"The Cupertino idiot tax operation ..."
Wow. Steve insult you personally?
Apple suffered a big legal setback today when a US court reversed part of its patent case against rival Samsung - losing a third of its $930m settlement against the huge Korean chaebol. The US Appeals Court (PDF) found that most of Apple's original infringement claims can stand, but the claim related to the overall look and …
In California everything has to be relentlessly positive. Despite its multinational nature, El Reg is fundamentally English at core - cynical, suspicious, deprecatory. The meeting of the two is a bit like the beam of protons meeting the beam of antiprotons in the LHC, but with more debris.
However - I have considerable sympathy for Samsung. Mobile phones are a case where the software is dependent on the technology and there is a huge prior art in electronic gadgets. The amount of independent innovation by any one company is probably quite small. It's a matter of who manages to get to the USPTO first.
You see, the "patents" aren't patents in the way you think they are. In the UK, we'd call 'em trademark, or in this case, tradedress disputes. The Yanks call these "Design Patents". So prior art doesn't matter. It doesn't figure in the discussion. This fundamental misunderstanding on your, The Registers and frankly most other commentards, part is easy to understand but not to easy to forgive; it's out there on the internet and it's up to you to be informed. Knee jerking on forums like this is far too easy.
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Apple (and I'm sure samsung) seem to patent everything.
for example using the right material for the job
http://tech.pro/links/12803/apple-invented-way-to-overcome-one-iphones-biggest-design-hurdles
Does this mean that they can sue people who wrap their antenna's in plastic rather than metal. Something phones have been doing for 15 years (except the iPhone 4)
In an emailed statement Apple tells El Reg...
OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! WTF? OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!...
What the hell has happened? Has hell frozen over? Was the statement delivered by a squadron of carrier pigs? Has the Apple's Corporation Inc. finally outgrown its splendid little tantrum? Shirley not?
I feel strangely disorientated.
Help me Reg! What the hell just happened?
"Even though Samsung must pay for its widespread infringement of our patents, this case has always been about more than money," it said. "It's about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love, which is hard to put a price on."
This is straight up bull on the highest level. Like a puke fountain overflowing on itself this bag of vomit was presumably regurgitated by some PR drone too stupid to recognize their own insipidness before hitting "send". This is all about money, for both companies. Otherwise they wouldn't charge anything for their products. Or in the very least would be not for profit.
Apple is not the great evil, nor is Samsung some savior but to even read these lines that are so gut wrenchingly void of any truth is nauseating. I'm sure El Reg felt shame by publishing them. I hope your future generations can atone for the crime of publishing this rancid bucket of tripe.
"It's about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love, which is hard to put a price on."
Since Apple regularly and with little effort puts prices on its products, it follows logically from this statement that (a) they are not innovative, (b) they did not invent their products, and/or (c) people do not love their products.
So you go ahead and disbelieve Apple's spokesemailer; I'll treat them as the honest, non-innovative, idea-stealing creators of hated products that they're so eager to admit to being.
> Yet they seem to manage to find a price, each and every time, and quite a high one, too.
But as cosmetic, handbag, fashion etc. companies have proved time and time again. The more money you charge the more your customers love you.
The more money you charge the more your customers love you.
That's what we call Veblen goods.
It'd be difficult to support the argument that most Apple products serve as Veblen goods for most buyers. Those consumers appear to be willing to pay a premium for them - on whatever perceived grounds (quality, ease of use, fashion...) - but they're not generally valued primarily for their price as an indicator of the owner's wealth.
"It's about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love, which is hard to put a price on."
They don't seem to have any problems year after year when they release their latest product.
"Even though Samsung must pay for its widespread infringement of our patents, this case has always been about more than money,"
No it's all about the money.
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Ok... I'm hardly a fan of Apple.. but.. "The Cupertino idiot-tax operation"? Really? That's not even a *clever* slag.. it's just outright name-calling.
Man, first the hysterical paranoia about Windows 10 leading to admission that they're slagging it mainly because everyone else seems to like it and now this.
There's a difference between perceptive and contrarian, you know.