9to5Mac.com did an article that they believed Apple acquired Evernote competitor Catch, Apple later confirmed to Allthings D that they did indeed acquire Catch and then the company was closed down. That was reported in TechCrunch in July. Catch.com was registered in 1996.
With all the talk of the app and it being shutdown, it seems everyone has overlooked the value of a five letter, generic domain name. A name that could be used to really stand out as a brand and easily recognizable. It will be interesting to see what Apple does with the domain going forward now that the company has been shut down.
From Allthings D:
Apple essentially confirmed the acquisitions with the statement it gives when it has bought something: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” the company said in a statement.
BroadMap, like a number of other Apple acquisitions this year, is aimed at improving Apple’s mapping capabilities, while Catch offered (until it was shut down) a note-taking application.
From 9to5Mac
In addition to acquiring BroadMap, it seems likely that Apple bought Catch. Catch was a popular, cross-platform note taking application that has been regarded by many as a competitor to Evernote. Catch, which existed on both iOS and Android, was known for its ability to sync over the cloud, its simple user-interface, its reminders and notifications functionality, and its ability to logically and conveniently sort notes with both text and media including picture and audio files.
Often times they buy them to lock the engineering talent into them versus the chance they will go to competitor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/technology/18talent.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
I believe that Apple has done this, not for the domain, but for the engineers’ team … it’s what’s commonly called an “aqui-hire”
post edit: “acquihire”
Oh agreed they did not do it for just the domain, the domain is just an ancillary benefit.
From 9to5Mac
@Raymond Hackney said, “Oh agreed they did not do it for just the domain, the domain is just an ancillary benefit.”
This is the point, it takes @MHB to note the dot com at all! No mainstream press talk about the one-word classic dot com, Catch.com, which might fetch seven figures, in the right hands. Thanx, @ MHB, for highlighting yet another huge one-word dot com in the news.