Apple looks to squeeze out Orange as new backer of prestigious literary award

“Apple, the US technology giant behind the iPad and the iPhone, is understood to be looking at backing the prestigious award, which recognises novels written by women,” Katherine Rushton reports for The Telegraph.

“The prize, which was founded in 1996, has been supported by Orange, the mobile phone operator, since it was launched,” Rushton reports. “However, the firm, which has since merged with T-Mobile to become Everything Everywhere, controversially withdrew its sponsorship in May.”

Rushton reports, “At the time, literary circles joked that Apple or BlackBerry could step into the breach to preserve the fruity theme, and quipped that they wanted to be able to ‘compare Apples with Oranges.’ Now, in evidence that life is, if not stranger, then at least as strange as fiction, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that Apple has had talks with the award organisers. Sources said a number of companies, including Kobo, the ebook producer, had also indicated their interest but that discussions with Apple were the most advanced… It is not clear whether Apple would give its own name to the women’s fiction prize, or would name the award after one of its products, such as its iPad device or iBookstore.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Sam” for the heads up.]

17 Comments

    1. Been to Europe several times recently, spent about two months there so far this year in England, Italy, and France. The thing I’ve noticed is the overwhelming dominance of the iPhone. Everywhere in every hand is a 4 or 4S, and several days might go by between sightings of an android, or bb, or a feature phone.

  1. I hope Apple would not rename the ‘Orange Prize For Fiction’ with another temporal marketing gimmick name. How about a name that has no marketing connection? How about a name that can last on into the future without regard to whoever is supporting it financially?

    Is there anything more absurd than the sports stadiums, concert halls, etc., that switch names every year as sponsors jump in and out with their money? Why do we put up with this garbage? How about we name and rename our babies according to what company wants to sponsor its baby clothes year after year? (0_o)

    So long Kodak Theatre.
    Hello Dolby Theatre.

    “Hi. This is my daughter ‘Abercrombie’, formerly ‘Garanimal’.” Yeah, that makes sense.

    1. Well, Orange is commercial so I don’t see any reason to maintain ‘Orange’ as part of the award … inasmuch as you have no regard for commercial motives.

      Anyone who wishes to name a project in perpetuity can do so by placing enough money in an endowment to generate sufficient annual income to cover all costs of operating. Orange company evidently didn’t do that, but financed the award on a pay-as-you-go basis. So both Orange and award organizers knew from the outset that someday the award would be renamed.

      Maybe Apple will name the award for Mona Simpson, a very good novelist who just happens to be Steve Jobs’s sister. She is mentioned prominently in the Steve Jobs biography.

      1. …by placing enough money in an endowment to generate sufficient annual income to cover all costs of operating.

        Yes, the ideal, a full endowment. Naming it after Mona Simpson or another great woman writer is a great concept. Thank you!

  2. How can Apple ‘squeeze out’ a sponsor that previously ‘controversially withdrew’ it’s sponsorship?

    Mustn’t let misrepresenting the story stand in the way of a brilliant play on words. Headlines are for introducing or succinctly summarising stories, not making jokes, even if they are highly original and keep us laughing the whole day.

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