Did an Apple Engineer Invent FB Messages In 2003?

Posted by timothy on Saturday November 20, 2010 @08:36AM from the if-that-then-this dept.

theodp writes "Q. How many Facebook engineers does it take in 2010 to duplicate a lone Apple engineer's 2003 effort? A. 15! On Nov. 15th, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Facebook Messages, which uses whatever method of communication is appropriate at the time — e.g., email, IM, SMS. A day later, ex-Apple software engineer Jens Alfke was granted a patent for his 2003 invention of a Method and apparatus for processing electronic messages, which — you guessed it — employs the most appropriate messaging method — e.g., email, IM, SMS — for the job. Citing Apple's lack of passion for social software, Alfke left Apple in 2008. After a layover at Google, Alfke landed at startup Rockmelt, whose still-in-beta 'social web browser' also sports a pretty nifty communications platform."

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Re:Apple Claiming Credit for Something Else?!? by beelsebob · 2010-11-20 09:10 · Score: 0, Flamebait

Oh, for Pete's sake. The applehate dorcs are really becoming insuferable.
If apple's coming up with these inventions, then fair play to them! It's not "claiming credit" in any nefarious form if you actually did invent it!