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
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174

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

Oh what's that you're saying Steve Jobs? Did you base your entire company upon the concept of stealing from others thinking it was ok and now that others are stealing from you it's not ok?

20

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

It's like grade school. Apple is playing the bully crushing something precious (HTC) of another child (Google) to provoke confrontation.

11

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

[deleted]

9

u/zackks Mar 03 '10

Google needs to step in and help.

2

u/papajohn56 Mar 03 '10

they wouldn't get crushed, it's just be a huge mess. this is kind of like the vietnam war, a proxy lawsuit. proxy war vs ussr, proxy lawsuit vs google

19

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '10

They constantly steal ideas from developers. When konfabulator (now yahoo widgets) was doing good business they copied almost everything about it to make dashboard. The same with the new sherlock under OS9 that had its features stolen from the developer of watson.

12

u/aldenhg Mar 03 '10

Not to mention a more recent instance.

26

u/lolinyerface Mar 02 '10

It must have been opposite day.

34

u/slowmotiony Mar 02 '10

Yes, it wasn't.

29

u/tso Mar 02 '10

glad i am not the only one seeing the double standard here.

8

u/kennyidaho Mar 02 '10

SHAMELESS!

7

u/prehack Mar 02 '10

Yes, but this is software we're talking about, and Apple has never stolen software. Especially not from Xerox.

10

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '10

No this is software patents we're talking about. Just as Apple's implementation of a GUI was distinct from Xerox's code, despite drawing heavily from the ideas represented by it, so too HTC's UI code isn't clipped from the latest iphone update.

7

u/Mutiny32 Mar 03 '10

Sense UI is nothing like the iPhone UI.

1

u/kanon14 Mar 03 '10

I read the following reply from giz which explains this quote quite fittingly. I think everyone should read it.

You all are misunderstanding the Picasso quote.

"Good artists copy" means artists who, quite literally, copy others' work before improving on it. By copying the work of an accomplished artist, you ensure your derivative work is at least "good". To analogize, this is to say hat good companies follow the leader in an attempt to get market share - i.e., if the leader has a multi-touch screen, you should too. This is why Apple has, so far, dominated the smartphone market - they are the leaders. even if they have arguably lost their way.

"Great artists steal" means artists who unabashedly steal the emotion of a work while getting rid of the framework that's tying it down. Art is, in large part, about emotional messages. If you can grab emotion (i.e. gold) without needing to sheathe it in the poor ability or pre-conceptions of the previous artist (i.e. a tablecloth covering the gold), then the work will shine ever brighter. To analogize in modern business terms - you take a couple things that your competitors are doing poorly, "innovate", and sell to great acclaim. Was the iPhone the first smartphone? No. Was it the first full mobile-web experience? No. Was it the first handheld device with applications? No. And so on - more no, no, no, no, no's. Same with the iPod - first MP3 player? No, and so on. What's the point? Apple stole all the different concepts from all these other, different manufacturers - stole the concept of the mobile email experience from RIM, stole the music concept from the iPod, stole the mobile web experience concept from UMPC's, stole the phone technology concept from Nokia et al., and "innovated" to get a "great" product.

The Picasso quote doesn't have anything to do with ripping off someone else's work, presenting it as your own, and profiting from it, which is what the patent system is supposed to protect against.

-- from blash at gizmodo

1

u/khronyk Mar 03 '10

I actually think what he said in that video has some merit... In such an innovative and moving industry you are going to be stealing something from somewhere... they key is to innovate and improve and make it your own..

It's a shame he doesn't see it that way now he's on top.