Was the iPod Accessory Port Inspired By a 40-Year-Old Camera?

An anonymous reader writes "While Samsung has been accused of repeatedly borrowing everything from Apple's hardware, to packaging and accessories, it appears that all current iDevices share a port which is very similar to one found on a forty-year-old Polaroid camera. It gets more interesting when you realize that camera was the 'supreme achievement' of a man Steve Jobs idolized. Edwin Land was the creator of the Polaroid camera and, if Steve Jobs obsessed over Land's devices the way many do with iPhones, etc. today, there's a chance this similarity is not a coincidence."

Remember the good old days?

[ynp7]

You guys remember the days when every piece of bullshit spewed by an Apple fanboy wasn't immediately posted on the front page of slashdot?

Inspired by a 40 year old camera?

[Anonymous Coward]

People are just jealous of Apple's brilliant innovations in the areas of rounded black rectangles, white box packaging, grid-like arrangements of icons, and, yes, accessory ports.

Apple would never copy other companies' designs. They have way too much integrity for that!

Re:Those aren't the same.

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone needs to learn what inspired means...

I dunno why people are pooping on you

[YesIAmAScript]

Even if the ports aren't the same, what's the harm in your article? I don't get the hate.

Re:Those aren't the same.

[DeepFried]

I specifically addressed the Samsung issue in my post. I don't have that text locally. And I can't get to it now because my server is blown. I said that I felt it was an homage in design if Apple did in fact settle on that size and design for the port. The two products were decades apart and didn't compete. Much different than Samsung having connectors on the market to confusing consumers with a product directly competing with Apple.

Re:Who cares?

[netsharc]

Yeah, this is basically an observation that would've fit in a tweet: "Oh look, the Polaroid SX70 bla bla port is almost the same size as the iPad data port.", instead Mr. Let's Waste Everyone's Time made a stupid video of him trying to force entry, and several useless paragraphs about it...

Perfectly plausible...

[Aphrika]

Especially when you consider that the click wheel iPod is thought to be influenced by a 1954 transistor radio [bbc.co.uk].

Plus even Jobs' comments about the iPhone 4 being "like a Leica camera" betray the fact to yes, their designers look to past gadgets for inspiration, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone given the task of locating the port saw the Polaroid camera and went "let's try that"...

Re:Why not?

[SuricouRaven]

Technology is built on stealing ideas. That's how advancement is made. Someone has an idea, lots more people copy it and make their own changes. Some of those changes are bad and get forgotten, and some are good and get copied in turn.

Apple really should steal some mouse buttons though. They've gone the way of two-buttons in the OS now, even make their mice in such a way that it's easy to right-click with them, and yet somehow they refuse to actually make a seperate, physically distinct right mouse button. As if it's a point of historical pride for them now.