Apple May Give Up "Thermonuclear War" With Android

[Dangi]

Then I suppose Bill Gates must sue Apple for their iPad, that's clearly a rip-off of the TabletPC that Microsoft created and presentend on 2002

All being said, all this suing is being paid by us, the customers, so better stop that law war and drop prices a bit

 

[rantoc]

However these companies have shelled out more than $400 million to their lawyers over the last few years, so presently it's not clear what they will be getting for that money.

Nothing, while the lawyers party and the customers pay for it.. Wonderful!

 

[Guest]

I'm glad IOS and Android could finally get along. Personally, I luke my Android phone and IOS tablet. For those cursing Steve J. I have to disagree. Although Steve Jobs is portrayed as evil by some, I ask you look at the bigger picture. Steve Jobs created an ecosystem for the little guys, he gave tiny developers a life line. Before Steve Jobs, big box retailers decided what to display on their shelves. Before steve Jobs, music was only exposed by 5 major record labels, where now anyone can be a star without the record labels.
In the small picture, Steve Jobs waged war against giant corporations. In the bigger picture, Steve Jobs help thousands of tiny talented individuals thrive. Share all patents anf let humanity gain.
Btw, I'm interested to find out just how many trees the digital media has saved?

 

[Northwestern]

[citation][nom]dangi[/nom]Then I suppose Bill Gates must sue Apple for their iPad, that's clearly a rip-off of the TabletPC that Microsoft created and presentend on 2002All being said, all this suing is being paid by us, the customers, so better stop that law war and drop prices a bit[/citation]
Bill Gates can sleep well knowing he made a Tablet that was far much better than the iPad in terms of performance, price and value. It may not have been a market competitor, but he bested Apple 9 years before they even entered the market.

 

[gm0n3y]

Wow, Jobs complaining about Android ripping off the iPhone... does he think it was Apple's idea originally? Touch screen phones had been around for year before the iPhone.

 

[phexac]

Yeah cuz TabletPC was such a great success

 

[willard]

[citation][nom]gm0n3y[/nom]Wow, Jobs complaining about Android ripping off the iPhone... does he think it was Apple's idea originally?[/citation]
Yes.

Touch screen phones had been around for year before the iPhone.

Never mind the facts, Apple did it first! I've got a ten year old Palm Pilot in a box somewhere that's black, rectangular and has a touch sensitive screen, but I guess that doesn't count because it didn't achieve mainstream success.

 

[ragenalien]

A supernatural reference? That's a little odd in a tech magazine but cudos for pulling it off.

 

[tofu2go]

[citation][nom]dangi[/nom]Then I suppose Bill Gates must sue Apple for their iPad, that's clearly a rip-off of the TabletPC that Microsoft created and presentend on 2002All being said, all this suing is being paid by us, the customers, so better stop that law war and drop prices a bit[/citation]

TabletPCs and the iPad are a very different product. TabletPCs are just that... PCs. Where Gates failed was not realizing that the form factor needed a different interface and perhaps a more lightweight overall design. What distinguishes the iPad is the interface, touch-based and a complementary OS. The iPad is oriented towards media consumption rather than content creation. TabletPCs are PCs in that they're intended for general purpose use.

If Apple ripped anyone off, it was Star Trek.

 

[willard]

[citation][nom]phexac[/nom]Yeah cuz TabletPC was such a great success[/citation]
What does success of the device have to do with it? This isn't about bragging rights, profits or devices shipped, it's about patent law. First is first, and Apple wasn't first on the tablet or the smartphone or black rectangular touch screen devices. The fact that they did it better than those who came before them doesn't mean they suddenly own the idea that's been around for decades.

In fact, tablet computers started showing up in science fiction literally decades ago. That's what's known as "prior art" in the patent world, and usually prevents you from getting a patent (since the idea is not new or novel). Apple's solution to this problem of them trying to own things they didn't invent is just throw huge amounts of money at lawyers to sue everybody and bend the patent system to the breaking point.

 

[burnley14]

these companies have shelled out more than $400 million to their lawyers over the last few years

That's just gross. This tells me that if they had just quit their whining and counter-suing, I could've bought my phone for about $50 less.

 

[hoof_hearted]

Job's statement is absurd.

Miscrosoft and Apple some years ago...

Windows and MacOS - are they the same? - They both utilize a mouse and clickable icons on a desktop to launch applications. Microsoft controls the OS and not the hardware and Apple controls both OS and hardware. Xerox is really to credit here.

Android and iOS - are they the same? - They both utilize a touch interface with touchable icons on a phone screen to launch applications. Google controls the OS and not the hardware and Apple controls both OS and hardware. Palm is really to credit here.

I just think the reality of it is that Jobs was bitter toward Android, because Bill Gate porked him in the arse the same way years ago.

 

[captaincharisma]

[citation][nom]nurgletheunclean[/nom]"You f–king ripped off the iPhone, wholesale ripped us off. Grand theft," he reportedly said, adding that he would "spend my last dying breath" and "every [Apple] penny to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go to thermonuclear war on this."Steve's a real Saint, isn't he?[/citation]

yea basically all Steve jobs did was find a way to make kids eat vegetables. for those that cannot get the reference (apple fanbios) he was able to make people buy products they never wanted to buy before

 

[testerguy]

[citation][nom]gm0n3y[/nom]Wow, Jobs complaining about Android ripping off the iPhone... does he think it was Apple's idea originally? Touch screen phones had been around for year before the iPhone.[/citation]

They were all awful, none of them had full HTML browsers, the touch screens were completely awful, multi touch was non existent, they just weren't targeting the same markets, and aren't at all comparable. Just like the fact that the wheel existed in Egyptian times doesn't mean they invented the car. The iPhone isn't just a touch screen.

[citation][nom]willard[/nom]Yes.Never mind the facts, Apple did it first! I've got a ten year old Palm Pilot in a box somewhere that's black, rectangular and has a touch sensitive screen, but I guess that doesn't count because it didn't achieve mainstream success.[/citation]

It doesn't count because it was so ridiculously poor a device that it wasn't comparable, on just about every level.[citation][nom]willard[/nom]What does success of the device have to do with it? This isn't about bragging rights, profits or devices shipped, it's about patent law. First is first, and Apple wasn't first on the tablet or the smartphone or black rectangular touch screen devices. The fact that they did it better than those who came before them doesn't mean they suddenly own the idea that's been around for decades.In fact, tablet computers started showing up in science fiction literally decades ago. That's what's known as "prior art" in the patent world, and usually prevents you from getting a patent (since the idea is not new or novel). Apple's solution to this problem of them trying to own things they didn't invent is just throw huge amounts of money at lawyers to sue everybody and bend the patent system to the breaking point.[/citation]

And seriously, there are no words to describe those of you who have such a complete absence of a clue about the legal process that you think that ANY of the legal cases involving Apple were decided because of anything to do with a black rectangle. Seriously, just stop talking complete drivel. The device was regarded by law to be too close to the iPad such that it infringed upon its design patents. They changed it, and the new device was legal. It was still rectangular, and still black, so clearly the shape had NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

Sensationalist misinformed idiots.

 

[testerguy]

And by the way - Apple never claimed to invent the 'smartphone' since smartphone can include ridiculously awful devices which don't do anything well. They claimed to have REVOLUTIONISED it, which they clearly did. They never tried to patent the smartphone either, they tried to patent everything they built into the iPhone eg multi-touch, slide-to-unlock to prevent people copying the things which DIFFERENTIATED them from the rest of the phones in the market at the time.

Whether you like it or not, the iPhone has set the path for smartphones in the modern era and therefore it was very much the FIRST in this genre of smartphones.

 

[jecastej]

Steve Jobs is in a great importance what Apple is today, not Tim Cook. What happens is Tim Cook finds himself to direct a company going extremely well as a business and he is a very talented business man. The iPad and the iPhone are not Tim Cook's babies and he is not philosophically complicated in that matter. Steve Jobs, RIP, is what he is or was with the good things and not so good things.

But at the end of the day I do agree I like Apple to be more polite on the "Thermonuclear war", that was out of proportion in my opinion.

 

[NuclearShadow]

People close to the anti-Android crusade claim that top-level executives at both Apple and Samsung have communicated a desire to negotiate settlement options.

Isn't this within itself a confession that Apple has targeted Samsung do to Android and not because of any reasons they have previously given due to Samsung's products? Forget about how much the lawyers have made but instead think about how much tax payer dollars have already been wasted already because of these legal battles that Apple themselves now seem to admit were not for the reason stated.

Not only should all the current cases should be thrown out now but I believed Apple should be heavily fined for this. This would be like me trying to sue Tom's with absurd reasons that just aren't true because Kevin Parrish likes the show Supernatural which I just so happen to dislike. Are we really going to let Apple get away with this?

 

[Guest]

APPLE STOLE JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING FOR OTHER COMPANIES

THEN

TURNS AROUND AND ACCUSES OTHERS!

APPLE = OVERPRICED UNDER PERFORMING SLAVE LABOR ICRAP!

 

[willard]

[citation][nom]testerguy[/nom]It doesn't count because it was so ridiculously poor a device that it wasn't comparable, on just about every level.[/citation]
Quality of a device is irrelevant. You don't own an idea because you pulled it off better than the people who actually came up with the idea. Do you really want to live in a world where whoever most recently improved a device is the only one allowed to produce it?

And seriously, there are no words to describe those of you who have such a complete absence of a clue about the legal process that you think that ANY of the legal cases involving Apple were decided because of anything to do with a black rectangle.

No, they were decided based on claims that actually had merit. The fact is that Apple has claimed that they are the only company allowed to make black rectangular devices with touch screens. Seriously, here's an excerpt from one of the most recent legal documents where Apple claims to be the only one with the right to make black, rectangular devices. It's listing things Samsung needs to do to stop infringing on Apple's supposed patent on black rectangles with touch screens.

front surfaces that are not black (Exs. 2-4) or clear (Exs. 4-6); front surfaces that are not rectangular (Exs.7-10), not flat (Exs. 11-13), and without rounded corners (Exs. 9, 14, 15); display screens that are more square than rectangular or not rectangular at all (Exs. 8, 16, 17); display screens that are not centered on the front surface of the phone (Exs. 18-20, 37) and that have substantial lateral borders (Exs. 21-22); speaker openings that are not horizontal slots with rounded ends (Exs. 12, 15, 23, 24, 37) and that are not centered above the display screen (Exs. 12, 25, 26); front surfaces that contain substantial adornment (Exs. 9, 15, 19); and phones without bezels at all (Exs. 11, 13, 18) or very different looking bezels that are not thin, uniform, and with an inwardly sloping profile (Ex. 21).

Seriously, just stop talking complete drivel.

You should follow your own advice.

 

[Guest]

GIVE UP? APPLE CANNOT WIN!

APPLE IS A NICHE MARKET FOR THE DUMB COMPUTER ILLITERATE MASSES WHO LOVE PAYING MORE FOR LESS.

ALWAYS WILL BE!