|
|
Everyone thinks Jobs was such a genius by producing the iPhone. However, few are aware of the following dates:
LG Prada announcement date: December 12, 2006 Apple iPhone announcement date: January 9, 2007 LG Prada release date: May 2007 Apple iPhone release date: June 2007 So much for Apple's undying reputation as an innovator. Didn't Apple sue Samsung for "rounded corners"? Apparently they forgot that the LG Prada, which existed before the iPhone, had the same rounded corners. Apple stole the idea, then filed a patent for it, which was eventually granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office in a stunning display of obtuse discernment. Apple finally gets its patent on a rectangle with rounded corners More information here reveals Apple's unscrupulous attempts to win the smart phone wars by using additional ridiculous patent restrictions: In Apple v. Samsung, SCOTUS Sided With Reason Over Rounded Corners "As patent law developed, it’s no surprise that lawmakers failed to predict that we would one day carry around miniature computers integrating more than 250,000 individual patents in our pockets." --from the Apple vs. Samsung article. That of course wasn't the first time the "innovators" at Apple stole a game changing idea. Remember the now famous story of how Bill Gates conned Steve Jobs into loaning some as yet unreleased Apple Macintoshes to Microsoft, and then proceeded to reverse engineer their operating system to produce Windows? So the mantra was Microsoft stole from Apple. But wait...before Microsoft stole from Apple, Apple stole from Xerox, the company that first created the GUI interface we all use today. The Macintosh was seen as brilliant innovation, but all the pretty outside would have been pointless without the crown jewel of the mouse/desktop interface invented by Xerox engineers at the Palo Alto Research Center. Wait you say! How about the iPod? You gotta give props to Apple for that innovation. No, not at all. The first digital audio player was invented by Kane Kramer who had working prototypes that could play for an hour on a single charge in 1979. Due to Kramer not having 60,000 pounds (British monetary units) to renew his patent in 1988, his patent entered the public domain, which of course allowed the opportunistic Apple to be "inspired" by his invention. "But I still love Apple stuff." Hey, to each their own I say. But don't lie to yourself and others about Apple's innovation. Their contributions are a testimony to packaging and marketing. The last time Apple did something truly innovative was when Steve Wozniak created their first Apple computer back in 1976. In a world where VHS overpowers Betamax and Microsoft squashes Apple due to lower prices and market proliferation, I suppose Apple has to find some way to compete. Perhaps for a company that produces cheaply made and overpriced products, elitist marketing hype and patent chicanery are the most lucrative strategies. |