Rounded corners I think are a relatively trivial issue, though I must admit that I am surprised to see how many non-Apple phones look so much like Apple. You would think that other companies designers could do something other than copy. The part I most strongly react to is the patent(s) relating to the tap, pinch, etc. aspects of the interface. And Apple's statement that it took them three years to develop, and then it took Samsung 3 months to copy that work. I worked on interface design back when we were struggling with early GUIs, issues like natural-feeling ways to expand windows, pop-up vs. pull-down menus, etc. Interface design is a non-trivial process, and Apple deserves a great deal of respect for their continued ability to find good solutions. Good enough that others want to copy what they have done. I can hear the argument "but those are the only gestures that could be used on a touch-screen interface, why should Apple profit from such an obvious trivial detail?" The answer is that what they've done didn't exist before. Why shouldn't they have the benefit of their labors? I wouldn't want an Apple-dominated world anymore than an MS-dominated world. But I do like to see the little guy (Apple) do well and profit from it. And I will cheer on the next set of good ideas as well. Even if, however unlikely it is, that they come from MS or Samsung.
stan On Aug 27, 2012, at 8:55 PM, Tom C wrote: >> From: Stan Halpin <[email protected]> >> >> Tom, do you remember the iconic bluebird photo 10-15 years ago? It showed up >> in calendars, posters, postcards, etc. I remember an >> interview with the photographer - he earned enough from that one shot to >> build a home in the woods, full studio and darkroom, etc. What if >> Kodak early on had said "that shot has great moneymaking potential; we'll >> copy it and use our superior marketing (and lower pricing) to >> compete with you for sales of that image. And oh by the way, if you don't >> like it, then our film division won't sell you any more film. >> >> I think that is a close analogy to what you are suggesting that Samsung >> should do. Yes, copyright and patent rights are not identical, but >> the principle is the same; theft of intellectual property is not a good >> thing. >> >> stan >> > > Hi Stan, > > I'm all for intellectual property rights. Apple and Xerox Parc have > some potential issues as well then. I'm sure some will differ, and I'm > not trying to start a debate by any means, as I'm truly no authority > on the subject. > > I'll readily admit my statements are made upon the white-washed > summarizations of the legal proceedings and not the gory legal or > technical details. > > From what I've read some of Apple's issues are with shapes,radius of > rounded corners and look of icons. My general opinion is you can > patent an implementation of an idea, or particular code behind a > technology, but not an idea. Again, I'm not a lawyer and don't have > intimate knowledge. If Samsung actually stole intellectual property > then I agree they should pay. If they said 'hey that's a good idea; > let's do something like that' and then made their own block-buster > product, that's the free market. > > I may recall the bluebird photo you're referring to (or it's my > imagination). In any case Kodak or anyone else with a camera was > certainly able to go out and take as many bluebird photos as they > wanted to and compete with the guy and that would have been fair and > legal, as long as they weren't using the bluebird image he took. I > don't think Kodak theoretically refusing to sell film is the same > issue as what I'm suggesting. I'm suggesting Samsung could recoup the > penalty at some future time. > > What I'm against is a world where we only have Fords, Apple iPads, > Apple smart phones, Samsung TV's, Frigidaire refrigerators,,, you get > my drift, to choose from, and from what I can see that's the kind of > world Apple would like it to be. > > Tom C. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
