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Steve Jobs Patents "The Dock"
theodp writes "If you're a PC, you may be unfamiliar with The Dock, the bar of icons that sits at the bottom or side of a Mac and provides easy access to Apple applications. But don't count on it becoming a standard on the PC. On Tuesday, the USPTO awarded Apple — and inventor Steve Jobs — a patent for their User Interface for Providing Consolidation and Access, aka 'The Dock,' after a rather lengthy nine-year wait."
you have to be kidding.. CDE has had this for years, if not decades..
I don't think this was covered on Slashdot and I wish I could find a better citation than this but it's been said that Apple has threatened makers of "docks" for PCs with lawsuits. I can't verify that but I do know that I downloaded and installed a beta program called Y'z Dock which was developed by a now defunct crew.
... but my default response to software patents is that they're broken. Those of you that use Windows will never know the dock because Steve Jobs doesn't want it that way. Also, I'm kind of pissed that "a PC" means Windows ... it means personal computer, does it not? Isn't my Linux machine a personal computer? I hate that. But that's a totally offtopic rant triggered by marketing from all camps.
The Y'z Dock software was really really slick and very comparable to Apple's. You can still find the beta distros on pages like Fileforum and other third party hosters (I won't link because you will have to use those at your own risk).
I don't think anyone in the community ever thought they could get away with mimicking the dock
My work here is dung.
You know, that area on the windows tool bar that gives you quick access to applications? Been there since Windows95 I think..
Reading the patent, it specifices a magnification effect on the icon the mouse is over.
Another example of prior art is HP's Dashboard. (It was a 'Program Manager' replacement for Windows 3.1. It's main design hurdle was that it was in the middle of the screen and thus you had to either keep minimizing apps, or resize them around the center program launcher if you wanted to quickly swap around to different applications. Once you got around it's quirks if was a very fine piece of software for its time.
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
Since when does the comma take precedence over the semicolon? Normally, that would be read as a list of four items: Ording, Jobs Bas, Lindsay Steven P., and Donald J. The fact that such vile abuse of punctuation is standard as the USPTO is irrefutable proof that the entire institution is corrupt.
Can you even bother to read the abstract?
To provide greater access and consolidation to frequently used items in the graphical user interface, a userbar is established which includes a plurality of item representations.
Not the patentable part...
To permit a greater number of items to reside in the userbar, a magnification function can be provided which magnifies items within the userbar when they are proximate the cursor associated with the graphical user interface.
Ah, yes, there we go. The patent is for rollover magnification of the items in the dock.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
So basically, CSS Dock is now illegal despite the fact that it is just JavaScript (written using jQuery) and CSS? Great. Now when I'm doing web development, I need to make sure I'm not stepping on the patents of people in completely different arenas.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Well, yes, Steve Jobs (ever heard of him?) introduced the Dock at NeXT almost 20 years ago.
This patent is for the annoying magnification effect that was added in OS X only 10 years ago.
Good! That row of icons that I never liked will be relegated to the Apple desktop and won't clutter anymore the screens of any other OS :-)
/. story here
1. A computer system comprising: a display; a cursor for pointing to a position within said display; a bar rendered on said display and having a plurality of tiles associated therewith; and a processor for varying a size of at least one of said plurality of tiles on said display when said cursor is proximate said bar on said display and for repositioning others of said plurality of tiles along said bar to accommodate the varied size of said one tile.
Roughly, increasing the size of the icon which the mouse is over, and repositioning icons around it.
36. A computer system comprising: a display; a cursor for pointing to a position within said display; a userbar rendered on said display and having a plurality of tiles associated therewith; and a processor for varying a position of at least one of said plurality of tiles on said display when said cursor is proximate said bar on said display, in accordance with a predefined relationship between an effect width W, a default height h of said at least one of said plurality of tiles and a selected maximum height H of said at least one of said plurality of tiles wherein said predefined relationship includes a function S defined as: S=((H-h)/2)/sine(.pi..times.(h+2)/(W.times.2)).
Roughly, a bar in a gui where the position of icons nearby the mouse is modified according to the formula given.
65. A computer system comprising: a display; a cursor for pointing to a position within said display; a userbar rendered on said display and having a plurality of tiles associated therewith; and a processor for varying a position of at least one of said plurality of tiles on said display when said cursor is proximate said bar on said display, wherein said processor displays a label associated with said at least one of said plurality of tiles with a first predetermined fade-in rate when said cursor moves proximate said at least one of said plurality of tiles from another of said plurality of tiles, and with a second predetermined fade-in rate when said cursor moves proximate said at least one of said plurality of tiles from outside a region associated with said userbar.
Roughly, displaying the name of a program (by fading it in) when you run the mouse over the associated icon from outside the dock.
67. A computer system comprising: a display; a cursor for pointing to a position within said display; a userbar rendered on said display and having a plurality of tiles associated therewith; and a processor for varying a position of at least one of said plurality of tiles on said display when said cursor is proximate said bar on said display, wherein said processor displays a label associated with said at least one of said plurality of tiles with a first predetermined fade-in rate when said cursor moves proximate said at least one of said plurality of tiles from another of said plurality of tiles, and wherein said processor fades out said label when said cursor moves away from said at least one of said plurality of tiles using a first fade out rate when said cursor moves into another of said at least one of said plurality of tiles, and using a second fade out rate when said cursor moves out of a region associated with said bar.
Roughly, displaying the name of a program (by fading it in) when you run the mouse over the associated icon from another icon.
69. A method for displaying items in a graphical user interface comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of said items in a region of said graphical user interface, each of said items having a default height associated therewith; moving a cursor along said region; and selectively magnifying at least one of said items closest to said cursor to a first level and magnifying items proximate to said one item to other levels less than said first level.
Key pieces of this story:
It's Apple.
It's Jobs.
It's therefore NOT eligible for scrutiny.
Move along...
---"What did I say that sounded like 'Tell me about your day?'"---
Oh shit! This means we can't have icons both showing a task that can be opened and one that already is in one icon!
Oh well! I'm not sure how we'll survive, but those crazy developers are pretty resourceful, I'm sure we'll find some other way to launch applications and check if they're still open later.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
I guess they're patenting the dynamically-sized bar. Acorn's RISC OS came out in 1989, and it had an icon bar for applications and devices. Arthur before it (1987) had one too. The only difference is that they were always full-screen-width.
That's an awfully trivial difference.
Which is exactly what makes it patentable in the United States.
I fear what this could mean for other operating systems because Apple has a reputation for being rather zealous about their software patents; as Microsoft might remember.
I don't know if anybody else remembers Apple's patent frenzy on people who used a 'Recycle Bin', let alone an entire GUI.
On a side note; in KDE you can simulate a dock by sizing your taskbar to 50% and putting nothing but icons in it and then enabling the KDE menu on the top, it'll look just like a Mac desktop.
I'm a Mac user and I do use magnification because it lets me shrink the Dock but the magnification means I can mouse-over and quickly find what I need. I also have auto-hiding on. Minimises the space it takes up on the desktop whilst maximising readability.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
Good Lord, Steve. Just patent PURE SHINY EVIL and be done with it.
Authentic Apple iEvil! Not that ersatz Zune Evil, hahahahaha! Get only the best evil!
http://rocknerd.co.uk
Actually, in 3.1 you could have 'MOM' the Microsoft Office Manager, that was a bar that sat at the top of the screen with icons to launch Office apps. It was part of Office, not Windows, but it's been around for a while. In Office 95 they replace it with a bar that could dock with the side of the screen like another task bar.
Thanks for the flashbacks. I forget how long I've been doing this sometimes.
I have just had a look at the patent and it seems to be *how* the "dock" is *presented*.
E.g. the patent constantly mentions things like *fading-in* the program name over a "tile" (icon?), *magnification* of a tile and it uses the term "bar" instead of "dock". The patent even specifies formulas!
Does this mean that a "dock" can be implemented by using different "effects" and formulas?
Also, the "magnification" seems to be specifically defined in the patent. I'm sure there are other ways this can be done without "violating" the patent.
Certain parts of the patent seem very narrow. It seems to cover direct clones of the Mac "dock".
If this is the case then this seems to be an expensive patent for a trivial issue.
I personally think that this is just a good example of how patents and copyrights passed the offramp to sanity a few miles back. You have MSFT patenting the double click(or as my home users call it "Clicky Clicky") you have Amazon patenting the single click,and now Apple has jumped on the crazy train. It has already gotten to be a minefield when it comes to patents and copyrights and I don't think anyone in their right mind would say that either promotes the arts and encourages innovation. What we need is serious reform or the USA is going to be left out of the 21st century as all the innovation goes to countries that don't have the minefields of patents and copyrights to navigate.
And for those on Windows who wouldn't mind a quick,easy,low resource dock of their own I'd suggest they snatch a copy of Rocketdock before Apple ends up killing it over this patent. They have plenty of addons and icons and skins to customize it your way and it runs really nice.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
"The dock has been part of the Macintosh OS and user interface since its introduction in 1984."
Uh. No. The 1984 Mac (which I owned and for which I also wrote software) most certainly did NOT have a dock. It had menus and windows and desktop icons... but no dock.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Ugh, I hated that Office toolbar, and how everyone would put it on the right side, hidden. Go to scroll on someone else's PC: Surprise! Office Toolbar! Go to the upper right hand to close an application: Surprise! Office Toolbar!
Sorry but the Dock comes from NeXTStep which was demoed in 1987 and shipped in 1989 by NeXT Inc which was started by Steve Jobs after he was forced out of Apple. Later, NeXT was bought out by Apple and Steve Jobs returned to Apple as acting CEO.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
FYI I did RTFA,and where exactly did I say ANYTHING about putting icons on the desktop? Hell you made me reread my own post three times because I thought sure I must have missed something or been unclear,but nope,nowhere is there anything about icons on the desktop.
The simple facts are these: patents and copyrights have gotten insane and any large corporation needs to build up a "defensive" portfolio just to protect themselves from troll corporations and submarine patents. It is also stifling innovation because the little inventors out there simply don't have the $$$ to navigate the minefield. As for other countries see India and China which both are a lot more lax when it comes to copyrights and patents of those outside their borders. We have destroyed our manufacturing base thanks to outsourcing and it know looks like we are going to bet the entire country on "IP" which can easily be copied and cloned for next to nothing. This is a BAD idea. And I doubt seriously that you can find anyone that isn't a patent or copyright lawyer that thinks the insanity of patents along with the eternal copyrights are anything but a BAD idea.
But go ahead,insult me all you want. That doesn't make the onslaught of patents we have been seeing coming out of USPTO anything but nuts. Oh and let us not forget the recent waves of "ON THE INTERNET!" patents. Like doing commerce ON THE INTERNET! or watching a video ON THE INTERNET! It seems like you can patent any previous idea by simply adding ON THE INTERNET to it. But I'm sure that most of us agree that patents and copyrights are both LONG overdue for serious reforms. Sadly until we can find a way to reform our congress critters so they'll stop going "How much money? Really?" and selling us out like a bunch of cheap whores I seriously doubt we'll be seeing any real reforms from either side of the isle.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.