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if (a.v.hazIOS) {
	a.w.setTimeout(function () {
		a.w.location = "pinit12://" + e
	}, 25);
	a.w.location = "http://" + e
} else a.w.open("http://" + e, "pin" + f, a.a.pop)

Pinterest’s URL scheme is pinit12, I’m guessing 12 is a version number. A little more digging around and I came up with a list of working parameters.

URL Scheme: pinit12://pinterest.com/pin/create/bookmarklet/?

• media: a direct link to the image or I think an encoded image (base64?)
• url: the URL of the source website where the image was found
• description: 500 characters max
• is_video: self describing

Since this code isn’t officially supported it is subject to change, and thankfully there is a way to future proof your app from having a broken link. You are able to check if a URL can be opened without actually opening it in iOS. The trick then is prepping your URL, seeing if it can be opening, and only then displaying the option to share with Pinterest. Using a UIActionSheet, with ARC enabled, this is what I came up with.

int count = 1;
UIActionSheet *sheet = [[UIActionSheet alloc] initWithTitle:@"" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:nil destructiveButtonTitle:nil otherButtonTitles:@"Email", nil];
 
NSString *post = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"pinit12://pin/create/bookmarklet/?media=%@",@"http://yourdomain.com/yourimage.jpg"];
NSString *escapedStringURL = [post stringByAddingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:escapedStringURL];
 
if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:url])
{
    [sheet addButtonWithTitle:@"Pinterest"];
    ++count;
}
 
[sheet addButtonWithTitle:@"Cancel"];
[sheet setCancelButtonIndex:count];

This way, in case the URL scheme changes from pinit12 in the future it won’t break your application.

It has been added as a URL scheme to http://wiki.akosma.com/IPhone_URL_Schemes, most links seem to hit that listing. Thanks @akosmasoftware!

Pinterest has created a new type of social network that connects its users together as pinners, and at the same time is focused on being a resource, and repository for each user’s own interests. Andy Paras spoke with several local pinners in Charleston, SC, and found they were each using it for different purposes. Genna Shelnutt had created a board of pins she found motivating for her to hit the gym, and she also uses Pinterest in the grocery, to refer back to recipes she had seen and wanted to try. Jeny Tyler used Pinterest to find and catalog design inspirations for her new nursery. Cheryl Smithem is even consulting with clients on how to use Pinterest to increase brand awareness (Paras). Other services may have handled each one of these cases, but nothing before Pinterest has really put it all together in a way that was this easy or engaging. Some users were concerned, after connecting to Pinterest with their Facebook or Twitter account, that Pinterest had crossed a privacy line by automatically following some of their friends who are already Pinterest users. This may be an annoyance, but Pinterest made unfollowing other users easy, and they now allow new users to sign up without connecting to Facebook or Twitter, which allows users to stay selectively secluded. Venture Beat writer Sean Ludwig reported that Pinterest traffic has “surged 50 percent between February and January of [2012],” making it now the third largest social network (Ludwig). Pinterest’s explosive growth and happy users are a testament to what a great service it provides. This speedy growth hasn’t kept them from addressing any issues and concerns as they evolve.

The biggest issue Pinterest currently has and will continue to face is that of copyright. Photographers correctly assert that copyright of their pictures is important and inherent when they are first taken, but are wrong in saying that Pinterest and their users are violating copyright by pinning the photographers’ images. Pinterest is protected by the section 512(c) amendment to Title 17 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, that is a safe harbor provision, which protects Pinterest from any copyright violations of their users so long as they do not obtain direct financial benefit from these images, do not have direct knowledge of infringing material, and act on official take-down notices from copyright owners “expeditiously” (17 USC § 512). Photographers have suggested that Pinterest operates in a fashion similar to the music sharing service Napster, which previously provided a very fluid and easy way for any lay-person to download music without compensating the copyright holder. When Napster attempted to use the safe harbor provision, they were ultimately overruled due to the fact that their financial success was tied to the distribution of illegal material. Each time a song was shared on Napster the artist lost revenue, because the person who downloaded it without paying would have ordinarily been a consumer of their product. On the other hand, with Pinterest, the users who are viewing and sharing these images were not consumers of the photographer to begin with, so the photographer is not losing revenue by his or her images being seen. This lack of impact on the value or loss of revenue for the photographer supports the user’s re-use of photographs as falling under fair use per Title 17 section 107(4), which states that when “determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include . . . the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work” (17 USC § 107). Furthermore, section 107(1) states another consideration for fair use is the “purpose and character,” which, in the case of the vast majority of Pinterest users, is in the spirit of sharing things they love (17 USC § 107). Both the safe harbor provision section 512 and fair use section 107 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act protect Pinterest and their pinners from copyright litigation.

Pinterest undoubtedly creates a unique environment and untapped marketing opportunity for photographers. While Facebook, Twitter and Google+ allowed their users to post photos, even copyright infringing ones, the purpose has always been sharing with others. In Pinterest the act of creating and filling boards with inspiration or collections is more about the self. Pinning a beautiful landscape to a board full of vacation ideas is about documenting thoughts and inspiration for the pinner to later reference. Some photographers have commented that the act someone takes of pinning their work to Pinterest is taking control out of their hands. They fear that with or without their consent their content, if it interests a pinner, will be posted to Pinterest. Though this is probably true, there is a way for photographers to take control of the situation and benefit from Pinterest. By embracing the service and being the first to pin his or her work, a photographer can become the initial source and have all repins be directed back to themselves and to their web sites. Photographers need to make sure they are uploading photos of a quality they are comfortable with having shared online, because data on the Internet can persist forever. By becoming comfortable with the process of sharing images online and on Pinterest, a photographer can relax about any fears for someone claiming ownership of their work. Ownership of the pinned images and the right to re-sell pins is another concern that has been raised. According to the International Business Times, the Pinterest terms of service agreement expresses that all users who pin images consent that they have permission or right to allow Pinterest to sell those images. This was a big red flag that caused the Boston Business Journal to delete their Pinterest board full of architectural designs (“Pinterest Copyright”). The wording of the terms of service was a valid cause for concern, and the liability involved in accepting those terms was enormous. Pinterest reacted quickly though, announcing an updated Terms of Service on March 23, 2012 that would go into effect April 6,2012. They cleared up the re-selling of content saying, “Selling content was never our intention and we removed this from our updated Terms” (Silbermann). This should put any photographers’ worries at ease that thought Pinterest was going to be profiting directly from their work.

Users of Pinterest are enamored with the service, and Pinterest has been quick to address all concerns. Pinners will continue to use their pin boards for all manner of purpose, and can do so without fear of copyright or terms of service implications. Photographers who were wary of the old terms of service can be assured that their concerns are being addressed. Those savvy photographers, who are interested in exposing his or her work to a new, and previously untapped market, can be the first movers and shakers, establishing the authenticity of their work on Pinterest. Pinterest will continue listening and adjusting their terms of service as new concerns arise, and as they expand into uncharted territory, we can all be right there, confidently pinning along the way.

Works Cited

“17 USC § 107 – Limitations on Exclusive Rights: Fair Use.” Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

“17 USC § 512 – Limitations on Liability Relating to Material Online.” Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

“Pinterest Copyright, TOS: To Agree or Not To Agree.” International Business Times, 2 Feb. 2012: Regional Business News. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

Ludwig, Sean. “Pinterest now the third most popular social network after Facebook & Twitter.” VentureBeat. 5 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

Paras, Andy. “Pinterest: Pinning hopes and dreams.” Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC) 13 Feb. 2012: Newspaper Source. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

Silbermann, Ben. “Updated Pinterest Terms.” Oh, How Pinteresting: Pinterest, 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012.

Electric Express

The Lionel Manufacturing Company was started in 1900 by Joshua Lionel Cowen, and he went on to create Lionel’s first model train in 1901, the Electric Express, which was a battery-powered cheese-box for a department store window display (G. Souter and J. Souter, Classic Lionel 16). It wasn’t originally marketed to consumers, but that quickly changed and by 1903, the Electric Express, now made of metal, was Lionel’s first complete train set, coming packaged with an unpowered car (G. Souter and J. Souter, Classic Lionel 16,19). Dennis Karwatka reported that it was in this year that Lionel also started to make a new engine, the No. 5 electric locomotive, painted to look like a locomotive that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had just put into service. Having this scale version of an in-service locomotive was a big success, “[starting] a craze for expensive models that continued for years” and set the direction for future design choices (Karwatka 12). Lionel continued to innovate during these years with a three rail track system, the Standard Gauge, in 1906 and an outlet powered transformer, both of which eliminated short circuits in the track. In 1915 Lionel came out with O gauge trains and a cheaper to manufacture track, which would eventually dominate the Lionel brand (Fillon). Lionel had established itself in the model train market and it looked like the best was yet to come.

1934 Mickey Mouse

America entered World War I in 1917, and Lionel remained in step with the time, releasing “… an O-gauge armored train complete with a cannon-equipped locomotive” for the children at home (Lionel sec. 1910s). Even though America didn’t use armored trains in the war, Lionel used the slogan “Bring Up the Siege Guns on Tracks! Best fun yet, boys! Now, there’s bushels of fun ahead!” as part of the armored train marketing (G. Souter and J. Souter, Lionel 33). Lionel incorporated in 1918, officially becoming a corporation and changing the company name to the Lionel Corporation. Lionel continued to gain in popularity and success and “had sold over a million … train sets by 1921” (Karwatka 12). Lionel and another competitor, American Flyer, purchased a common competitor named Ives Manufacturing in 1928 (G. Souter and J. Souter, Lionel 43) to utilize Ives’ reversing unit that would allow the model trains to travel forwards and in reverse (Lionel sec. 1920s). Lionel was doing very well with “… profits in 1929 [standing] at nearly $2.3 million …” and it looked as though they could do no wrong (G. Souter and J. Souter, Classic Toy 67). When the stock market crashed, it hit everyone very hard and Lionel was no exception, going into receivership in 1934 to avoid bankruptcy (Lionel sec. 1930s). The article “Lionel Line” in Time magazine reported in 1935 that Lionel had approached Walt Disney the previous year and negotiated the rights to make a Mickey & Minnie wind-up handcar “to scoot around Lionel tracks” (“Lionel Line”). It was an instant success, selling 235,000 handcars that winter at $1 each. In a matter of eight short months all of Lionel’s creditors were paid and the judge who presided over the receivership said, “’This was the most successful receivership in the history of this court.’” (“Lionel Line”). With the war and depression behind them, Lionel started to pick up steam again and began producing more animated accessories which, appeared in 1940, including a “No. 164 log loader, with [a] working conveyor belt” (Lionel sec. 1940s).

Lionel Wartime Paper Train

Some of this momentum was lost in 1942 when, America being well into World War II, “Lionel cease[d] production of electric trains and [built] compasses and compass cases for the war” (Lionel sec. 1940s). Lionel didn’t stop producing trains all together and in 1943 released a paper train set complete with paper track, locomotive, tender, boxcar, gondola, and caboose (G. Souter and J. Souter, Lionel 69). At the same time Lionel was putting out a Railroad Planning Book and Model Builder magazine so fathers and sons could plan for new model train layouts to come after the war (Lionel sec. 1940s). The paper train may not have been a lasting success, but Lionel was busy working on new concepts and ideas for locomotives and accessories to put back into production after the war was over. Mike Fillon wrote for Popular Mechanics that, in 1946, Lionel released a large collection of products, including a smoking mechanism in their steam engines. Not all their war-time innovations were successful though, such as the Lionel Electronic Set which was controlled by a new Electronic Control Unit that sent signals to receivers placed in each car on the track. This new advanced system ended up being problematic and was discontinued by 1949. That same year locomotives were being die-cast instead of the steel stamped method and injection-molded plastic was being used for rolling stock. In 1950 Lionel introduced Magne-Traction, which helped the locomotives grip the rails more, which enabled trains to go faster without flying off the track. 1953 marked the peak of Lionel’s history; they had recorded their largest profit for the year and were now the world’s largest toy manufacturer (Fillon).

1957 Lady Lionel

Lionel was on top of the world in the mid-1950s. Although families continued setting up their Lionel train layouts at Christmas time, interest in model trains had started to decline (Fillon). Lionel made several attempts to diversify their model train line-up including a now infamous “Lady Lionel” in 1957 that featured a pastel pink locomotive and tender car to try and attract girls but they didn’t make a big impact (Doyle 51). Joshua Lionel Cowen resigned from the Board of Directors in 1958, at the age of 81 (Somonelli 72) and Lionel’s Lionel Train History webpage states that just one year later in 1959, he and his son sold their remaining share of Lionel to Roy Cohn. Through the 1960s, Lionel seemed to be just barely staying afloat and filed for bankruptcy in 1967, just two years after Joshua Lionel Cowen passed away. In 1969 Lionel licensed its name to General Mills who, by 1973, put Lionel into one of its subsidiaries named Fundimensions. They went on to put out new trains and reproductions that were as good if not better than the originals. In 1977 Walt Disney and the Lionel brand teamed up again on a train set named the Mickey Mouse Express, which revitalized the Lionel brand in the minds of consumers for a short time. With profits and interest in model trains continuing to decline, General Mills was looking to unload its Lionel assets by 1986. They sold the brand to Richard Kughn, a real estate developer, who established the brand under a new name, Lionel Trains (Lionel sec. 1950s, sec. 1960s, sec. 1970s, sec. 1980s). Richard J. Kughn marked the first owner of Lionel since Joshua Lionel Cowen left that was a real model train enthusiast and owned “one of the country’s largest toy train collections” (Schleicher 35). Lionel released a new audio system called Railsounds™ in 1989, showing renewed vigor as a company. In 1992 Lionel Trains teamed up with another model train enthusiast, musician Neil Young, to create Liontech. In 1994 a new control system called TrainMaster™ brought back the functionality of the earlier 1946 Lionel Electronic Set (Lionel sec. 1990s). Lionel was sold in 1995 by Richard Kughn and is now Lionel LLC. As a sign of Lionel returning to its former glory they published the first fully illustrated catalog of their products in over 30 years in 1996 and continue to publish one annually (Fillon).

Lionel catalogs, chock-full of new model train layouts, freight trains, passenger cars and animated accessories, continue to fill the holiday wish lists of American children and adults alike. Lionel model trains have been around for over 100 years and have endured war, depression and uncertainty of ownership, a testament to their commitment to model train enthusiasts and America’s love of Lionel. Although ownership of the brand changed hands many times in the second half of the last century, their product quality never faltered and Lionel continues to make incredible model trains today. The Lionel brand of model trains is as strong now as it was through the 1950s and will be a part of American history into the twenty first century. Future generations can count on Lionel model trains to inspire their imaginations.

Works Cited

Doyle, David. Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains 1945-1969 2^nd Edition. Iola: krause, 2006. Google Book Search. Web. 25 Feb. 2012

Fillon, Mike. “Lionel Trains.” Popular Mechanics 178.4 (2001): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2012

Karwatka, Dennis. “Joshua Lionel Cowen and Lionel Model Trains.” Tech Directions 66.4 (2006): 12. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2012

“Lionel Line.” Time 25.5 (1935): 66. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2012.

Lionel Train History, Lionel Past and Present. Lionel, 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2012

Schleicher, Robert. Modern Lionel Trains. St. Paul: MBI, 2003. Google Book Search. Web. 25 Feb. 2012

Somonelli, Yolanda M. “The Mighty Blue Comet…and The Man Who Immortalized It!” Antiques & Collecting Magazine 104.4 (1999): 20. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2012

G. Souter and J. Souter, Gerry, and Janet G. Souter and J. Souter. Classic Lionel Trains, 1900-1969. St. Paul: MBI, 2002. Google Book Search. Web. 25 Feb. 2012

—. Classic Toy Trains. St. Paul: MBI, 2002. Google Book Search. Web. 25 Feb. 2012

—. Lionel: America’s Favorite Toy Trains. St. Paul: MBI, 2000. Google Book Search. Web. 25 Feb. 2012