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Audiohighway awarded patent on digital audio players
Jelloman wrote to us to say that Audohighway, Cupertine-based company, has said that they have been awarded the patent for "any type of digital audio player used to store and play back downloaded content regardless of the electronic format in which the content is saved." They applied for the patent in 1995, and are saying that with all the players built, they believe they eligible for "compensation agreement". Excuse me while I go smash my head against a wall in frustration.
> I think I'll patent thinking.
Why? The market is so small. Better to patent stupidity.
-- Too lazy to get a lower UID.
Why? The market is so small. Better to patent stupidity.
That's very true, but USPTO might catch that one. I figured I'd patent something nobody there had ever encountered before.
It's a pretty sketchy article, and the patent so far hasn't even been granted from what I'm reading. The patent shouldn't be granted if its as vague as the article indicates. Prior to 1995 it was entirely possible to download music files and play them back on a portable device. Namely a laptop computer. Laptop type computing devices have been around for a while. I distinctly remember a MOD player or something on a friends clunky 8086 laptop in 1987 or 1988.
I don't know whether its that patents are so wrong or its that some people are so stupid, lazy and greedy. Though I suppose if those personality traits weren't so prevalent then patents wouldn't be needed.
is it just me or is everyone missing the requirements stated in the patent?
/. and that alone was enough for me to rule out the portable mp3 players on the market or in development (at least those I've heard of), yet I was still curious enough to scan the full text of the patent before speaking my mind. I suggest everyone else that reads about this patent and is angry about it do the same.
"The device includes a hard drive, a modem for connection to a data base via an on-line service, a keyboard, a display, and an audio system."
none of the new digital audio devices like the rio or the nomad fit this description; none of them have hard drives, modems, or keyboards (unless this term refers to any input device with buttons). the newly released or soon to be released devices based around mp3s store things in solid state memory of one kind or another and although they do comunicate with your computer they have no modem (modulator/demodulator), they use some type of digital comunication (USB, serial, etc.). these devices themselves do not have anything to do with the downloading of the files.
also the patent states that the device will be capable of "ordering the program material from a service; receiving acknowledgment of the order and receiving the program material via automatic download for storage in a hard drive". does the rio do that?
I wish more people would take the time to do their homework before stirring up trouble for this company. the patent is vague but not nearly as vague as everyone seems to think it is, and that is necisary considering that the device does not yet exist.
I know that the abstract section of the patent has been posted to
and just to be fair...
Whoever the idiot was that wrote that press release should go back to school or at least find someone to show him the diference between a good informative press release and one that make his company look like a lying sack of $**t. (translation: that press release said they had patented things like laptops or the rio or nomad.... it sould have said that it patents things simmilar but quite a bit more advanced.)
my ramblings are deteriating now so I'll stop.
P.S.
please excuse the spelling, I am a product of the US public school system.
-----
"No one expects the spanish inquisition"
-- Monty Python
Greetings,
I've read their patent (yes it was granted, come on people do your research), I've read their press release, and I will preface this with IANAL, as always.
This patent (5914941) seems reasonable.
If you honestly think you know of prior art for a specialized audio playback device integrating a hard drive or solid state memory with a dedicated interface to be able to obtain music from the Internet or a personal computer that dates before 1995, I'd love to hear about it.
No, your Powerbook with a music player doesn't count. It's not a specialized audio playback device. No, your Minidisc doesn't count, it doesn't have the interface, and it doesn't have a hard drive or solid state memory.
OBVIOUSLY your Amiga with a network card, and playing MOD files doesn't count, it's not specialized *AND* it's not portable.
Listen up. These people came up with something original in 1995. It's obvious to us now, but it wasn't obvious that all these pieces could work together back then. They thought of it, they produced a working model (yes, they did, check out their site), and they patented it.
I don't like it, and I think there is POTENTIAL for it to be partially broken based on non-specific algorithms. However, MPEG1 Layers 1, 2, *AND* 3 are all mentioned in their patent, and they even say that Layer 3 is preferrable.
It's also worth looking at their current professional associations. Creative Labs *AND* Diamond both have notable relationships with these people, which means that both of them probably are aware of this, and are probably willing to work with them.
I agree that many patents suck, and I hope to heck that this goes the way of the Comptons patent.
Cut audiohighway some slack, though. They DID innovate, they AREN'T patenting the action of breathing, or the letter 'e' or the wheel or anything obvious. It's obvious to you and I *NOW*, but it in 1995 the idea that there would be a market for a dedicated device like what we now see as the Rio was NOVEL. When the Rio was RELEASED even, the majority of people weren't sure if there was a market for it. We now know better, but look how long it took?
These people guessed right, they produced hardware, they described it, and they applied for a patent.
I keep seeing people talking about the 'natural progression of technology'. If you see something that others DON'T see, whether it's the natural progression of technology or not, make it, patent it, and build a damn business around it. The biggest wins are almost ALWAYS people who predicted the growth right, and got there first. I sure as hell don't begrudge them THAT.
In closing, I'll repeat: if you honestly think you know of a specialized audio playback device integrating a hard drive or solid state memory with a dedicated interface to be able to obtain music from either the Internet or a personal computer that dates before 1995, please post it!
I don't think it exists, and if you let go the knee-jerk reaction (same as I had!), I'll bet you think it doesn't either.
Cyberfox!
p.s. Few people will be happier than I if I'm shown wrong, and/or the patent is overturned on any basis. I just don't believe it will.
I forget the name of the utility, but it let you assign different sounds to various system events. These sounds could be (often were) digitized clips from various movies, downloaded from bulletin board sites. And there were certainly portable 68K Macs. (The 68K establishes the time frame - I remember this stuff from late 80s/first couple years of the 90s)
(Example events/sound-clips:
Inserting a floppy: "Ooh, input!" (from Short Circuit)
General error alert: "Human error." (HAL from 2001)
and so forth. There were some pretty long sound clips available, kinda useless for system event sounds though.)
-- Alastair
There have been a few officials at the USPO that have stated that the patent office no longer has the resources to investigate the patents that are applied for. Instead they just approve everything and let the lawyers fight it out afterwards. He who has the mightiest lawyer wins.
The problem with that is it negates the whole point of patents in the first place: inovation. Now, instead of loan inventors creating inovative ideas, we have a bunch of big corporations with a new tool to help promote their own monopolies.
--- A Jesus Fish eating a Darwin Fish only proves Darwin's point.
US5914941: Portable information storage/playback apparatus having a data interface