Wozniak On the Samsung Patent Verdict 328
dgharmon writes "'I hate it,' Wozniak told Bloomberg in Shanghai today, referring to the patent battle. He thinks the ruling will be overruled. Samsung will of course appeal, and this case will go back and forth for months still, but Wozniak just wishes everyone could get along. 'I don’t think the decision of California will hold. And I don’t agree with it — very small things I don’t really call that innovative. I wish everybody would just agree to exchange all the patents and everybody can build the best forms they want to use everybody’s technologies,' he said."
Re:Please. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Nope, Apple did not start it (Score:5, Interesting)
If it were just Samsung getting a little sloppy about Apple's design patents, you'd have a point. But the motivation for this war is the belief that Android itself is one big ripoff of iOS and needs to die [bbc.com]. If Apple is allowed to claim ownership of the dominant user interaction paradigm, they will end up being the sole owner of the smart phone marketplace.
You say there are alternatives? These are a few small time platforms that manage to stay outside Apple's claimed IP They will always be too nonstandard to attract significant user or developer mindshare.
Re:Nope, Apple did not start it (Score:2, Interesting)
Also, if anyone bothers to Google, the f700 was not "before" the iPhone. I honestly don't know why I come to this site any more.
http://androidcommunity.com/who-was-really-first-apple-vs-samsung-story-truly-debunked-20110420/ [androidcommunity.com]
From the article:
This picture above says the F700 was shown at CeBit 2006, and then released in 2007, making Apple and the iPhone the one that copied them. This is completely false. We here love Android, not Apple, but this is a interesting story and I just felt like sharing either way. Even if Apple is in the right. According to the picture the F700 was introduced in 2006, and Apple stole the design. I’m not going to get to deep on this, but the F700 was never seen until February of 2007 and our very own slashgear had it completely covered. This is AFTER Apple announced and showed the world the iPhone January 9th 2007 at MacWorld.
Re:Nope, Apple did not start it (Score:5, Interesting)
Who you know (Score:3, Interesting)
I knew Woz about 25-30 years ago when I worked as a systems engineering consultant in the Silicon Valley. He always impressed me as an engineer who was more focused on creating wild and new stuff, vs. Jobs who wanted to rule the world... :-) Well, Jobs ruled the world for awhile, but the Woz is still kicking ass and taking names!
Two Extremes, One Partnership (Score:5, Interesting)
One Steve made a name for himself by opening up computers. His idea that a desktop computer should be a big open platform that anybody can plug into dominates computer design to this very day, and had a lot to do with the explosive growth of computing.
The other Steve wanted to close up smartphones [bbc.com]. Come to think of it, he took a control-freak attitude toward every product he ever launched. Ironic, really.
Re:"Decision of California"? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Nope, Apple did not start it (Score:5, Interesting)
If they were "exact copies" why are verdicts from all over the world centered on software patents like slide to unlock and multitouch gestures, not design patents? Why's Apple suing Samsung for Galaxy SIII when it was widely claimed to be "phone designed by lawyers" as to avoid infringements?
Sorry, but "Apple only has a bone with Samsung because they make exact copies" don't really work, considering those verdicts, SIII lawsuit and preceding lawsuits with other major Android manufacturers.
The Woz (Score:5, Interesting)
Wish the Woz was the CEO (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:He also added... (Score:3, Interesting)
Whoa, wait there, camper! What exactly is it that Google is doing that is so high and mighty? Selling your soul to advertisers? At least when you use Apple products you are the customer. When you use Google services, you are the product.
The Woz is an engineer and a nice guy but... (Score:2, Interesting)
He does not have a clue about how to run a business. You don't get ahead by sharing everything you make and helping out the competition. Business is "war" and the nice guys finish last.
Apple lost the last desktop war because they were too nice and gave MSFT access to early prototypes of the Lisa and Macintosh.
Do you all think that Bill Gates and MSFT got to where they are by being "nice"?
I think the Woz needs to permanently retire and enjoy the rest of his life. Because he has been out of the game, I don't consider his opinions to be worth more than the average joe on the street. I'm sorry but that is reality. As much as I might admire his contributions to the early days of personal computers, he has not done much in the past decade.
Re:Nope, Apple did not start it (Score:5, Interesting)
So what if Samsung copied. Yes, if they did, it would be illegal, but that just means they should suffer a reasonable penalty.
Do you really think the amount Samsung had to pay Apple was reasonable?
First you have to prove that Samsung's copying of Apple products benefited Samsung. Sure you can point to Samsung's sales, but if you interview people who bought their products, none would tell you it was because of the iphone similarity.
I bought my galaxy S DESPITE the similarity, not because of it. I was happy enough with the phone that I was prepared to suffer the embarrassment of owning a phone that looked like an iphone (but clearly bigger).
Do you really think all those samsung phone owners were happy every time someone asked "is that an iphone?".
Personally I don't know and don't care if Samsung copied Apple. In my view there is no way that is worth 1 billion dollars. That is basically saying that Samsung contributed nothing to their own phone, or that people only bought it because of (Apple's) design. It isn't just wrong, it is ridiculous.
Do you think Apple is being honest about all this?
They are trying to include the Galaxy S3 now - a phone that looks nothing like any iphone ever made. And yet they are trying to make similar 'copying' claims about it.
IMO the original galaxy S1 and maybe the galaxy tab 10.1 are the only devices Apple actually has any shred of a valid claim against. But they are clearly not suing samsung for the reasons they state.
Re:Nope, Apple did not start it (Score:5, Interesting)