Prior Art to Pinpoint vs. Amazon, from 1980's?

Gary Robinson writes "I'm in a fairly unique position with regard to the Pinpoint vs. Amazon case since I built a system in the mid-1980's which is commonly regarded as the first active service based on collaborative filtering. It was a voice-mail-based dating service called 212-ROMANCE. I still have the 8-inch CP/M source code disks as insurance against CF-related patent lawsuits. Today I've posted a discussion of the Pinpoint vs. Amazon case in the context of that prior art as well other prior art from the 1980's."

Comments

8" floppy media?

[TWX]

I hope that you made some backups. That form of media doesn't exactly have an infinite shelf life.

Re:8" floppy media?

[tds67]

Any man with an 8" floppy should consider himself very lucky.

Re:8" floppy media?

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude you killed a perfectly good joke.

In Soviet Russia perfectly good jokes kill you

Re:8" floppy media?

[Skater]

For a moment, I was pretty sure the story was going to end with, "...but I need an 8 inch disk drive to read it. Can anyone help?"

To which, of course, a couple dozen slashdotters would offer the use of theirs. :)

--RJ

Huh?

[AntiOrganic]

"That project used techniques that do not seem fundamentally not unlike some of the basic principles used in the Pinpoint patents." Do not seem fundamentally not unlike? What the fuck?

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

I once used the phrase "non-women" in a student union general meeting.

Re:Huh?

[jonman_d]

Whenever you even discuss patents, you have to use obfusticated speech. How else do you patent using a laser to play with a cat, but with language like:
"directing an intense coherent beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus to produce a bright highly-focused pattern of light at the intersection of the beam and an opaque surface, said pattern being of visual interest to a cat;"?

Re:Huh?

[Phroggy]

You've gotta be careful about using double negatives, but triple negatives are OK.

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

oops I think I infringed that one :)

Poor Fluffy and me will go to jail!

Wow, the patent office has fessed up!

[macshune]

From the article:" Last fall, the head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office admitted that many business method patents had been wrongfully awarded in the past."

This line could be a slashdot story in and of itself!:)

Re:Wow, the patent office has fessed up!

[SpaceLifeForm]

Finally, realizing the error of their ways, they admit they were previously awarding them on merit alone.

8" Floppy

[Anonymous Coward]

I got an 8" floppy. You should see my hard drive!

he would post the source

[SHEENmaster]

but then caldera would throw it in their kernel, and prior versions thereof, and accuse him of piracy.

If you do sorting with CP/M and don't pay them money, you're a common thief!

Re:One should have to prove "no prior art"!

[Anonymous Coward]

It is impossible to prove a negative.

basic logic rule: your statement is self-contridictory and therefore irrelevant. How can you say it's impossible (a negative statement) to prove a negative??? You cannot prove this statement is true now can you since it implies something in the negative...

please leave the logic to people who understand it (not me)

Re:Business Plan

[KU_Fletch]

It makes me wonder what other things we could patent. Maybe a system of purchasing goods over an integrated network by depressing a button on a point and click input device.

/me prepares for many lawsuits

Re:Business Plan

[Anonymous Coward]

Click patents are so nineties. My patent pending mouse gesture shopping concept will be all the hype soon.