Apple Wins, Everybody Else Loses

Microsoft is probably the big winner in Samsung’s defeat by Apple.  Well, Microsoft and Steve Job’s ghost.

Unless overturned on appeal, Apple now owns both tap to zoom and pinch to zoom.  I guess Android devices could be distributed with magnifying glasses.

When an issue is too complex to understand, I generally turn to a trusted expert to help me decide which side I should support.  In this case, Groklaw and EFF are the experts I turn to.  While neither side supports Samsung, they both oppose Apple.  The apologists for the fruity patent company will now have ammunition to further pollute discussion (as if we didn’t already have enough of that).

This isn’t an Apple v Android war.  This is an Apple v the future of mobile war.  While free and open will inevitably win in the end, there will be dark days until then.

Samsung has at least given the appearance of “protecting the record” which will make an appeal likely to succeed on at least some merits.  But unless the entire judgement can be vacated, it is indeed a somber day.

Update: The jury took 21 hours to answer 700 questions.  If they never yawned or stretched or got sidetracked, they spent just 1 minute 48 seconds on each question.  Some questions required math equations, these probably took longer…so some probably got less attention.  It will be interesting if any of the jurors go public just to hear the rationalization of how this meets due diligence.

Update 2: Groklaw is reporting: “The [jury] foreman told a court representative that the jurors had reached a decision without needing the instructions.”  If this turns out to be true, then we should get a ruling as a matter of law or a new trial.  A jury can not ignore the judge’s instructions.

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You can’t make shit like this up…

Got a laugh out of an article on Apple Insider. Evidently only Apple’s own apps are allowed to use multi touch. It isn’t like AI is a detractor, they are the ultimate Apple fan boys.  Still they report on an app being rejected from the only source of apps for Apple’s phone OS devices.  The developers of Web Albums evidently dared to implement a pinch to zoom feature in their app and it was summarily rejected until that feature was removed.  I guess when you are Apple Electronics you have to maintain any edge that you can manage, even at the expense of those developing for your own platform.  Like the title says, you can’t make shit like this up, my Nexus One has better multi touch support than Apple’s own products.   I guess HTC shouldn’t feel too bad about attracting Apple’s wrath…they even eat their own children.

Apple: Suing is Easier than Innovating

Have we been here before?  Is this a case of electronic deja vu all over again?  Apple, already embroiled in a patent war with Nokia, has now opened a second front in its rear guard action to maintain (mind share) dominance in the smart phone sector.

Too cowardly to confront Google head on, Apple chooses a war by proxy by going after HTC.

Three years ago Steve Jobs unveiled the iphone to collective oohs and ahs.  It was cutting edge and innovative.  Now, three years have passed and many have caught up to and even surpassed the iphone in features, looks, and functionality.  Does Jobs continue to innovate?  Does he choose to take Apple into new endeavors?  No, and nope.  Instead, Apple breaks out the lawyers…hey it is cheaper than R&D on improvements.

This should come as no surprise, Jobs has been threatening law suits since he introduced the jesus phone.  He made blanket threats against any and all at the unveiling, last year he specifically called out a threat to Palm.  Is this what passes for innovation in Cupertino?

Apple’s corporate lawyers must think HTC is the weak link in the chain (and Android has become the main threat to beat back).  It will be interesting if they ever go to war with Palm, Palm has been in this business much longer than Apple and has a major patent portfolio that Apple infringes on.  So we probably won’t see a move against Palm–the cowardly always bully the weak, it is pretty much the definition of bully.  It remains to be seen how deep HTC’s patents run, but they do have Google in their corner.  And make no mistake, this action is all about Google.

Android is a much better platform than the jesus phone.  I make this assertion after reading the various lists of reasons to jailbreak your iphone, and realize that I do not need to root my Nexus One to achieve any of those.  It is the difference between open tech and a locked down proprietary piece of kitsch.  So Apple is up against a superior competitor, this must be the case or they would let the court of customer decision making run its course.  Instead of letting the best phone win, they break out the lawyers.  Yep, been here before…and we all know how that turned out.  I expect no difference this time around.

It is time to treat Apple as the pariah that they are.  Shun them as a threat to our collective well being.  Media Monkey is a better iPod manager than the steaming pile of poo known as itunes.  Safari is becoming nothing more than a rip-off of Chrome but still lacking many basic features.  Quicktime is a historical relic, no need to install it as it harkens back to a darker time in tech.  Nope, there really remains no reason to use any of Apple’s software for anything.  They are a technological pariah, and deserve to be–and should be–shunned.

Edit: More reasons to dump Apple.    Remember when the (max)Ipad was revealed?  Apple conspired with the publishers to put an end to Amazon’s $9.99 cap on best sellers.  And it worked, to at least some degree.  Now the asshats are at it again, this time with music.  Ars is reporting that Apple is now pressuring the labels to end Amazon’s Daily Deal promotions.  There is nothing for Apple to gain, they are simply being dickweeds for the sake of being dickweeds.

For whatever reason, Apple does not seem able, or willing,  to compete on their merits, they have to use this sort of back room dealing to keep their position.

There is a dead person in Tennessee who died because he/she could not get a liver because Steve Jobs bought it.

Last time Apple suffered major setbacks, there were people there to mourn…who will be there next time?

Edit 2:  So where does Google sit in all of this.  They are not mentioned in the suits, but are certainly at the center of it.  Does Google sit back and watch HTC get dinged by crApple?  Then what, is Motorola next?  And if HTC gets dinged, who will be the next company to release an Android phone?  If HTC loses, Google loses…there can be no doubt about that.  HTC is Google’s number one Android partner, they can not throw them under the bus.

I am going to assume that HTC does not have a deep patent portfolio…they’ve spent most of their existence building other folks’ products.  I would guess that their patents run more to the manufacturing process type.  It also seems clear that Apple isn’t interested in making money off of a licensing deal, they are out to shut down competitive phones.

This will take some time to play out.  In the meantime….has anyone registered boycottapple.com? (that was rhetorical, of course they have…)