Sosumi

"Sosumi" is one of the system sounds introduced in Apple Inc.'s Macintosh System 7 operating system in 1991, an extremely short sample of a xylophone, which gained notoriety in computer folklore as a cheeky response to a long-running "Apple Corps v. Apple Computer" trademark conflict. The sound has been included in all subsequent versions of Mac OS, including Mac OS X.

During the development of System 7, the two Apples concluded a settlement agreement from an earlier dispute when Apple added a sound synthesis chip to the IIgs. As a result, Apple Computer was prohibited from using their trademark on "creative works whose principal content is music".

When new sounds for System 7 were created, the sounds were reviewed through Apple's legal department and they objected that one of the new system sound alerts had a name that was "too musical", as per the recent settlement. The creator of the new sound alerts for System 7 and the [http://www.whitwell.ndo.co.uk/musicthing/sounds/macstartup.mp3 Macintosh Startup Sound] , Jim Reekes, had grown frustrated with the legal scrutiny and first quipped it should be named "Let It Beep", a pun on The Beatles' "Let It Be". When someone remarked that that wouldn't pass legal's approval, he remarked "so sue me." After a brief reflection, he resubmitted the sound's name as "sosumi" (a homophone of "so sue me"), telling the legal department that the name was Japanese and had nothing to do with music.

"Sosumi" exists as an inside joke on Apple Inc.'s website as the name of a CSS typographical style used for legal notices such as the copyright notice.

"Sosumi" is also the name of a Japanese car in "A Frolic of His Own", William Gaddis' satirical novel about American litigious culture.

See also

* Apple Corps v. Apple Computer
* Apple Libel dispute with Carl Sagan for a similar revenge-by-pun anecdote

References

* [http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/judgmentsfiles/j2468/apple-v-apple.htm Judgment in Apple Corps Limited vs Apple Computer, Inc.] 2004 EWHC 768 (Ch) in Case No: HC-2003-C02428, Royal Courts of Justice
* [http://www.boingboing.net/2005/03/24/early_apple_sound_de.html Early Apple sound designer Jim Reekes corrects Sosumi myth] (Xeni Jardin, "Boing Boing", 24 March 2005)
* [http://www.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/05/08/beatles.apple.ap/index.html CNN article of Apple Computer winning suit against Apple Corps]