Slashdot Mirror
Apple Agrees To Pay Licensing Fees To Nokia
dkd903 writes "After almost two years of litigation of Nokia and Apple suing and counter-suing each other, the patent war between the two companies has come to an end. The winner of this settlement is, however, Nokia. As a part of the settlement, Apple has agreed to become a licensee of Nokia's patents. As a part of the licensing agreement, Apple has agreed to give Nokia a one-time payment and ongoing royalties. The exact terms of the agreement have not been disclosed."
...and let me first say, I don't like Apple, don't like their snobbish, and inferior (imho) interfaces, their lock-in, and their outrageous prices.
However...
Apple, though I don't agree with how they do it, are able to bring together X, Y, and Z in a one of the most fascinatingly memetic way that touches something in a global manner. They are not innovators, because they don't own X, Y, or likely Z either. They design in such a way as to make people say, "What an innovation!" Yet, they are looking at the same X, Y, and Z as before. Mozart didn't invent musical instruments, he simply mastered their use and composition.
But there is a price. Mozart didn't get free pianos or violins simply because he knew how to use them. We shouldn't assume that because Apple uses a technology better that they invented or even improved it. And, in their defense, maybe they fell into the same fallacy of "I use it best, I should therefore not be bound to pay or give others credit." Unfortunately, this is much like those of us (and I do mean myself in that "us") who love FOSS and bristle that we have to actually "pay" for code sometimes.
I8-D