Comments
Ever since the iPad came out our number one support question has been, “Can I sync more than one device with my Mac at the same time?” The answer as of Pastebot v1.2 is, “Yes you can.”
Version 1.2 lets you connect multiple devices to your Mac at the same time. If you copy something on the Mac it’ll show up on all your connected devices. If you Paste something from your iPhone/iPad, you’ll get the choice of either sending it to the Mac or to your other connected devices. It’s all pretty cool and should make life easier for all of us with multiple devices.
Pastebot has no eyes for you.
You may have noticed Pastebot v1.2 has an updated app icon. About 2 weeks ago we received a letter from a company claiming that our old Pastebot app icon infringed on their trademarked face logo. After consulting with different lawyers, we were given two simple choices. Try to settle with the company or spend upwards of $250k in legal fees to fight it. We feel that the logos, market and customer base are different enough that we aren’t infringing on their trademark, but we don’t want to waste our time and energy in a protracted legal battle. We want to focus on creating software. After much discussion we decided that the best solution for us was to just settle with the company. We originally suggested changing the color of our icon but that wasn’t sufficient enough. Removing the eyes was the only solution that didn’t make Pastebot unrecognizable and appeased the other party.
We’ve been asked not to publicly identify the company, so don’t ask us who it was. I will say that their trademark was issued before Pastebot was even started, so this isn’t a case of a company using trademark to extort another company. Trademark is also an interesting brand of law in which you have to proactively defend against anyone you think is infringing on your rights. So while we don’t agree that we are infringing on their rights, we understand where they are coming from.
We aren’t happy that we had to change the icon, but really didn’t have a good choice. I’m sure that most people won’t be crazy about the change, but by putting this behind us we can continue to focus on our next app.
How about a Cyclops robot
I loved the old icon. I don’t want to upgrade now. Could you possibly design a new icon- if it’s not too much to ask.
Gotta do what you gotta do.
I just upgraded. I’m assuming you’re gonna post Pastebot Sync soonish, right?
Yeah, I’m totally not upgrading. I really liked the old icon and the new one is just a faceless app like all the other ones. Maybe a new can be designed?
@Rick its live now. Just Check for Update and you should be good to go.
@Luis – Anything we tried only made the icon worse. Removing the eyes was the best solution without completely changing it.
@David – We expect a lot of responses like this, but unfortunately this is the only way for us to move forward. We don’t like it any more than you do. :)
Buy why can’t you redesign it? It totally loses the TapBots brand when you take away the eyes.
Awwwwww, now the icon doesn’t look like it belongs, it’s not a (tap)bot anymore. :(
I like the new icon. It looks a lot cleaner.
@Wade – There’s no way to redesign it in a way that will make it better, fit with the rest of the icons, and represent Pastebot at the same time. It’s more important that our app icon is recognizable as Pastebot. You have to believe me when I say this pains me more than anyone. We had to make a very tough decision in this case and feel the end result, while not a good solution, was the best solution in the end.
Why can’t you say who it was? That’s not protected.
Why would you be asked to not identify the company? I’m perplexed here; trademark law must obviously be very complicated as I can’t understand why a company would insist that it had to defend a trademark, with such gusto that it couldn’t reach a settlement, and then turn around to demand it be kept secret.
Well, after the update the icon is still the same on my iPad. It definitely changed on my iPod touch and on iTunes though.
For those of you asking why they can’t name the company that filed the complaint, it was probably a stipulation of their settlement agreement. I’m sure that, with a bit of digging around, you could find the trademark of the other company.
And as far as trademarks go, my understanding is that one does not have to defend a trademark in every case, except those where there is a reasonable presumption of an intent to copy. For instance, an entity violating a trademark would imitate your marks and trick consumers into using their products as opposed to yours.
Anyway, it would still be an expensive legal predicament regardless of the merits of the complaint. I’m sure you tried many different logos before you reached the one you settled on.
As much as I think stuff like this stinks, I understand your reasoning and fully support it. Like you said; your time and effort is better spent working on wonderful & beautiful software. The icon DID look better and more Tapbots’y with the eyes, but it’s still the same wonderful app as before, and that’s what counts when all is said and done. Keep up the great work, I literally giggle every time I think of what you may be cookin’ for the iPad.
So by saying that your icon can’t have eyes, does this mean that your other apps will be losing their eyes/faces? If the answer is no, I apologize if you’ve already brutally pushed through all the frustrating possibilities, but couldn’t you add a mouth or something so that it’s still like a tapbot app?
Words of wisdom : Jailbreak, have your own Pastebot icon goodness :-D
@Wade the other icons are safe, we made sure that they are covered and we don’t have to change them.
@All as far as confidentially clauses they are pretty standard and we went back and forth on a few revisions so that we could at least tell why we are changing the icon.
Ugh. I hate lawyers.
Put a more robot-esque eye: a band across like Star Trek’s visor with a blue light (or two).
Your icon reminds me of Super Bomber Man. No wonder you got your hands slapped!
sad news about the eyes :(
I like the new icon more. It’s less kitschy.
bluetooth syncing between iphone and ipad? please….
First time you’ve had to deal with this so far I assume. Sorry to hear about the potential legal situation. Hang in there guys. You are creating magic for these devices.
In one word: NINTENDO. I’m surprised no-one made the connection. Think Super Marion on the SNES. Think about the hills, the clouds, some of the enemies, some of the power-ups. There. See it by now? Enough said, move along, pick a side-salad, move to the cashier…
Cheers from Greece.
I understand where you guys are coming from, but I still think the unnamed company is/are a bunch of jerks. The new icon is fine though, and I heart you guys so much.
I, for one, don’t think you should do anything further to the icon. Taking out the eyes is sufficient, and it still retains your excellent, instantly-recognizable design. I’m just glad you guys were able to make a huge impression on the community before this ugly business came about. You’ve already proven you’re truly awesome developers, and a minor change to this icon doesn’t alter that fact.
Best of luck, and I can’t wait to see what you do next.
I was thinking along the same lines of Efthymis…but not Mario. I was thinking Bomberman…am I right or am I right?
http://www.hudsonentertainment.com/bml/
They were just simply jealous seeing an exeptionally creative and successfull little company and wanted to make a quick buck. Nothing new, this sadly happens all the time. That’s just how many boring people function. They can’t create, so they have to take it away or destroy it.
And when you quickly gave up the fight, they noticed they’d embarass themselves whithout even getting $$$ out of it.
You used to work for Oakley? Maybe Jim should buy out the logo for you since he’s doing pretty well ;-) Especially with his upcoming big release…
Sorry that you had that hassle, still, it doesn’t detract from a fantastic sapp that has made life so much easier for me.
This is bull. I’m not upgrading. First they shoved Obamacare down our throats. Lately the Euro bailout. And now… the final straw. Taking away Pastebots eyes. This aggression will not stand, man. I’m forming the Pastebot Party. Who’s with me??
My guess: http://www.creative-manager.com/
“My guess: http://www.creative-manager.com/”
Bingo. The arch enemy of pastebots has been spotted.
I hope there are no significant feature additions in the near future because I’m not upgrading in order to keep my icon as-is.
Tapbots, you have to figure out how to make the icon a “bot” again. Not all robots have eyes.
Oh, that Creative Manager thing is quite similar. I could see why they’d consider there to be confusion.
Just a bit of bad luck I guess. I feel your pain though.
I like the change. I have all three of your apps and the change helps me distinguish Pastrbot from Weight. I would like to see an iPad HD version for the iPad’s full screen real estate. Thanks for your good work. Now I’ll try getting my MBP, iPhone and iPad all working together with PasteBot, a terrific app!
How about this for conspiracy theories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MacOS_original_logo.svg
Modify the .ipa with the old icon. That’s what I did….
Simple solution:
Use another color besides blue. Add an entire face, not just eyes.
How could a company be so robotic in their pursuit of a trademark? I think that they should scrap that policy immediately. If not, the whole planet will soon go to ruin!
As a Cockney would say, “Who could Adam & Eve it?”
The executive who objected probably sits on a sofa all day watching cartoons. He should take pity on people with real jobs and try writing some iPhone applications…
Ultimately if I can get used to my iPad being called iPad I can definitely get used to the no eyes bot. Keep making kick ass apps gents.
I hope you trademarked the tapbots logo. Just in case someone comes along and asks to remove the eyes too.
I refuse to upgrade even though I have an iPhone and an ipad. I do not believe you when you say there is no way to keep the pastebot icon in line with the other icons and represent pastebot at the same time. You are looking at this thing too closely and I think an outside point of you would do you good. Have a contest to replace the icon using the ery guidelines you stated.
Well it’s sad you had to change the icon. I have pastebot right next to weightbot and convertbot and now it looks kind odd. I recommend designing a new icon that will somehow not infringe the trademark but still look similar to the other bots.
I’m so disappointed, it’s not a bot anymore. :(
I’m disappointed that they bullied you into making this change. I’m going to miss the eyes.
I miss the eyes. I don’t want to upgrade. He doesn’t look like a tapbot anymore. I was his little face back. Can’t you remake him?
Great stuff, really awesome feature.
Hello, I like the new icon. I think that it looks cleaner.
For those jailbreakers out there you can install this little winterboard theme I made which will put the icon back to the old way. Sorry, no instructions, you have to figure it out for yourself.
http://web.me.com/greg.estes/filechute/Old%20Pastebot%20Icon.theme.zip
Thanks for the communication, staying focused and making AWESOME apps. Keep it up!
you tapbot guys have my congrats for releasing yet another great update; thank you !
sure the icon is different and it hurts as you put of love and efforts in its design, but hey the new features are more important to me. keep up the good works !
btw. I love the generic gravatar ;)
Not upgrading because the logo has changed?
I’ve obviously missed something; I bought the app for what it does, not how cute/robot-like the logo was.
Guys–love the work you do (the core programming work, I mean–not just the awesome design work). But just keep your heads on the software. That’s what the majority of us appreciate.
I’m curious why you didn’t go with the Pastebot icon from the sync screen
Maybe its MacKeeper? http://mackeeperapp.com/
Honestly, I hated the “eyes” part of the logo and am happy to see it go away. I’m sure you guys will come up with something even better.
I always thought the Pastebot icon looked a bit out of place in relation to the other two bots. It didn’t have the “EVE” look of a black screen on a white body. Now that the eyes are gone, the difference is even more stark.
How about revisiting the icon altogether and somehow integrating the clipboard inside of a bot’s body? I’m sure Mark could do better, but here’s a quick mockup of what I was thinking:
http://imgur.com/YYPML.png
That’s not too shabby Salman, I think it is possibly still to close to the companies logo if it was the one mentioned earlier :(
So then you might want to think about removing the eyes from the Pastebot on your homepage graphic as well.
Or is that somehow considered different, and you are ok to keep that one??
I miss the eyes, please create a new logo with eyes
Why don’t you use this guy’s face?
http://tapbots.com/img/company_promos/blog.png
@Alex – The homepage is a cartoon illustration, not a logo or icon.
Ridiculous.
Clearly this is the third app of a series and in no way related to the other company. Silly, and sadly reflective of how the world works these days….. money money money… protect protect protect……mine mine mine….
I do think you guys are so talented it wouldnt be too difficult or time consuming to bring it back into line with the other bot app icons….. I miss the eyes ….. but continue to love the app! One of the best iphone apps!
Please hurry with the MoneyBot, MailBot, NotesBot, ToDoBot, …. WipeMyAssBot etc etc!! :-)
TapBots R Brilliant!
ps.
Someone should start a Facebook campaign to have the eyes re-instated in some way, isnt that the thing to do these days? …..
I think the loss of the eyes does diminish my association with the app and im surprised that you guys, seemingly being perfectionists, are going to leave it as is…..
Well, I am not upgrading. Not because I can’t live with the new
icon, but because of using the new one feels like submitting to a bully.
At least thats what I can do, futile as it may be.
Instead of a clipboard could we get an actual robot icon. I rather like the one in the background when you boot the app up. How about slapping on a “hello my name is paste” sticker on his chassis and putting him on my home screen.
:(
I loved the eyes. It gave the icon personality and makes smile every time I open Pastebot.
Please could you redesign the icon to be a bot once again, it looks so lifeless now.
I miss the icon too. I think we should have a picture of a robot, keeping the silver and blue look. Until then, I may have found a solution. I googled and found a cracked version of pastebot, and downloaded that, and synced it to my ipod. I am looking through the files using iFile and am going to grab the icon, which I have done before and email it to myself. Then, after upgrading I am quite confident that I will be able to delete the updated icon, and replace it with the old one. Then I will have the old app icon on the update. Clever, huh? If you need more details or want to hear if it works, and want me to tell you how just email me. [email protected]
Also, can someone provide me with a link to the simmilar icon? I would like to see it for myself.
Ignore those comments. You could just install the winterboard theme.
When I see the large version of this icon I don’t like it anymore but when I see the iPhone size version I really like it now, it looks simpler now.
Please develop a Windows sync and others, like me, will surely buy the app!
i’d like to know if there is a possible copy and paste
from my mac to iPhone/iPod/iPad.
Is there a way I can do these tasks from
this app to portable device noted above?
thanks
@Gary yes, this is what PasteBot was built to do.
@All, I haven’t upgraded to the new version. I’ll be keeping the icon with eyes. Might as well just call the app “Paste” if the eyes aren’t on the icon! :(
I refused to update the app for a while because of this but eventually caved. I miss the eyes. :[
Two things I can’t wait to see in Pastebot 1.3:
1. Native iPad version.
2. Sync with multiple computers (not only iDevices)
If you were to implement those two features, I could finally stop using the clipboard manager I currently use on my computers.
Did you have to pay anything to them? If not, you can be seriously lucky. In Germany things are far worse then that. You receive a kind of disciplinary warning letter called “Abmahnung” where you have to pay a few thousand bucks to their lawyer immediately, just because he wasted 2 minutes to enter your address into a template.
And then, German law forces you to accept an former punish-proven declaration to cease and desist, of about 100.000 EUR for even the most irrelevant things. And then, for every single instance of violation of this guarantee, you will have to pay this amount. No joke. Every single instance. It’s enforced by law. Germany is a seriously profitable place for rude companies and lawyers. You can’t found an iPhone app dev company in Germany without having an corporation with limited liability under the hood. And for every new product you make, you should found a new company – just to not loose everything. Be happy you live in the US.
It took me a little while but I finally got used to it :P
But why just the pastebot one and not the others?
Is the company name, BOMBERMAN??
Can you by any chance enable fullscreen view of an image in the future release? That’s the thing i’m missing.
With Calcbot being released today, I noticed it had the usual Tapbot eyes. Would still really like to see some form of agreement with the copyright holder to allow you guys to use the old icon, it still looks out of place to me.
Great app!!!
Seeing the icon for Calcbot makes me even more upset that Pastebot had its eyes gouged out.
Please figure out a way to get the eyes back! Poor guy can’t see where he’s going!
Too bad about the missing eyes. Since the problem was a clipboard with eyes, then I’d say go with something else with eyes rather than an eye-less clipboard.
As an aside, will the sync program ever be released for Windows? I’d LOVE the option of copying something on my iPhone and using it on my PC.
Salman’s version ain’t bad. I think if you darken the whole icon, like you’ve done with calcbot, then you avoid the colour similarities with assumed competitor. Also, the ‘clip’ has one black circle connecting it to the board in the current icon, what if that was made into two and you make the whole clip bit have eyes/face?
Got weightbot and love it, excellent work. Will get your other apps next time I get some itunes vouchers!