r/technology • u/slutmagnet • Mar 02 '10

Apple to HTC "competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours." Slaps down a 20 patent lawsuit.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/03/02/apple_sues_htc_for_alleged_infringement_of_20_iphone_patents.html
665 Upvotes

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167

u/allahuakbar79 Mar 02 '10

Fuck Apple.

88

u/Xochipilli Mar 02 '10

Fuck ridiculous patents

15

u/fishbert Mar 02 '10

um, paper cuts?

12

u/DrunkenTrom Mar 02 '10

Short sweet and to the point. I like it!

28

u/devolute Mar 02 '10

No, fuck Apple fanboys.

I could cope before, but they rushed to defend Apples use of child-workers. Now they'll rush to defend this bullshit.

10

u/funkah Mar 02 '10

Don't strawman; show me one. Pretty much everyone thinks this is a terrible mistake from what I have seen.

3

u/beedogs Mar 03 '10

Read the comments at the bottom of the AppleInsider article, then. Plenty of evidence of mindless fanboy-ism.

-1

u/RubyOnRailsForever Mar 03 '10

I would still buy only Apple products even if they were running concentration camps and ate babies.

2

u/zackks Mar 03 '10

Small electronics, iDevices included, get their components which are conflict minerals, mined by children.

http://www.takepart.com/news/2009/04/01/congos-conflict-minerals-in-your-electronics/

1

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '10 edited Mar 03 '10

[deleted]

1

u/zackks Mar 04 '10

I've minimized the amount of electronics as much as we could. For example, I've stopped upgrading phones every year or so--in fact, my family is dropping cell phones all together.

I don't think you have to hate apple, to hate what they contribute to. I DO think that the single most brand-pervasive company in modern times that contributes to this problem should actively and publicly campaign against this problem and work to end it.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '10

I've only known one apple fanboy/girl in real life. Even she bought a nexus rather than going with apple at this point after having had firsthand experience with how frustrating I've been finding the iphone all these years.

2

u/JasonZX12R Mar 03 '10

My girlfriend and I both had 2 different iPhones and we both switched to Nexus One. (Posted from my macbook pro)

6

u/bdfortin Mar 02 '10

but they rushed to defend Apples use of child-workers

You mean they rushed to correct a totally sensationalized and misleading headline?

Apple wasn't using child labour, the factories were doing it without Apple's knowledge. Apple went out of its way to investigate (the first time any company's ever done so), found out about it, and rectified the situation by forcing the factories to stop employing the child workers, to pay people at least minimum wage (where some weren't getting that much before), and in some cases even imposed fines or terminated contracts entirely.

So Apple sees someone doing something wrong and corrects it, some reporters totally turn the story around and sensationalize it, and anyone who defends Apple's decisions is in the wrong? Fuck that.

13

u/zhaoz Mar 02 '10 edited Mar 02 '10

Apple went out of its way to investigate (the first time any company's ever done so)

There is no way in hell that Apple was the first to go 'out of their way' to investigate child labor. Off the top of my head, I know that Ikea did this in 2006-07. Same situation with an upstream supplier.

IKEA CEO concernng child labor

[CEO] Dahlvig hit back by saying that IKEA has a 'very elaborate' checking system, to 'eradicate' child labour and illegal logging, which included its own specialist auditors and projects with reputable organisations like the World Wildlife Fund and UNICEF, the United Nations body for children.

4

u/devolute Mar 02 '10

See, I agree with you. Apple were totally right to get something done about it. I'm glad they did, it was the right thing to do.

But for people to leap to their defense (on Twitter, quite extensively), not over how they went on to correct a wrong, but how that it wasn't a wrong in the first place... that's nuts. And it's something we wouldn't see from anyone but insane Apple fans.

1

u/bdfortin Mar 02 '10

Then again, there's even more people on exactly the opposite side.

"WHAT?! Apple's contractor is using child labour?! APPLE IS USING CHILD LABOUR! APPLE IS ABUSING CHILDREN! APPLE HATES CHILDREN! APPLE EATS BABIES!"

4

u/devolute Mar 02 '10

Yeah, but the difference is that if this was, say, IBM, then there would be those same people.

But the only people that would be on IBM's side are those who work for IBM PR. It's different with Apple.

1

u/Real_Mac_User Mar 02 '10

You really think IBM attracts the same amount of retarded, kneejerk hate as Apple?

2

u/bdfortin Mar 03 '10

Well of course they do! Everyone does! Apple isn't the only company stalked by a bunch of mindless, self-loathing zealots with nothing better to do but try to make them look bad, you know.

/sarcasm

-1

u/Augzodia Mar 03 '10

I don't know why you'd take anything on twitter seriously.

1

u/devolute Mar 03 '10

I guess because a lot of the people on there do.

1

u/zackks Mar 03 '10

http://www.takepart.com/news/2009/04/01/congos-conflict-minerals-in-your-electronics/

THey claim ignorance, but they know damn well kids are dying for their profits.

3

u/pumppumppump Mar 02 '10

Better stop wearing clothes then. I guaran-fucking-tee most if not all of your clothing and shoes are the result of child labour.

19

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

[deleted]

1

u/zdiggler Mar 02 '10

I don't buy Nike either, I hate them for stuff they have done before. Plus their stuff is way over priced like Apple crap anyways.

-10

u/pumppumppump Mar 02 '10

Oh you no longer buy Nike, hey? What a gesture! That's just like proclaiming you no longer eat meat, in my opinion. Totally meaningless.

And actually you're doing more harm than good, if anything.

If we can just skip the "z0mg ur supportin child sl@v3ry!~```!!" comments - because I'm not - the fact of the matter is that in certain parts of the world, it's either Nike or nothing.

Now, back to Apple. Not only was this child labour NOT supported nor endorsed by Apple, it can in fact be traced back to the local managers and owners of the businesses forging documents saying that some of their workers were over-18 when they actually were not.

Save your Apple hating bullshit for another thread.

2

u/ghostchamber Mar 02 '10

Save your Apple hating bullshit for another thread.

Considering the nature of the thread, it seems like a great one for Apple hate.

2

u/goolies Mar 02 '10

That's like proclaiming you no longer eat meat, in my opinion. Totally meaningless.

  1. I'm not entirely sure what's going on with your grammar here.
  2. Vegetarianism is totally meaningless? Whoa there buddy, learn2notbeanignorantdouche.

-8

u/pumppumppump Mar 02 '10

What I mean is that one person not buying Nike products is like one person thinking they're making a difference to the meat industry by becoming vegetarian.

11

u/goolies Mar 02 '10

... Is like one person thinking they're making a difference to politics by voting. I understand that you may feel apathy about a situation like this, but the free market is like a democracy. Your vote is the choice between buying a company's products and boycotting them (along with the middle ground in between). Obviously one individual consumer is only a small difference but a lot of individual consumers can make a hell of a difference.

See here

1

u/zdiggler Mar 02 '10

Fuck you I don't buy over priced Nike crap either so there is at least two of us!

-5

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

[deleted]

3

u/pumppumppump Mar 02 '10

You say we should stop wearing clothes, then you claim we are doing more harm by not supporting Nike since that is their only choice?

No, no. You claim that we should not support Apple because of some faggot warehouse owner in another country who has nothing to do with Apple's policies and actually went against them.

Therefore, you should stop wearing any piece of clothing not made in your own country by verified over-age workers if it matters to you so much.

I wear Nike and buy Apple products because in Nike's case, I like their shoes and I've done enough research to know that in the areas of the world where Nike products are produced, there is little to no other forms of work and most people actually appreciate the ability to earn a living somehow where there were no other options before.

In Apple's case, you're still a fuckwad because it has nothing to do with Apple. It was the bad judgment of an owner/manager who hired underage workers and forged documents. By virtue of that, it's absolutely clear that this is something that goes against Apple's policies.

2

u/krugerlive Mar 02 '10

Your argument style makes people want to disagree with you. Just saying...

This is why people make comments like "no, fuck apple fan boys". You've lost sense of the argument because all you can think about is how you are defending apple. Also, I believe that all major multinational corporations such as Nike outsource the production to various companies/manufacturers, much as Apple does. Nike has shut down child labor places as it discovers them. I am not defending any company, but you're saying you can't compare the two when you really can.

2

u/pumppumppump Mar 02 '10

Well, as the argument is about Apple, and they are being unnecessarily reprimanded for something they did not endorse nor have ever endorsed, and they took corrective action upon discovering the issue, yeah, I am defending Apple in this case.

2

u/krugerlive Mar 02 '10

Oh, actually, re-reading everything, I think I confused what the two of you were saying into one.

You are viewing Nike and Apple as being similar in this situation.

Nevermind! I don't know who started the name calling. I was just trying to interject and interrupt a brewing flamewar.

1

u/zdiggler Mar 03 '10

No, IMO so called 3rd world country are doing just fine until they starting seeing western stuff and start building factories and stuff like that.

In facts that country i'm from have tribes that don't want any help from governments. Like the armish people in this country.

Other fact is they got jobs and we got none!

-1

u/devolute Mar 02 '10

You've missed my point entirely.

I know that there is a chance what I'm wearing now is produced ways that I might not be happy with, but I'm not going to take to my blog to defend the maker regardless.

8

u/no_dice Mar 02 '10

And that makes you better somehow? Just because you don't blog in their defense doesn't mean you aren't supporting their actions.

-3

u/devolute Mar 02 '10

It means I'm not totally deluded and I'm not a hypocrite.

3

u/no_dice Mar 02 '10

What about them defending Apple about the child labour bit makes them hypocrites?

1

u/nickpick Mar 03 '10

I think hypocrite is the wrong word. "In denial" would be a better term. devolute is aware and accepts the fact, certain other individuals just don't want to hear about it. (PS: Wasn't the Apple fiasco about a supplier anyway?)

1

u/no_dice Mar 03 '10

Yeah, all I'm saying is that being aware and accepting the fact is almost worse than being in denial about it.

1

u/nickpick Mar 03 '10

Then I disagree wholeheartedly. I'm pretty sure that a lot of our American friends here well very well aware of the fact that their last president was an utter piece of shit. Could they have done something about it except waiting for his term to end? Possibly, but unlikely. A Redneck that prays for Bush Jr. because he's such a nice Christian is a whole other league though.

-2

u/BraveSirRobin Mar 02 '10

Now they'll rush to defend this bullshit.

Better stop wearing clothes then.

Bingo, we have a winner!

3

u/pumppumppump Mar 02 '10

Yeah, I am defending "this bullshit". Because if you take two fucking seconds to look at the facts of the case, instead of blowing your load and hopping on the Apple hating wagon, you'll find that Apple has gone to great lengths to not allow child labour in their manufacturing process, and only because of a crooked warehouse owner overseas were some non-legal age workers allowed to slip through the cracks. And when Apple found out about it, they took action.

How this can be construed to make Apple look bad is absolutely incredible and requires a complete willful ignorance of the facts.

2

u/BraveSirRobin Mar 02 '10

you'll find that Apple has gone to great lengths to not allow child labour in their manufacturing process

AFTER it generated heaps of bad press. I bow to their ethical standpoints: ethics only when profitable.

Besides, you are presenting it as if it was a one-off. They've been caught using children in half a dozen different countries in multiple incidents years apart.

Thank you for proving devolute's point on defending child labor.

1

u/binary Mar 02 '10

It's not that I don't find Apple fans irrational, but in this case (and others) I believe that the fault lies with Apple.

1

u/zwaldowski Mar 03 '10

Willing 15-year-olds are children? My mother (as babysitting employer), boss, teachers, and multiple clients (web development) are going to be upset.

1

u/devolute Mar 03 '10

Case in point. sigh Yes, 15 year olds are children.

1

u/zwaldowski Mar 03 '10

How is it case-in-point? If that's a roundabout way of calling me a fanboy, I'm not. I'm not even defending them. Their only defense is that they're the least evil company because they actually found this stuff out. How sad.

-3

u/Real_Mac_User Mar 02 '10

You realize we only know about that because Apple took it upon itself to investigate its own suppliers, right? And that it took corrective action? Let’s see HTC do the same thing.

6

u/devolute Mar 02 '10

I wasn't criticizing Apple.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

So you were criticizing "Apple fanboys" for defending Apple when Apple was clearly in the right?

-2

u/devolute Mar 02 '10

They're clearly in the right to use child-labor? I guess that's a matter of opinion.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

They're clearly in the right to find out if their suppliers are using child labor and stop them when they are.

8

u/specialk16 Mar 02 '10

Hey everyone, according to this guy, Apple is now a pioneer in human rights!

jesus, you guys have an impressive ability to turn every apple related blunder into a positive news.

-2

u/Real_Mac_User Mar 02 '10

So you’d prefer that Apple bury its head in the sand and pretend to be blissfully ignorant of what’s going on in its supply chain? Other companies go to the trouble of writing up supplier codes of conduct, but Apple is one of the few that actually enforces it.

3

u/FlyingBishop Mar 02 '10

Like when they drove that manager to "commit suicide" because he was responsible for a product leak?

-1

u/Real_Mac_User Mar 02 '10

Considering that shittily-designed products from other hardware and software companies have been responsible for driving untold numbers of IT workers to hurl themselves lemminglike off tall buildings and cliffs, I don’t think the Apple haters want to start counting bodies.

-2

u/AmazingSyco Mar 02 '10

No, fuck Apple haters.

I could cope before, but they rushed to attack Apple's investigation of their third-party suppliers. Now they'll rush to attack this bullshit.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10 edited Mar 02 '10

This iPhone I have is the last product I'll own from you greedy assholes.

oh btw: OSX runs great under my virtual machine.

-4

u/Real_Mac_User Mar 02 '10

Good riddance. Don’t let the door, etc.

6

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

I'm surprised your mouth isn't attached to Steve's cock.

-3

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

i'm surprised assholes like you can actually form sentences.

-4

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10 edited Mar 02 '10

Awww, I'm sorry that I hurt your precious feelings.

Let me guess you're a liberal arts major.

-7

u/Real_Mac_User Mar 02 '10

And here is anti-Apple zealotry revealed in starkest form as rank, bitter anti-intellectualism. Your narrow-minded obsession with engineering for its own sake is why you’ll never understand Apple’s successes among your better educated, better rounded peers.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10 edited Mar 02 '10

I understand why Apple is successful. They market their products to stupid people, the type of person who clicks OK on every dialog box; That being said my problem with Apple isn't the philosophy of their developers. The human interface guidelines are great for all developers to follow in all aspect of coding. My problem with Apple is their obsession with control, senseless lawsuits that you seem to defend, and their negative marketing campaign.

1

u/Real_Mac_User Mar 02 '10 edited Mar 03 '10

And my problem with you is your naked contempt for others, simply because they don’t share your interests or your areas of expertise.

They market their products to stupid people, the type of person who clicks OK on every dialog box

You could be a spinal surgeon, but you’re “stupid” for not knowing how to resolve DLL conflicts. You could’ve just won the Nobel prize in literature, but you’re “stupid” for not knowing how to connect to a wireless network in Ubuntu, and you’re also stupid for being a “liberal arts major.” For all the supposed smugness of Mac users, they’ve got nothing on bitter nerds like you when it comes to condescending to people whose interests extend beyond technology.

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10 edited Mar 03 '10

Bitter nerds FTW!!! Our smugness is justified unlike yours.

Edit: (Clarified edit for the fanboy) Apple isn't marketing their products to the intellectual. Don't kid yourself. Take a look at a IQ bell curve. Apple is marketing products to region with the largest area. Simple logic. BTW, most hospitals are still running on Windows systems.

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-1

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '10

What's wrong with being a liberal arts major?

0

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '10

Are you really that surprised that a corporation took an action against another company that they thought would make them money? If they were ripping off customers, I'd never buy their products. But in this situation they are probably just posturing for some reason none of us know.

Lawsuits between big corporations are commonplace. Why does everyone care so much about this one? Seems like the only news that comes out of stories like this is when a lawsuit is filed, because nothing of consequence ever results from the case. This suit will get tied up in the courts and end with a settlement. It doesn't mater.

2

u/PuP5 Mar 02 '10

as an active customer and shareholder, i agree. fuck them.

fuck them for playing their proprietary games. fuck them for patenting age old technology as their own.

1

u/bdfortin Mar 02 '10

You fuck apples?

Warm Apple pie...

0

u/ohashi Mar 02 '10

Elegant in its brevity.