Slashdot Mirror
Apple Adds Samsung Galaxy SIII To Its Ban List
After its big win against Samsung, Apple named 8 Samsung products it wanted an injunction to ban from sale in the U.S. Apple wasn't content with that, though; USA Today reports on the state of the expanded list: "The new list of 21 products includes Samsung's flagship smartphone Galaxy S III as well as the Galaxy Note, another popular Android phone. If the court finds those devices are infringing Apple's patents and irreparably harming the U.S. company, it could temporarily halt sales in the U.S. market even before the trial begins."
A pretty large number of IT, CS, and other technically-minded folks seem to like Apple's products (and they are generally apathetic when it comes to Apple's tactics, licenses, or how Apple is pushing for the destruction of PCs), and quite a few Slashdot readers are big supporters of Apple.
It is changing. In our clinic we were in the process of transitioning towards an "all Apple" environment (iphones, ipads, Macbooks, imacs and mac minis). However, witnessing with great concern Apple's customer hostile approach worsening rapidly over the last couple of years we decided to reverse the process. In phones it was easy - the Galaxy S3 is a vastly better device. In laptops it is not easy, we still find Macbooks unrivaled in build quality and features, and there is nothing on the market we could find that would come close to the desirable specs of a mac mini.
As a result, we are now transitioning to a mix of generic PC hardware and Mac hardware mostly running Linux (some desktops still running OSX), and Galaxy S3 phones and soon the new Galaxy note tablet too. While it is a slow transition, I can see many like minded people in my area making a similar transition - the walled garden walls have become far too high for many, the sun is not coming through any more.
Only two years ago I probably would have still praised the advantages of the OSX ecosystem. Nowadays, they have become as disgusting as Microsoft had 10 years ago - and that was the last time I used any Microsoft products. The writing is on the wall for Apple too - instead of keeping innovating they merely try to maximize their profit through litigating any competition and locking their existing customers completely in. When corporates become intolerably arrogant it is only a matter of time before people turn their back.
Google gets nothing by banning XBoxes, simply because it does not sell video game consoles. Obviously they are not trying to ban anything, they want just a slice of the pie.
Microsoft patents troll Google for money. Google patents troll Microsoft for money. They make agreements and continue to be. That is basically a zero sum game. Obviously it helps no one but the lawyers but it does not harm the consumer.
Apple is trying to patents troll Samsung into oblivion so they don't need to compete anymore and can have a legal monopoly over smartphones and tablets, and US courts apparently are fine with monopolies and Crony Capitalism so they get away with this.
"The land of the free" has been a joke to everyone outside of the US for decades. -- Hundreds of years actually. The underground railroad has always run from the USA to Canada, and not the other way around.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!