Upside Down Phone Patent

An anonymous reader noted that "A patent has been filed for the "Upside Down Phone", which features the keypad on top and the screen on the bottom. The idea behind the upside down phone is, apparently, to allow faster texting by have a more comfortable position for the thumb to work from. A quick check of this seems to confirm the theory, making this one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" moments."

Comments

"Why didn't I think of that?"

[alexhard]

I don't know..maybe because the hands will be right on top of the screen and you won't be able to see anything?

Re:"Why didn't I think of that?"

[fang2415]

One of us *did* think of that.

Re:"Why didn't I think of that?"

[ozbird]

I had a job during the summer where I had to do a lot of data entry into phones ... this was all on a bicycle, so that makes a difference as well.

I find your ideas fascinating, and I would like to subscrib*CRASH*.

Re:"Why didn't I think of that?"

[squiggleslash]

Good story, and it reminds me of another story, involving - interestingly enough - Christopher Columbus again.

In the story, Christopher Columbus attends a meeting involving Craig McCaw, Christopher Gent, Steve Jobs, and the entire staff of Nokia. Christopher asks all the people in attendance to design an easier way of entering text messages into a cellphone. After all those present have tried and failed, they state that it's impossible to get better than iTAP. Columbus then pulls out a whopping great IBM Model M keyboard, attaches it to his phone, and types in his text message. Columbus then states that it is "the simplest thing in the world. Anybody can do it, after he has been shown how!"

Columbus then went on to patent his invention, but in one of the great tragedies of science and technology, received nothing in royalties due to the slight issue with his "solution" being as idiotic as his more famous attempt to stand an egg on end.

It's a sad story, I know.

haHA

[TinBromide]

Gonna get rich! I just filed a patent for the upsidedown laptop, where you pull up the keyboard and look down at the screen.

Makes it easier for those of you who type with your feet. (I'm looking at YOU, AOLers...)

Garmin GPS did this 10 years ago

[cvd6262]

I bought a Garmin GPS12 back in '98 that had the screen on the bottom. It made for great one-hand used.

I guess adding "cellphone" to a design is just like adding "on the Internet" to a business plan.

Re:Garmin GPS did this 10 years ago

[montyzooooma]

"I bought a Garmin GPS12 back in '98 that had the screen on the bottom. It made for great one-hand use."

Whoa! There's GPS porn?

Not Why Didn't I Think of That

[ISoldMyLowIdOnEbay]

More

How the H*ll Can You Patent That?

Re:Not Why Didn't I Think of That

[monsted]

Too bad Bang & Olufsen has done it for a few years now.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/serene-cellp hone-from-samsung-and-bang-olufsen-155610.php

You may now rip that patent to pieces.

Layout patent?

[FredDC]

How is it possible to patent the layout of something? I'll just go and patent a much used way of laying bricks on top of eachother and everyone who builds a house has to pass by my bank account first? This patenting is getting way out of hand!

Nothing new

[earthloop]

Ericsson did this way back in 1999 with the "Hedvig".

Project was cancelled, one reason being users didn't like the upside down configuration.

Re:Nothing new

[earthloop]

(Replying to my own post, ugh!)

Pics of Hedvig can be found here:
http://semania.mobilmania.cz/content/view/87/2/

Next story? Upside-down slashdot!

[neonux]

"A patent has been filed for the "Upside Down Slashdot" which features the comments on top and the fucking article on the bottom. The idea behind the upside down Slashdot is, apparently, to allow quicker reading by not having to RTFA. A quick check of this seems to confirm the theory, making this one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" moments."

cool

[White Yeti]

Of course, this was all on a bicycle, so that makes a difference as well. We need more posts that end with this line.