Slashdot Mirror
Apple Wins Mobile Patent On Displaying Lists, Documents
walterbyrd writes "Apple yesterday was granted Patent no. 8,223,134 for 'Portable electronic device, method, and graphical user interface for displaying electronic lists and documents.' According to the patent's description, the technology relies upon a touch-screen display and includes both the function for displaying lists and documents, and how they look on a mobile product."
I don't quite see the business model of filing an idiotically general patent, waiting around, suing someone for using it, spending millions defending it in court, and getting the patent thrown out and paying the competitor's legal fees.
By suing someone you slow down their ability to bring competing products to the market.
It's not general, the summary is just dumb. As far as I can tell, it's a patent on a scrollbar that disappears when you're not dragging the view. If that's right, it's certainly a crummy patent, but not a general one.
But Apple's law firm does, and you nicely described all of the revenue generating functions.
Of course there's a difference between a business model predicated on bringing something of value to society and the business model of a rent seeking parasite that only owes its existence to an unaddressed inefficiency.
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
No, they patented the behavior of the scroll bar in UITableView, not the view itself like the summary makes it sound.
How about clicking the link and reading the description. It's actually pretty specific about it.
I mean, fuck Apple, but don't just jump on that bandwagon.
"Abstract
In a computer-implemented method, a portion of an electronic document is displayed on the touch screen display. The displayed portion of the electronic document has a vertical position in the electronic document. An object is detected on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document. In response to detecting the object on or near the displayed portion of the electronic document, a vertical bar is displayed on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document. The vertical bar has a vertical position on top of the displayed portion of the electronic document that corresponds to the vertical position in the electronic document of the displayed portion of the electronic document. After a predetermined condition is met, display of the vertical bar is ceased. The vertical bar is displayed for a predetermined time period when the portion of the electronic document is initially displayed."
Steve's dead, man. Nobody left at Apple has the balls to throw out aggressive new products like the Jobs did. As much as I hate the guy and his company, he definitely knew his shit when it came to generating hype out of thin air.
If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits