Another Garbage Patent

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Posted by chrisd on Tuesday March 4, 2003 @01:08PM from the oh-come-on-now dept.

*no comment* writes "Literally "garbage patent" that is, Apple was rewarded a patent for the "Garbage" icon in Mac OS X. The patent documents can be found at the USPTO by clicking here. More on this and other Apple patents are in this article over at the macobserver."

8 of 559 comments (clear)

Microsoft? HELLO?! :) by BalkanBoy · 2003-03-04 13:13 · Score: 5, Funny

Patent the "Start" button!! QUICK QUICK before Jeff Bezos comes out of the woodwork!! :)

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'A lie if repeated often enough, becomes the truth.' - Goebbels
1. Re:Microsoft? HELLO?! :) by Repton · 2003-03-04 16:13 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I liked this quote from the abstract of the start menu patent:
  
  The taskbar may also be displayed in a mode where it is not displayed [...]
  
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  Repton.
  They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
Anti-grouch? by wembley · 2003-03-04 13:18 · Score: 5, Funny

This was probably done in collusion with Children's Television Workshop (CTW) so that they can prevent someone from making an OS X version of "The Grouch", one of the greatest MacOS hacks ever.

It was great. Empty the trash, and Oscar the Grouch would come out of the trashcan singing. Then CTW sued the the muppety pants off the author and it pretty much disappeard.

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Share and Enjoy!
Move over Microsoft by SlowMovingTarget · 2003-03-04 13:19 · Score: 5, Funny

All your icons are belong to us...

What I can't wait for is when Apple patents the space character in file names. Whew! Imagine the royalties on the "Program Files" (c:\Progra~1 to 8.3 folks out there) folder.

This just in: Apple patents the technique of "double-click launching" to launch applications visually.
real reason.. by Suppafly · 2003-03-04 14:10 · Score: 5, Funny

The real reason to patent the garbage can picture is to keep slashdot from choosing to use it to refer to macos in the future instead of the shiny silver apple.
Trash Can Absurdity by LPetrazickis · 2003-03-04 14:13 · Score: 5, Funny

Am I the only one who thinks that dumping floppies into trash should REFORMAT instead of EJECTING?:)

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Is this a sigs-optional kind of place? 'Cause I am totally down with that if you know what I mean.
Microsoft has a leg up here! by callipygian-showsyst · 2003-03-04 15:00 · Score: 5, Funny

Unlike wasteful Apple, the folks at Microsoft furnish Windows XP with a recycle bin!
You'd think the Northern California latte liberals at Apple would care more about their environment than Microsoft folks do, but that isn't the case. While Apple's filling up our landfills with garbage bits, Microsoft recycles them so they can be used again.

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Best Buy can have you arrested
Re:I guess MS can just use by shellbeach · 2003-03-04 17:44 · Score: 5, Funny

I guess MS can just use their own company symbol for trash now
Well, I know I do:
I pulled one of those "designed for Windows98" stickers off a box years ago and stuck it on my kitchen bin ...
Only it's not a very fair comparison - my bin has never crashed in over three years of continuous operation, which is more than I can say for Win98 :)