Nit picky says it all, but the real reason behind their position stems from Steve Jobs threat to go nuclear on Google's Android system. Vengeance.
When you try to take electronic advances away from
competitors, like the ability to pinch to zoom or photo return (bounce back),
you start to affect everyone else’s ability to progress and enjoy the basics.
NY Times; The nine jurors in the case found that Samsung infringed on a series of Apple’s patents on mobile devices, awarding Apple more than $1 billion in damages … the decision could essentially force it and other smartphone makers to redesign their products to be less Apple-like, or risk further legal defeats. Consumers may be stuck with devices that manufacturers have clumsily revamped to avoid crossing Apple.
Wonderful, huh? Remember, Apple doesn’t license its
technology to anyone.
The more important effect of the jury’s decision could be the impact it has on Android, the Google operating system used by Samsung and a broad array of other companies in their devices. For every iPhone sold worldwide, more than three smartphones running Android are sold … Apple is expected to ask the judge in the Samsung case for an injunction preventing Samsung from shipping products that infringe on Apple’s patents … consumers could experience some discomfort in their use of smartphones if Samsung and other manufacturers are forced to design around certain basic functions to avoid violating Apple’s patents. Katie Cotton, an Apple spokeswoman, “We make these products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy,” she said.
That’s why on the other end of the spectrum, innovators are
trying to develop technologies for the public domain, free for the taking and free for developers to be creative. But not Apple. Let's hope Apple gets it back in spades:
PCWorld: A week ago, Motorola Mobility filed a claim with the U.S. International Trade Commission maintaining that the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad infringed on MotoMobi's patents for e-mail notifications, location reminders, and media players.
Even though Steve Jobs ripped off the idea of the mouse and GUI from Xerox, Apple now imagines that obvious look-and-feel features of interactive devices are patentable. But sooner or later that will force the courts to rule against Apple the way they ruled against the original AT&T, breaking it up into six companies to thwart its monopoly market power. Like Microsoft before it, Apple has long tried to kill the competition through snarky marketing -- such as demanding that stores carry Apple products on certain shelves and drop competing products. Oh, yeah, these guys are in the mainstream of business "competition." I like Apple products, mostly, but I hate the Apple hegemony, just as I hated Microsoft's similar hold over the industry earlier.
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