Yahoo! announced today that it has acquired Konfabulator – the original widget system for OS X – which it will give away for free as a means of promoting its APIs.
Not widely reported, however, was an uncomfortable incident that occurred during the acquisition.
According to sources, negotiations between Yahoo! and Konfabulator creator Arlo Rose started slowly, but soon began to move faster and faster, building to a crescendo. When they finally reached their ultimate climax, Rose inadvertently blurted out Apple’s name.
Parties from both sides shifted uncomfortably in their chairs for a moment before Rose blurted out “Oh, my god, I’m so sorry!”
Rose insisted Apple “meant nothing” to him and said that he was totally committed to Yahoo!, even going so far as to rub the company reassuringly on the back.
Privately, however, Rose admitted that he still had lingering feelings for Apple, the company which has twice put him out of business.
“I don’t know why I can’t let go,” Rose admitted. “Apple has been terrible to me. And, yet, somehow I want more…
“We had good times! There were some great times! I mean… I know it was abusive. But there was love, too. Hot, JavaScripty love.”
For its part, Yahoo! expressed some reservations about getting into a long-term relationship with Konfabulator.
“This was really shocking and disappointing,” the company said. “Arlo seemed genuinely interested in me. I thought I wasn’t just a big pile of hundred dollar bills to him. Now I’m not so sure.
“I don’t want this to be a rebound relationship.”
Disturbingly, a confidant of Rose’s indicates he has been talking of another project for the Mac operating system – which will consist of a dock replacement and multiple desktops – just in the last few days.
“He’ll never be over Apple,” the source said.