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Apple Patents 'Chameleon' Computer Case
Dave B writes "The Register
has been fishing at the patent office again and found that Apple has a new patent for "a computing device [which] includes a housing having an illuminable portion. The computing device also includes a light device disposed inside the housing. The light device is configured to illuminate the illuminable portion".
While this gives us the exciting prospect of an iMac that is all five fruit flavors at once surely the original iMac with its glowing power button, or indeed a-thousand-and-one other electronic gizmos represent prior art?" Update a couple of users noticed this Slashdot Story from 2002 which looks familiar.
There ...
are
four LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!
It certainly is a patent issue
The term prior art is mainly used in the patent field.
(next time I will RTFA)
I did not know mother Nature is this sloppy when it comes to patents. I thought the Chameleon would have been patented already.
I guess it now make sense to call them iLamps ! Damn it was my favorite joke.
Gimme my 699$ or suffer the litigatious consequnceses.
-- "I'm not a religious man, but if you're up there, save me Superman..."
Good thing no one has a patent on hyperbole -- you'd be in some serious trouble with the above post.
Cretin - a powerful and flexible CD reencoder
If the lights can be controlled by software (and I'm assuming it'd work in the same principle of one of the old Lite Brite toys), It'd be intersting to see whether any viruses could exploit this feature. I can just see a row of Apple computers with goatsex glowing on the side of them....
Sunday you're Thinking Different, Monday you're a huge tool, paying too much and waiting to think like everyone else.
Just what I need a computer that hides from me by becoming the same colour as the desk.
Not to mention that Apple would really have to smoke some bad crack to claim prior art against their own patent.
I wonder how this does for their Karmakarmakarmakarmakarma ChameEEEeleon Appologies to Boy George...
Dude didn't you hear? They ported NextSTEP to the Mac!!! The days of cooperative multitasking are over!
Cretin - a powerful and flexible CD reencoder
Wait - computers don't actually do that? I guess I'm going to have to re-watch all those movies that I learned about computers from.
This is obviously the first hack anyone is going to write for it. The color and pattern is software-controlled, and therefore application-agnostic.
Second, someone (it could be me) will figure out how to goatse your case.
Cretin - a powerful and flexible CD reencoder
Because there is no Score: 0 Retard?
I don't know about "Lasers". You might open the case and shoot your eye out.
Evolution or ID?
So do you suppose that these internal lights will actually be lasers like the ones found in laser pointers?
I think they'll actually have little frick'n sharks with the frick'n lasers attached to their heads
Yeah, and if someone gets Goatse'd, a little fluorescent man holding his anus pops up on the case.
And more importantly: STOP dropping acid!
Escape Pod Films: Sketch Comedy and Web Series
How do you think you come up with a patent for a colour changing "chameleon" computer case?
-- james
Last time I checked Dell is making the machines running Windows XP
mac is built on that little thing... ah crap whats it called... its really big with all those computer science nerds. eu---eu.... eunuchs?
...and that's all there is to it.
It looks like Apple is extending the "illuminated case" theme by making it more interactive. The patent is purposely vague about what the illumination is, taking (what seems to be) pains to avoid calling the illumination static. I think they're looking at displaying color bars, logos, icons, etc. on the case from the inside. It would be cool to see an entire case shaded (for example) from blue to red to indicate processor activity. Imagine a rack full of server systems with that capability, in a dark server room....
I wonder what will happen if it ever works out that it can behave like a chameleon and then it suddenly disappears....?
ACHTUNG! Alles touristen und non-technischen peepers!
Das machine control is nicht fur gerfinger-poken und mittengrabben. Oderwise is easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowen fuse, und poppencorken mit spitzensparken.
Der machine is diggen by experten only. Is nicht fur geverken by das dummkopfen. Das rubbernecken sightseenen keepen das cotten picken hands in das pockets, so relaxen und watchen das blinkenlights.
Cress, cress, lovely lovely cress
I think the Mood Stone guy is gonna have a little something to say about this...
"If my answers frighten you, then you should cease asking scary questions." -Jules Winnfield
programmable, simple...
void changecolor(int rgb) {
int err;
int fd = open("/dev/case", O+RDWR);
if (fd >= 0) {
err = ioctl(fd, CASE_RGB_VALUE, &rgb);
}
}
I write code.
Unfotunately, if you hooked up the chameleon to change colour accoring to computer status, the only colour it would turn is black...Mind you, there would also be some really neat audio feedback as well
Specialisation is for insects
Instead of the Blue Screen Of Death, you now get a Blue Case Of Death?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
gives us the exciting prospect of an iMac that is all five fruit flavors at once
You mean White?
Or it could just turn black when you try to run SP2 on it.
By using a built in camera to scan its vicinity and match the skin's casing to its environment the computer (or anything else for that matter) could be made to vanish. If a thief breaks in, he or she would find it a lot harder to find!
O'WONDERWe're working on it.
UV? Is that for tanning purposes? Lord knows geeks need it more than anyone else...
Ahhh! Slashdot is being invaded by Multics users!
:) It's usually for water cooling, you can get water dyes that show up under a UV light. There are some graphics cards, motherboads and hard drive cables that come with bits that will show up under UV too.
It helps raise your frag count at LAN parties... because everyone always forgets to bring sunglasses.
Instead of the Blue Screen Of Death, you now get a Blue Case Of Death?
yeah...but wouldn't "blue balls" be considered prior art?
this is loaner...my sig is in the shop
They already have this in most nuclear power stations, if the core is a deep cherry red it's time to leave the building, if it's yellow it's time to bend over and kiss your arse goodbye.
...and if it's being /.'ed then it'd turn a rather nasty brown colour! ;-)
Whenever the feds bust in, the computer can blend in with the background and hide itself.
Heh, your entire case will turn into the swirling beach ball of doom!!
(yes, I know it's not quite analogous to the BSOD)
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
"The Arglebargle virus takes control of the case lighting control software and locks the system into cycling between the colors 'Pepto-Bismol pink', 'institutional pea-green' and '1985 IBM PC/AT beige/grey'." - From a future CERT advisory.
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.