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Apple sues eMachines
Phrogz writes "Apple, following their July 1st lawsuits against Future Power and Daewoo for the same, is now suing eMachines for their use of an iMac-style design (the eMachines eOne).
"
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From the Yahoo article:
"An eMachines spokesperson said in the paper that it was hoping to trade off Apple's brand name. If I was their lawyer, I would have died when I read that," says Weinstein, who practices trademark litigation. She says it gives Apple a chance to charge eMachines with willful infringement. Apple did not return calls seeking comment. "
Here is the point: they were trying to make money off Apple's success.
I have never seen a Fiat spider and so I can't comment on it. Maybe the fact that I've never seen one says something about why Mazda didn't get sued: the Fiat design was a flop while the Miata was a huge success.
Sure, car companies make cars that are ripoffs of each other all the time (see any SUV), but not when the styling of the car is so distinctive, as is the case for the Vette or Firebird. Otherwise, why wouldn't cheap car manufacturers just make a replica of the Vette's body and put it on a v6 and sell it for $15k?
rooooar
Swano, maybe you should take a rest from huffing the model glue every now and then ;-)
Little is the number that think with their own mind and feel with their own heart. ~ Albert Einstein
...runs win98 on a Mac and any Applications that run on win98. I think it's about $150 (which includes the win98 price)
rooooar
No, it's not a hard concept to grasp. I understand perfectly the intent of eMachines and FuturePower, but that doesn't mean Apple has to act fazed by their actions. Even so, clearly even the most uninformed PC consumer must understand that even though most PCs look strikingly similar (the off-white-box look), they are not created equal. Why doesn't this translate to the iMac then too? At any rate, Apple is still making a statement with their actions, and despite the fact that it's probably completely justified, it still doesn't say much to me about their confidence in their hardware and software: "Lots of people are buying our machines for the look." It scares me to think their research dollars are going into the design of the box, when it should be going into bringing the OS back into the position of most advanced as it once was (a long long time ago). As a long time Mac user and Apple fan, this is why I switched to PCs and havn't gone back. To me they seem to have no vision anymore. Although to be fair, maybe it's my vision that's changed, as I became more and more of a power user, not theirs.
"Old man yells at systemd"
Do you think they could tell the diference between a PC and a Mac?
Hmmm...
If Mandrake's logo is similar enough to possibly confuse buyers, then RedHat could sue, and win.
Wow, you mistook a vaccum for a computer?
Check out http://www.linuxppc.com/hardware/.
they can rot in hell, Apple's pride is in their design, anyone who copies them should be punished, it just aint cool. They look like dick anyway.
Apple should sue Emachines they did rip off the iMacs design style But the iMac is still far better than any thing Emachines make. Emachines are pieces crap I used one "a freind of mine was stupid enough to buy one he sent it back after and got an iMac instead"and it was the most sloppily built machine I ever use Linux would not load on it Quake II played 3 times faster on a rev A iMac then it does on the eOne also that $400 isp rebate cost over 790.20.
The issue here is whether or not the consumer will buy a computer thinking they've purchased an iMac. Apple isn't going to sue a mouse maker for using translucent plastic in a mouse because it isn't possible for the consumer to mistake it for an iMac and also because this doesn't strip revenue away from Apple. eMachines is leeching off Apple's R&D by using Apple's design to trick the consumer into mistaking their computer for an iMac.
I agree the round translusent all in one machine is an apple invention and that apple may not be perfet but who is... They are at lest better the Emachines Macs are well built while eMachines are not to be honest Emachine are very cheap crap and apple does not fool customers with an isp rebate that is just bait for suckers the $400 ISP rebate ends up costing $790.20 after 36months not count local and long distance phone charges and if you quit at any time you must pay back the $400 to MSN Apple should take Emachines out just for pinciple that Emachines and MSN are taking advandage of new users at least apple gave them a good product with no hidden cost and lots and lots of free software to keep not this lame rent an app crap Emachines and MSN does.
Sorry dude, Xerox got paid with stock from Apple.
Inferior??? I've been using Macs for five years now (two different machines, my daughter still using the first) and have never had to reinstall system or application software once. Never. I recall reading back in '95 of all the Windows95 problems and the contortions users were going thru to render their machines useable. I remarked to my wife that had we owned one of those computers, I would have thrown it out the window. /.ers with the intelligence to tinker with 'nix and mobos could realize that most computer users want to get work done with their machines - not work on them.
You would think that young
Remember from who Apple got the idea for the mouse and the GUI for their OS. I don't recall anyone at Apple paying for it either.....
"Pirates" was drama, not an historically correct documentary. You see, Xerox did get paid- with Apple stock.
Is Apple suing them for ripping off a motherboard design? No, they're suing because this PC is a blatant rip off of the iMacs design.
Agreed, on the I-macness of said product.
They could have made the case red and black carbon-fiber and probably not gotten into hot water. They should have patterned it after Air Jordans, would have been harder to mistake for shoes. I like the idea of the I-mac, and the E-thingy has some interesting features, but this was not the way to go.
The party's over
As others have pointed out today, and before when the Future Power lawsuit was announced, these suits have NOTHING to do with these products being computer products. Trade dress is the name of the game here folks, and DRESS is exactly what it sounds like - IT'S NOT WHAT'S INSIDE THAT COUNTS.
/. pointed out before that if you designed a similar bottle to Coca Cola's distinctive design, just changing the curve of the bottle slightly, Coca Cola would be all over you with lawyers. It wouldn't matter if you put a cola-like beverage in it, or maple syrup, or monkey piss! What matters is how the appearance of the product influences the consumer.
The following points will NOT be considered by the judge (or jury - I'm not exactly sure how this is handled at trial):
- What type of operating systems these machines use.
- What kinds of processors or specific pieces of hardware are included or not included.
What will be considered:
- Does the appearance of the product in question have enough similarities to cause marketplace confusion in the "average" consumers mind?
- Was there intent to use these similarities to trade on the good will of the Apple product design?
- If intent can be established, what damages should be awarded?
Remember, these suits have absolutely nothing to do with these being computers. Someone on
Shallow as this is, this is point of the lawsuits.
Marc
- Linux shall overcome -
- Semper Ubi Sub Ubi!
Stupid ass :-)
Its kind of sad that just because Apple revolutionized the consumer market [again] they have to pay with immatation.
But it was bound to happen.
Honestly, I would like to buy a 14k Porsche ripoff.
CY
This brings to mind that scene from "Pirates of Silicon Valley" where Jobs exclaims "We're better than you..." and Gates says "I got there first!".. Jobs seems to be trying to keep anybody from having not only a colored case, but one that integrates the system board and display. I seem to recall a Compaq Presario home model a couple of years ago that did that, although it was indeed a "beige-box" model. Maybe Compaq could shore up their revenues by filing suit against Jobs and Apple for trademark/patent infringement! :-)
eMachines, Daewoo, and Future Power aren't trying to sell neat-looking PCs. That's perfectly legal. They are trying to mislead customers. That's not legal. Apple paid a LOT of money for the iMac design. These others are stealing it, plain and simple, just like Smith & Wesson did with Glock.
This is tantamount to Microsoft selling Win98 in boxes featuring penguins and "Open Source" stickers. If you disagree with that, disagree with the eMachines crap.
Carefree highway, let me slip away on you.
Why bother hating Apple at all? Get over it, people. Stick to Linux, build beige Wintel boxes from scratch, and upgrade all you like.
If you don't like the iMac, or any Apple product for that matter, don't buy it. Vote with your wallet just like everyone else in our market economy.
But at least try to understand that Apple and Compaq and Sony and a ton of other companies are also vying for the customers that DO like machines with colors and curves. They don't understand computers as well. They want to send email and use Quicken or something. The machine will look good in their den.
Just because you don't feel marketed to by a certain company or product, just because they're not offering something for your "power user" tastes, doesn't mean it's worthless.
The iMac is selling like crazy and Apple wants to protect their investment in design and marketing for as long as they can. It's just business.
So another company sells a computer in a case, therefore Apple sue on the grounds that Apple sell computers in cases.
Not that Apple are desperate or anything!
Hey, Apple, your computers run on electricity, but PCs ran on electricity first - better watch out or IBM will sue you!
I have had lots of luck with Display Doctor when trying to get weird graphics cards to work. You can download it from here. I think its a 30 day demo or something and its pretty cheap to buy it. I have no idea if it will work with the eMachine's chipset, but hey, worth a shot.
2^5
yeah, maybe...
Unix is user friendly... it just chooses it's friends selectively!!
Oooh! An even *more* whiney child than jobs!
Apple has every right and an obligation to sue to protect it's intellectual property. If any of you armchair Marxists had a clue you would know this!
Furthermore...
Is a tool inherently less powerful because anyone can use it? I think not. In fact, if anything it's often just the opposite. Do all you Linux purist, Mac-bashers forgo using the remotes for your TV's?
No?
Well, using your silly complexity/inscrutability = superior power, elitist "logic" perhaps you should be rubbing two sticks together for your morning toast too!!
If you don't need to manually configure everything about your computer system, why the hell should you? Inconceivable as it may be for many of you, some people don't see the need for this and will gladly even pay a little more to avoid the hassle of dealing with the complexity within which you may thrive.
Hack away and build your *nix boxes with the sweat and toil that gives you such personal satisfation, just don't presume that anyone who doesn't see the world from your miopic point of view is idiotic. This sort of arrogance is no better than that of the Windows-centric conformity which you are supposedly trying to subvert!
get a grip! or a grep if you prefer;-)
Little is the number that think with their own mind and feel with their own heart. ~ Albert Einstein
Well, if it becomes unprofitable to just sit back and rip off someone else's research and development into industrial design, maybe the remaining companies might actually start innovating again.
Look and Feel lawsuits never worked for Apple, did they?
It was precisely my point that the law sucks here.
Yes, I can pick an iMac out of a lineup with six other consumer level desktop computers. But, how different do those other computers have to be before they are acceptable? You'll just know it when you see it? Not good enough, sorry.
If a desktop PC maker made a computer that was shaped identical to an iMac, but was in an obviously different color from any offered for the iMac, would it infringe? After all, it would be distinctively NOT an iMac, since Apple never offered an iMac in that color before. What if the colored plastic was not translucent? So, unique color and opaque plastic -- does it infringe then?
What does Apple have rights to here? Colored computers? Translucent plastic? The retro-50's look? One-button mice? Combo CPU-Monitor packaging?
The law, and the mindset that argues for it, is what bothers me here, because the law is too vague. A person cannot be sure when they are in violation of it and this creates anti-competitive pressure in the market -- bad for consumers.
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Apple isn't trying to stop people from making computer's with clear frames, or funky colors, or integrated monitors. They are trying to stop companies from making a product that is almost identical, visually, to the one they produce. People do actually buy iMacs because of how they look, so it's conceivable that someone may plan to by an iMac, see one of the knock-offs, and decide to buy that one instead because it's cheaper.
If I encase my computer and colored gel and sell it to a friend will I be sued to?
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
http://www.rowentausa.com/html/owning/surfline.htm l Whoops, I went to the store, just needed a iRon and came home with a computer
Didn't Pizzahut sue Sun for the pizza-box design?
...but eOne doesn't look much like an iMac at all. It's way more boxy, different lines. I can't see myself confusing them.
... innovate don't litigate."
I guess Apple feels that if you design an all-in-one computer with a translucent case you're infringing on their rights.
I can't say it ever really appealed to me, but my pager was done in that style years ago so it's not like Apple invented it.
Maybe it's time to do another march like we did years back: "Lotus, Apple, Ashton-Tate
jim frost
jimf@frostbytes.com
For once, I will admit, they really did STEAL this idea from Apple. Oh well,. E-machines sucks anyway. Then again, who has a copywrite on "cute" translucent PC cases? I sure hope this is the 1st post, so its not some other moron going 1ST POST!!! YEH!. if it isn't oh well.
Bad move Apple. This eOne is quite ugly and you had nothing to worry about. I think its just a ploy to delay possible shipment or maybe just to put the eOne in a bad light until the new iMacs come out in the Fall. oh well.
Don't lead me into temptation... I can find it myself.
> KMFDM Sucks Bah, I Like em.
So, Apple still can't make a computer that is a good home computer so they sue the fist set of PC's that even remotely look like the failed iMac. This is just as bad as when Microsoft tried to trademark "Windows". If Apple really felt like they had something with the iMac then why didn't the PATENT the design. You can do that you know. But, they didn't.
And why are they not suing Nintendo. Nintendo has now changed the names of all thier Color Gameboys to fruity names just like the iMac. They originaly came in Purple and Clear Purple. Now you can't get Purple, and Clear Purple is Grape. And there are other fruity clear colors as well.
And then there are all of the clear pagers, Playstation memory cards, Playstation and N64 controlers, and 3rd party Playstation cases. Who will Apple sue next???
I'm tired of all of this.
Apple ripped off the Xerox PARC concept for a GUI. I don't have a problem with this, but it's true. Windows, GNOME, and KDE all have very substantial modifications to the way Apple did things. The start menu in windows, and the bar in kde for example, plus ditching the stupid menus at the top of the screen thing.
Of course, Apple tells us all we should "Think Different" which I suppose means that we should believe that having a computer come in "5 delicious flavors, yum" is important, but preemptive multitasking is overrated, and protected memory is an uneeded luxury.
Apple should spend a little more time bringing their OS to the level of modernity that MS hit in 1995, and UNIX hit in 1971.
Emachines may choose to settle, but I don't see that they have to; Apple is going to have to settle with Microware and I'm sure they've been planning to from day one. Why don't they just stick with OSX and make OSX OS-11? How hard is that?
Whoa, good one.! You really got me with that one.
AC == Anonymous Coward(you)
When the road gets rocky, when you see things being done wrong - in your workplace, in buisness, etc, there are 4 things you can do about it:
1) accept it
2) complain about it
3) reject it (leave, have nothing to do with it),
possibly find someplace else where things are done right.
4) fix it
The author doesnt do number 1, as many game developers have. He instead does 2 and 3.
I'm doing number 4... several other developers and I, with great creative talent, etc, are founding our own game company. No CEO. No managers, ecept ourselves. We have artists, modlers, programmers, and more. Getting funding will not be easy because we dont have any non-technical staff, and our buisness model has been called 'crazy', and 'revolutionary' because of our staff structure, but at least we're trying #4...
T, maybe if things pick up for us we'll give you a call...
Also, with some open source projects going on now, engine design is being removed from game design...
For example, our first product is utilizing the CrystalSpace 3d rendering engine, an open source quake/halflife type engine. We're adding things to it, yes, but with foundations like it in place, it will be easier to reuse tools just like producers and other industries do...
Also, while I'm here, anyone in the audience know where some Free, or cheap, marketing analysis type stuff for the game industry exists? The buis plan we have needs more concrete numbers, and we dont want to pay 4k for a basic industry report...
man is machine
It's a rip off, sure. But it doesn't run any macWarez.
It's a shame some company can't make a cool case and sell it to the PC buyers who would like to have one.
In a sense they are depriving the consumer of choice -- "cool case+iWarez" or "beige case + cool shit" is all we get.
Any industrial designers out there ready to take computer cases to the "next level" thus bypassing the Jobian Legal Dept?
I, me, mine!
So you think that your experience is representative of all mac users and all Apple products and therefore justifies your "hatred" ?
Am I too assume then that all PC/*nix users are small minded sychophants like yourself?
Little is the number that think with their own mind and feel with their own heart. ~ Albert Einstein
/These/ are the true colors of Mac/Jobs - closed software, closed hardware and a law-suit trigger finger even more twitchy than Gates. I know you Mac zealots don't like the truth, but this is reality.
I don't care for Gates, and Mac had some wins back in their day, but this behavior is ridiculous.
I'm going to sue Apple for copying the look and feel of my butt.
Apple has no right to copyright ugly computers.
Of course YOU have!
Coca Cola cannot hold a trademark on a certain type of food. It's called a "monopoly". If you're stupid enough not to READ what you're buying, it's certainly not the companys fault.
And by the way, Coca Cola has tried to sue other cola companies.. and Xerox was compensated for the mouse and GUI ideas.
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I think Apple is cheesed off because the eMachine box costs $400 less, and has the added benefit of being a PC-compatible.
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Benefit?
---
If you can't beat them, sue them...
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Or steal from them, apparently
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
- Jeff
I think the EOne is fine, in fact Apple should look at it and learn the biggest lesson of all...It's not an Apple!!!!! The iMac will never sell along with it's poorly advertised retarded cousin the iBook (a fisher rpice version of a laptop pc for adults). Apple should stop trying to make computers and start trying to join the rest of the world.
Wrong, Apple users WERE loyal. Now, Apple users are stubborn.
Don't worry about whether you are "thinking different", just try to actually think about the issue instead of responding with the emotional Jobbspeak of the typical Mac zealot.
Exactly, if you are developing a scanner, printer, or whatever, Apple will gladly send you a set of color swatches so your product matches. The reason for this is simple, nobody is going to confuse a USB hub with a computer. Apple gets a boost because people see the product and go "Oh, that looks like it will go great with an iMac." Cross promotion is the name of the game.
If customer loyalty had a direct effect on profits, Apple would have gone out of business long ago.
I'm confused. They had one of the most loyal groups of users, yet if profits and loyalty were directly related, they would've gone out of business years ago?
Definately... OS X is not sucking... The latest internal Apple builds look quite promising...
RateVegas.com - Vegas Reviews
... than the time Coca Cola sued to protect the distinctive shape of the Coca Cola bottle. The legal term is "trade dress".
/.ers, it is a hot selling item among the unwashed masses. And just like an author who writes a popular book, or a programmer with popular software, Apple deserves to reap the fruits of its labors. And copyright and trademark laws are there to keep people (and companies) from being ripped off.
Apple is perfectly justified in protecting its trademarks. In fact, they are obligated to do so. They can't pick and choose which iMac rip-offs to sue and which to leave alone. The fact that they would let one company rip them off becomes a defense for the company they DO sue.
The fact is that Apple put a lot of money into the industrial design of the iMac. And, regardless of weather or not it's popular with
Personally, I hope eMachine, Daewoo, and that other iMac knock-off all BURN.
Imagine all the people...
I believe it's Apple's obligation to sue eMachines. The eOne looks like an iMac, but it's not an exact rip off. No one can say that -- not even Apple.
But, it's a loose-loose situation really for Apple. They have to protect their intellectual property and sometimes they look bad for doing it. They look even dumber when they don't do anything about it.
It's all about money. If they can get a few million from eMachines, then that's fine with me. That's probably what it'll come down to anyway.
Let me just ask you this: if you wrote a book, and it took you years to write it, and you were very proud of that book, and it even got on the national bestseller list, and then someone else two weeks later wrote the EXACT same book, with a few words changed, would you be pissed? This is basically what has happened with the eOne. I've seen the pictures; everyone knows it's purposefully an iMac rip-off. That's the whole point. eMachines went with a sure-fire design, one that's already been market tested. Whether you like it or not, the iMac was the top selling computer last year. I think Apple is perfectly within their rights on this one. Those unoriginal corporate nobodies at eMachines are going to get what's coming to them.
I recall seeing a few articles when the imac came out about how Apple copied the design from a company that produced some household appliances. The articles even showed a picture of an iron with the same look. So perhaps Apple embraced the design, then extended it to it's imacs, and now wants to claim credit for the design in the first place!
E-machines' tag line (under their logo) is "Changing the way we think about computing." Maybe it should be "Stealing the changes other people make to the way we think about computing." Losers.
Just a question. Is everybody's mother supposed to be a network engineer?
lake effect weblog
{Network engineer in Chicago--looking for work!}
Come on guys, let's be honest. The iMac is a wonderful design - it has charm that no PC has ever had - not to mention that the stock price of Apple has risen to the highest it has been in years because of the huge amount of people who have bought an iMac over the past year (about 2 million or so). This is great for Apple as a company - and I like to see a little difference out there. There are so many reasons why PC mfgrs would want to copy this design - profit! Not to mention that most people in the PC market want to get the hell rid of Apple and especially now because they have started to take a bite out of PC sales again.
As far as I am concerned I give them props screw the companies who try to threaten their survival, no matter how ridiculous it may sound.
the emachines knock-off reminds me of those cheap "clone" perfumes of channel. instead of making something original, they have to make it look like someone eles's stuff. the bastards don't have an original bone in their body. i think apple has every right to be miffed if they've put a lot of original hard work into making an original design and concept, and then somebody just rips them off without the overhead of having to worry about r&d and getting a good designer. these eMachines guys are clearly trying to rip off the iMac's popularity by confusing customers with a machine that looks similar to the iMac. there are any number of ways to to make and design an original all in one internet machine. they had the option to come up with their own original design that is better than the imac. instead they consciously chose to fool customers with a machine that looks significantly like the imac. unoriginal idiots. i fart in your general direction. :-P
Um, if the shape of the machine isn't important, than why did FuturePower and eMachines make their computers look like the iMac?
This isn't a hard concept to grasp. These machines are designed to confuse people by taking advantage of a well-known product. They are the Ro_d_ex watches of the computer world.
-jon
Remember Amalek.
That is a spelling of "licensed" to which I was heretofore unaware.
That's right. Apple paid them to use their technology with some stock that later became very valuable.
pooptruck
If the iMac had been a market failure, then we wouldn't have any look-alikes. These two companies didn't come up with the idea themselves, yet they're trying to profit off of Apple's R&D.
This may sound, well, 'limp-wristed', but I think this eMachines would be a really cute Linux box. Enlightenment with the old DR.13 Neon theme would be just perfect.. All those trendy yuppies would step over each other to get one! I understand from earlier posts that Linux has a problem with the DEC 21145 (Tulip). Hack tulip.c and remove the tag 'HAS_MII' from the card description being detected by the kernel. I've had the same problem with a number of 'integrated' boards, and that usually works...
.sig: Now legally binding!
It does look like an inbred cousin! Actually, it reminds me of those clothes that rip off some designer style (Christian clothing makers rip off things like "No Fear", I've seen high schools (including mine) that ripped off beer logos, etc). A poorly designed imitation. I've got to say that most people who want to buy an iMac will buy the iMac instead of the eMachines computer because on almost every front, the iMac is better. If somebody is just looking for a cute computer (see the last few days of Foxtrot) then s/he will buy the iMac because it really does look better. If somebody is looking for an Apple (for what they see as superior technology, or to avoid supporting Wintel, or whatever), then s/he will buy the iMac because it is an Apple. If somebody is looking for a status symbol, s/he will buy the iMac because you don't impress people with a rip-off. On the other hand, if somebody just wants a cheap computer, they probably wouldn't even be looking at the iMac. The point is that I don't see the two computers as even really competing with eachother. Somebody who goes into a computer store set on buying an iMac will buy one anyway, dispite the price. Somebody who wants the cheapest computer they can find would be frightened away from the iMac to begin with. I don't think that Apple is directly threatened by the eMachine in terms of sales. But the point has been made that Apple's claim to intellectual property is only as good as their willingness to defend it. This may ultimately be socially and culturally damaging (this practice in general, not just Apple's use of it), but it makes business sense for them. Hmm. Sorry, I seem to have rambled. Flame away. I'll be in my bunker. andy
I honestly can't tell the difference between a snazzy looking PC and a Mac with a plastic colored apple for a logo... How'd this macintosh get over here in the PC aisle when all the rest of the Mac stuff is way off in the far back corner of the store??? Hmmmm.... ;^)
Before everyone jumps on the bandwagon hating Apple because they've always hated Apple, think about this:
1)Apple is no threat to Unix. They have demonstrated time and again that they have the marketing savvy of moss, so they could never become the evil monolithic giants that are Intel and Microsoft.
2)Apple makes better hardware. It's true. You know this. If you don't, stop posting here and do some research. Yes, they make shitty software but YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE IT.
3)Apple IS a threat to Intel and Microsoft. Remember those other guys you hate? Well Apple has to compete with both of them.
Bottom line: We need Apple to keep the giants in check. Whether you choose to buy them or not, the option to do so is vital because competition is what drives technology. When dinky pissant knockoff companies come in and start stealing some of Apple's marketshare, we all lose.
This knee-jerk hate-all-that-isn't-unix isn't going to get you anywhere. Choose your battles wisely.
-Rob
If you design your logo to look sufficiently like Red Hat's, they certainly could. And probably would, since their stockholders would throw a fit if the people running the company didn't defend Red Hat's trade dress.
This is different. It's not about translucent plastics. It's not about colors It's not about the fact that the eOne is an inferior ripoff of the iMac (even though that fact is true). eMachines could quite easily have made their machine look like anything they wanted to. Even with translucent plastics and different colors. They chose instead to steal the design of the iMac, with no other purpose than to confuse the consumer. Apple wasn't right in the look-and-feel suit against MS (who the hell could confuse the obscene mess that is Windows with the Mac interface?) It's right this time, though.
Anyway, having demoed an eOne over the weekend, I can safely say that its only similarity to the iMac's case is the blue tint. What else can they sue over? Apple didn't invent the monitor-and-computer-and-other-stuff-in-case design. Just look at the Commodore PET.
Way to go, Apple! Sue over blue plastic!
Sidenote: The case wasn't the only thing that was blue.. The eOne demo machine I saw at Circus Shitty this past weekend kept giving a BSOD at boot time. Their excuse was, "It's really selling hot, this is our last in-house unit (as you can see)". Wonder how it'd do with another OS..
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> Apple people have no problem with the wintel world following their lead - just stop making lame copies!
There's no law against making lame copies. eMachines should sue Jobs personally for harassment.
Apple knows that the eOne is ugly and not as complete a ripoff as the Daewoo/Future Power one. However, they have an obligation to sue so that other computer manufacturers won't follow eMachines lead. Will they win the lawsuit? Possibly. Does it matter? Not much - they are trying to discourage others. Daewoo can bring it up if they DIDN'T sue eMachines in their case and how Apple only selectively cares about their patents.
Don't diss Apple - they worked for almost a year on their distinctive design, and they brought in experts to work out the plastics and such. They are almost required to protect their design. Like Palm and the DaVinci knockoff - they HAVE to fight back, or else everyone will think it's okay!
Haven't you noticed that most people in the world are idiots?
So Apple should have the exclusive right to make translucent computers with integrated monitors? That's ridiculous. So is the lawsuit.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
This goes for Linux too. Is the best you can come up with is KDE and Gnome? Ripoffs of a poor ripoff(Windows) of the MacOS? And you think Linux is going to conquer the desktop? Snicker...
The same way Apple currently rules the desktop - at what, 20% market share? Snicker...
It seems to me that emachines has a very similar slogan to Apple too. But like many things in the wintel world its just bulky and not as stylish.
Apple: Think different.
emachines: changing the way we think about computing.
Despite how you feel about the iMac or Apple, any company should have the right to protect its trade dress and trade marks. Consumers can be easily mislead or confused.
>You see, Xerox did get paid- with Apple stock.
Heh, you might as well assign a hotkey to that line of text...
Also, the short-memory people also forget that the GUI and mouse were sitting around collecting dust. Xerox didn't have a clue what to do with them-- they just paid the researchers who thunk them up.
CJ
This isn't a look and feel case. Believe it or not dick sucks.. but you can patent a shape as long as it supports identity. For instance, Coca-Cola can sue anyone who produces a cola product with an hour-glass shaped bottle... yeah... They "own" the shape. Ferrari has succesfully sued and won cases here in the US against companies that made kits that mimicked (were not even talking exact replica) Ferrari models. John, now that you're since informed that there is a difference you can go back to surfing for more kiddie porn or molesting your kid sister.
Apple won't win, but unlike most of these suits, eMachines clearly ripped off Apple's design for no real reason. I don't mind Apple suing too much. Now if I can only get my hands around Compaq's neck for their bogus suit.
Given that the API of choice for developing software for Mac OS X is NeXT's API...
Apple is changing around some stuff, (dropping DPS for Quartz, for example) but it will all be _very_ interesting. Apple didn't just buy NeXT for kicks you know. And lots of the Mac OS X team is composed of the very same team that brought you NeXTStep.
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No. Apple has the right to make transluscent computuers with integrated monitors that look like the iMac.
That is NOT the only posible design or color arrangement you can choose for a computer. Now, I'm not so sure about this eOne since it does look somewhat different, but the Daewoo/FuturePower machine looked just like it and should have been sued.
I am suprised that still, no one has gotten it right like apple. That is a disgusting clone that I'd be ashamed to own.
I'm tired of Apple basically admitting in court that "trade dress" is all they have to differentiate their product in the marketplace
/. you are today. Say you have little to no knowledge of computers (except how to use Word and that Windows crashes when you don't want it to). You look at these two computers. They look very much alike, but you don't know the difference between a MHz and a CDROM.
/.) know what's what. The difference is that the iMac isn't being marketed to us (which is why I dismiss techies who complain about the iMac's lack of floppy drive). It's being marketed to the entry-level consumer market.
Ok, say you weren't the intelligent reader of
At this point, all Apple has is the designs of its case. With people who don't know these things, technical merit means squat. You and I (and hopefully everyone on
If you want quality, buy quality, Joe Schmoe who has never touched a computer in his life but really wants one will definately be going at least partly on looks.
The Happy Blues Man
I accept on blind faith that Cincinatti exists.
> You can buy 2 or 3 pcs for the price of the mac, plus you can run everything a pc can run.
Exactly. Apple's product is actually inferior, so they have to resort to litigation to try and prevent people from realizing this.
How many other companies have done the exact same thing...
But the intellectual roadblock to this line of thinking is that it is a subjective assessment whether one thing looks like another. The line has to be drawn somewhere to distinquish between things that look alike and things that do not look alike. And drawing that line is the problem. Because that line will always be fuzzy, no one can be certain when they cross it and intrude into someone else's claimed protected turf.
Product clones have been around for years. It happened in apparel, thus we have high-profile designers actually putting their names on their products and stumbling into the popular designer apparel industry. Golf clubs are cloned. And, to my eyes at least, most late model 4 door coupes look pretty much the same.
The market can decide whether the cloned product is as desirable as the original. Typically, cloned products are of inferior quality and many buyers won't buy them because of this. The best asset a manufacturer has is their own name and the price/quality they put in their products. Apple would be better off trying to make the best damn iMacs they can and let the public decide whether the clones are a better buy. And, of course, they should proudly place their name across the front of their product. Consumers aren't dummies. They will know if they are dealing with an Apple product or not.
So, I think Apple is doing something wrong here. They are wasting stockholder's money trying to establish a legal monopoly on a particlar, vaguely-defined product look.
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Besides, doesn't the e-one come with a WinModem?
Their _logo_ and _name_ are trademarked, so you can't use either of them without the possibility of running afoul of the law. You can use "Rouge Beret", or a differnt logo if you like. (a beret would certainly be different from a fedora so I'd say that's OK)
We don't hate Apple, we just oppose unethical litigation.
Sheesh. Did we learn nothing from the Apple/MS lawsuit? It would be like the makers of Wolfenstein to go after all 1st person shooter games.
I'd have to say I am not behind Apple on this one. THe eOne doesn't look much like the iMac (Unlike the Future Power clone). It's taken roughly a 9 months to year for the iMac-similar PC's to hit the market, and Apple is close to introducing new designs. I think that as long can stay a year ahead, the needn't worry about companies copying thier old designs.
So why did Xerox have to sue them to get it?
Those of you ranting about the iMac isn't an original box, or how the eOne is a crappy copy, are missing the point.
It is not legal, nor right, to try to "steal" a brand identity. The Coke bottle, the IBM logo, the corvette shape and logotype, hell even then name "Linux" all imply a certain value to the consumer. If you see a fluted bottle filled with a brown liquid, with a script typeface on one side and a serif typeface on the other, you are clearly looking at a bottle of "Coca-Cola"-and can choose to drink (or not-if you really hate coke, the bottle's a quick way to avoid it).
Emachines in is no way positioning thier product as a better product. In thier ideal world, they would have the eOne right next to the iMac so that uninformed customers would buy it.
Hell, even their little demonstration applet is cribbed from the iMac commercials.
Building a simple, all in one computer dosen't violate look-and-feel. Even the most ignorant user wouldn't confuse the Compaq Presario 400 series and the iMac. If they had made the case solid blue-or black-or white-or a different shape- then look-and-feel wouldn't have been violated.
But they 1) Made parts of the case transparent blue, 2) Installed the CD-ROM dead center, 3) Offer matching-color coordinated keyboards and mice-the keyboard practially looks like it is an iMac keyboard 3) Chose a simliar name (four characters, with the second capitalized. 4) Chose similar logos (Apple-Think Differerent, Emachines-Think. Learn. Play.)
What if someone put out an operating system called "Finux?" (nods to Neal Stephanson), and called the windows manager "Dwarf" -and used a handprint as the logo?
Winning by better technology (ie-two button mouse vs. one button, FDD vs. no FDD) is fine. Winning-or even competing-by stealing identity cues is wrong, and always will be.
This case is *FUD*-at it's core. They are sowing uncertainty and doubt by deliberatly aping the iMac identity-and it's wrong. If the eOne is so superior and easy to use, it should triumph on its own over the iMac. Instead, Emachines is trying to say "well, our all in one computer is just the same, but with our extensions." Does this sound familiar.
I'm against lame lawsuits as much as the next guy. Apple lost the look-and-feel lawsuit against Microsoft, because it was obvious, at first glance, that the Macintosh System and Windows were two different products. That's what "look and feel" means-Is a product distinctive?
In this case, no. Emachines deserves to lose. If they can make a better iMac, then they should make it look distinct-so customers wouldn't buy the iMac by mistake. The fact that they made it damn near identical means they don't think they can beat the iMac, so they are trying to snipe a few sales away.
Feh. Typical Microrwellian tacticts. Put aside your hated of Apple and realize that the tactic is wrong.
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
This just in - Microsoft has announced their newest product, ready for release in October of 1999 - Winux 1.0. It is a UNIX based OS featuring the time tested multi-tasking, stability, and power of Linux. It will be "Open-Sourced", meaning you can look at the code and submit improvements to Microsoft.com. However, you are not allowed to post code to any other sites. It features the Window Manager WindowsKD, as well as Office 2000 for Winux. Most impressively, Winux can run existing Windows applications natively.
Winux comes packaged in a black box featuring the Microsoft penguin named "Nome" wearing a red beret. It will be available on CD-ROM worldwide in October for a street price of $59.99. It is 100% incompatible with Linux and features the Microsoft-proprietary variation of TCP/IP known as MS-IP, as to which only Windows 98 and NT curently have drivers for. Microsoft has no plans to announce licensing of MS-IP to any outside parties.
When asked about the similarities to Linux, Microsoft President Steve Balmer said "We are aware of Linux and the strides it's made in the marketplace. We feel that by offering a Windows version to our customers they can capitalize on the benefits of Linux without suffering from the lack of software. Linux is a nice product but we feel Winux beats it in every category." Ballmer went on to introduce the project manager for Winux, a gentleman by the name of Linus Torwindous.
Winux is expected to ship 3 million copies in it's first 2 months, and pass up Linux distribution by mid-2000.
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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com
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DJ Raz
raz@wfnk.com
even that Apple washed out brain admitted that MacOS X is sucking big time
I've got an idea. Let's judge the OS after it ships and not before. I doubt very much that your "friend" has actually seen internal OS X builds, but even if he has, it ain't finished yet.
I dont know how anyone can say the the eOne doesnt look like an iMac, they use a VERY similar shape same colors.PC companies seem to be confusing Think Different with Think Like Apple.
apple are wasting their time.
So, what they're trying to say is, it's illegal for anyone but Apple to sell tacky, non-upgradable computers?
I can see it now... "GM sues Ford, claims Ford has stolen its intellectual property by manufacturing cars in colors other than black."
I'm not an expert on industrial patents -
;-)
;-)
But since I actually HAVE one of these
nice little boxes - and have seen IMacs
up close and personal too -
IMHO - they are different enough in
shape and "racing stripes" to not
be a violation. Though in staring at it
a little closer - If you turned your
Imac on it's side you'd be about the
shape of the EOne. So the orientation
of the physical shape is about 90 degrees
different. Who wants to use a computer
on it's side?
As for peripheral content - well - the
EOne has a floppy
Lastly - and this is for anyone thinking
of putting Linux on this, then running
KDE with the Mac theme. It doesn't. Linux
loads just fine -but is un-aware of the
newer 21145 Enet chip, and the video
timings on the EOne seem to be beyond
X's kin. I haven't found a "nice" video
timing of ANY SORT yet. Even the VGA
driver doesn't work?
Steve
Have you compiled your kernel today??
> A hackneyed immitation. Nobody is going to mistake this one.
Good point, but it's entirely possible for some people to make the mistake. I think of all the people who call my tech supoprt office because they just type their letters, hit the button, and everything magically works. Some of them couldn't tell you what OS they use, or what brand the computer is, or even what word processor they have. All they know is that they do what they've been taught to do, and it works (or not, by the time they call me).
If you're Joe Nobody straight off the street, and you've never touched a computer in your life, you might decide that the two vaguely bluish, rounded, all-in-one computers look the same. Combine with Apple's television spots calling these things the easy way to get on the Internet, and you've got the formula for confusion.
When an idea of jobs was the defendant: "When we were developing the Macintosh we kept in mind a famous quote of Picasso: 'Good artists copy, great artists steal.' What do I think of the suit? I personally don't understand it ... Can I copywrite gravity? No." NeXT CEO Jobs. And now, Apple is on the other end of the 'stealing of gravity'. I'm reminded of 'do onto others as they would do onto you'....Compaq should sue Apple, cuz the iMac looks like a old vt100 terminal. :-)
Check this out:
8 18.html
Donna Weinstein, a principal at the law firm of Fish & Richardson, says she was stunned when she read eMachines' rationale for its new product.
"An eMachines spokesperson said in the paper that it was hoping to trade off Apple's brand name. If I was their lawyer, I would have died when I read that," says Weinstein, who practices trademark litigation. She says it gives Apple a chance to charge eMachines with willful infringement. Apple did not return calls seeking comment.
from: http://fnews.yahoo.com/street/99/08/18/valley_990
So what if eMachines STOLE this idea?
"There is an unlimited number of original designs that eMachines could have created for their computers, but instead they chose to copy Apple's designs," said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO.
What about the GUI & Mouse? Apple STOLE that idea from Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). Jobs himself was even quoted quoting Pablo Picasso - "Good artists copy. Great artists steal."
Seems a little hypocritical? I think Apple will lose this battle. You can't copyright the idea of a translucent case, the color blue, and an all-in-one computer. Apple is silly to think that they can. Even if it does look like the iMac, it doesn't look THAT much like the iMac. I can't see THAT many people being confused by it.
- A.P.
--
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
The eOne is clearly a rip off of the iMac. Apple has shown leadership in its effort to design a computer which appeals to consumers -and more recently a hot portable- . Other manufacturers should compete by creating original designs rather than copying iMac. The eOne has copied everything down to the keyboard and power button.
Is it really so hard to be original?!
- A.P.
--
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
its no wonder Apple is suing.
The eOne is expandable...it has 2 PCMCIA slots
its a perfect multimedia machine, its got video input! The CD-Player controls are on the front of the machine and even work when the machine is off.....some of it may be a rip off, but there are many differences....not to mention 400Mhz processor and a much, much lower price tag.
I support eOne, infact I wouldn't mind having one for a internet terminal...its got everything i want in an all in one...where-as the iMac is MISSING any type of internal expansion and doesn't have any video input, which is something i love on my dual celeron.
www.atacomm.com - The Leader in VoIP Product Distributi
I think the EOne is different enough that it will be allowed to be sold; however, the other iMac clone looks almost exactly like it. I can't remeber its name but someone will post it.
But I think the real reason why Apple is doing this is because the pc clones are some much cheaper than the iMac. You can buy 2 or 3 pcs for the price of the mac, plus you can run everything a pc can run.
Fashions are not intellectual property IMO.
If Emachines had made a convienient all-in-one computer with a handle, Apple would not care. If they made a PC with translucent plastics, Apple would not care. It's the near exact copy of the iMac's design that they are complaining about.
Most people don't buy their clothes from this sort of designer, so the designers for the chain stores make their own pastel coloured short skirts & black jackets.
Right, because they are similar, not almost the same. However, if Kmart made a lookalike Versaci dress, used similar packaging, slogans etc, I'm sure Versaci would sue Kmart.
It looks ALOT more like an old OLD
Lear- Siegler ADM-3! The shapes are
ALMOST identical. Even the colors
are close. (well - both two tones one
being blue)
If anything - maybe their patent
should be invalidated because of
prior use!
Steve
Have you compiled your kernel today??
"You see, Xerox did get paid- with Apple stock." which at the time was worth less than a happy meal.
:-(
Remember that when you don't have cash and you are not a player...companies will pay you with fictional assets such as shares.
I see too many companies doing this all the time. Just ask Xerox how much they made off the shares..assuming they were visionary enough to hang on to them.
My point being is that Check Cola's box looks very similar to Coca Cola's box. Yet they (Check) are still in business.
Trademark law is very specific..if common people can tell the difference between the imac and the emachine. Then apple has no case.
La8tr...
Frank Madison
For Unix Based Hosting Visit
http://www.innovativecreations.com
If customer loyalty had a direct effect on profits, Apple would have gone out of business long ago.
The original article, and indeed, your post, quite clearly say that Mac users WERE loyal - so how would Apple have gone out of business long ago with this huge loyalty (which, IIRC, was over 80%)?
As for the zealot crack - I wasn't aware that asking a simple question about what a poster actually meant made me a zealot. Oh well.
It is not "Apple Sucks" that is truely at issue here. The issue is a legal matter. IANAL, but don't you have to register or patant a design in order to protect it. The shape of the Coca-Cola(TM) bottle comes to mind. Coke has the exclusive rights to that shape. Did Apple make the look of the iMac legally theirs? Perfume makers are not able to patent the fragrance, but can have exclusive rights to the look of the bottle. Knock of companies are allowed to reverse engineer the fragrance, but can not use the same bottle design; however, they are usually sold in bottles that come VERY close to looking like the original. eMachines has not made a true clone in the look - damn close, but not exact.
Who made the first plain beige mid-tower, and can they sue anyone that has made a similar beige box? The question really is the same. That these two are colorful and translucent, is irrelevant to the argument. They look similar, just like all of the beige boxes out there.
When they invent off of ideas, its A-OK, but the minute someone sells something that looks "like" what they have, they get to sue. I guess apple owns the copyright to an all-in-one computer housed in a transparent box. sounds fair, right?
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Have FreeBSD questions?
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The problem is, you guys are grasping at straws these says. Back a couple years ago, this doom and gloom about Apple and about how everyone hates them was warrented, they were almost out of business, these days it's a bit harder to swallow.
Apple is very soon(perhaps within 2 weeks, perhaps not until January) going to move to the G4 in at least some machines. This will be an awesome processor, and AltiVec looks kick-ass. It's looking even better now that Moto, maker of AltiVec, bought Metrowerks, maker of the most popular Mac compiler, because the current version(IIRC) has built in AltiVec support, meaning you check a box and the compiler automatically optimizes for AltiVec. You can look for more speed increases once Moto engineers give some input.
Apple also has MacOS X Server, no more CGI bug, looks to be a very good system for a 1.0(1.0.2 now). If Apple continues w/ X Server it should devlop nicely and maybe Apple can get some of the server market, esp. if multicore, multiprocessor G4s come out.
Apple has released Darwin 0.3, which, no matter what some of you say, is a Good Thing(TM). All you people bitch all the time about having companies release source, and then you get pissed when Apple won't make the source so open that they go out of business. You're taking this Marxist stuff a bit far I think.
IBM has a CHRP motherboard design for companies to make PowerPC machines that should run LinuxPPC(and hopefully BeOS also).
Apple will be releasing MacOS 9 probably in early October. Thisis yet another big upgrade, whereas Windows seems to have stagnated horribly. Think about it: 2 years ago Mac users were still using Mac OS 7.6. Go find a machine w/ 7.6 and compare it to 8.6 and in a month or so to 9.0. Apple has come a long way.
And finally, sometime early next year Apple will release Mac OS X(pronounced 10, I hate it when people say when will OS X 2.0 be out. It won't you fools, it will be OS 11). This is what Mac users have been waiting for for about 7 years now, and this isn't going to be another Copland(everyone shut up about that after OS X Server came out pretty much on time).
And where is MS in all of this? Hmm, had Apple even bought NeXt back when MS first started hyping NT 5? Apple has come a long, long way since those dark days of '97, and I wish some of you would have a little perspective. Apple is still improving, still selling lots of machines, and still being different.
You Linux users may snicker at the translucent iMacs, but the fact is that Apple is back leading the way.
1) Apple releases cool looking/colored machines, PC makers follow.
2) Apple drops floppy, PC 2001 spec has no floppy
3) Apple picks up USB, late even, but sparks interest because iMac users needed USB stuff, whereas PC users didn't. Apple was the only one willing to take a chance on USB.
4) Firewire, Apple played a big part in it's conception, was one of the first to put it in machines, and now it sounds like almost all PCs will be going to it. (BTW, Apple's new Universal Motherboard Architecture, which will be used in the iBook, the next iMac, the next minitower(Sawtooth) and PowerBook, has AGP and FireWire built in).
Yes, there are still problems with Apple, but some of you guys just don't know when to let up. Apple is like a chain smoker taking away a cigarette at a time and all the time you guys are railing on them for the number they're still smoking. I say shut the fuck up already.
And as to the eOne, I am sorry you guys but it is a POS ripoff. I think the NY Times called the color "sue me blue". eMachines knew exactly the risks it was taking, they didn't come up with the idea for a translucent blue all-in-one, and they damn well know it. There were lots of things they could've done, but they didn't. Instead of being creative they chose to ripoff an existing product, well if they get sued that's just what's coming to them.
Is apple suing Bissel too? http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/screensavers/supergeek/s tory/0,3656,2146865,00.html
To say nothing of this one: http://miso.wwa.com/~yug/blueisetta.html
Have you ever gone to the store and bought a 12pack of coke only to arrive at home and see that it is the one and the only...CHECK COLA...
For years they have(check) have been selling their dumb cola betting that people will not notice it is not Coca Cola.
You don't see Coca Cola suing do you? So grow up Apple. Remember from who Apple got the idea for the mouse and the GUI for their OS. I don't recall anyone at Apple paying for it either.....
Payback is a $#@#!
La8tr....
Frank Madison
For Unix Based Hosting Visit
http://www.innovativecreations.com
Just got to reply. You're dead right dude. Just look at the other responses from those that aren't stubborn or zealots (sic) for the current state of mind in Mac land.
Mandrake's pretty much exactly the same as RedHat with a few optimizations - hell, they even have a hat as a logo. Yet they're widely accepted and embraced in the Linux community.
Take the blinders off buddy.
I'm a Mac user (not zealot), and I don't agree with much of that. There was a period of a few years when Apple totally sucked, and had I been shopping for a new computer during that time, it wouldn't have been from Apple. But the company has really turned around. Product quality is much better than it was during that period, prices are down (although still rather high), Apple's Open Source efforts are impressive for a company that's as closed as Apple usually is (although if they can find a way to open the platform without going under I hope they do it).
Mac OS's underpinnings suck, but if Apple delivers with Mac OS X it'll really be the best OS out there. A Unix with an interface done by the folks who brought you Mac OS and NeXTStep. It gets me really frustrated they won't offer it for x86, because this is something that could really screw MS (I suspect MS had something to do with Apple's decision to drop the planned x86 version).
Sure Apple isn't perfect (far from it), but I don't understand the hate people have for Apple. The Mac is a choice, and isn't choice good? Nobody is making you use one. Chances are you aren't forced to use a Mac at work like you are with a Wintel machine.
As for the support issue, well, no unlimited free tech support sucks, but there are a few of points here:
1) You get a card good for a year of tech support when you buy a computer (I think it's a year).
2) It's a Mac. If you've used one for more than a couple of years you don't need tech support. There isn't much that can go wrong that you can't fix unless it's hardware. And it doesn't usually require reinstalling the OS (and when you do reinstall the OS none of your apps break like in Windows).
3) You know when you call tech support and hear them typing away? They're looking for things in their support database of course. Apple has it's entire internal support database online at http://til.apple.com. This means that you can likely figure out anything tech support people can, and faster since you're sitting at the computer.
4) Tech support people get paid quite a bit.
Mostly, it's much worse for new users than folks like us.
I don't use the Mac because I like Apple (does anyone?), I use the Mac because I find that with my needs, I'm more productive with it than with anything else. If that ever changes, I'll drop Apple overnight.
As for the iMac issue, it should be noted that Apple isn't suing just any company that makes colored computer cases. Apple is only going after the ones that make rounded, all-in-one, blue and white, translucent computers targeted at new users. If you don't think Apple should have some rights to this idea, tell me how many rounded, all-in-one, blue and white, translucent computers targeted at new users you saw before the iMac.
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Actually, it looks just like the old two-tone baby blue ADM3A (Lear-Siegler?) dumb terminals, except it's made out of cheap plastic instead of metal...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
If you want to argue that the law sucks here, that's one thing. However, as far as the law is concerned, it seems to me that they have the grounds for a pretty good case.
Hey, Apple is up from 3% of sales to now 5%.
When they get FreeBSD^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Mac OS X out the door, they can have an even bigger share of the market.
And if they use the GNU/Linux emulator of BSD, hell they might just hit that 20%!!!
What a wise man is Cartoon Maker Steve Jobs! All hail Steve. Now, drink the colored kool-aid and be happy.
How about this. Ford "designs" a car that looks almost exactly like the Corvette. It has a different interior and the steering wheel's on the right side and it has a bigger engine. Oh, and a cup holder. But the body style is distinctly Corvette. Don't you think Chevy would complain? Don't you think they would have every right to?
I don't get why people seem to have this inbred hatred of Apple. First their open source efforts are just "not good enough" and now they fight to try and protect a design that has become their signature and they are some kind of pirates out to stop everybody from making computers to compete with iMac.
Listen, Apple is not doing anything wrong here. The eMachines computer was a clear design ripoff. Even the keyboard is practically identical. Like Jobs said, there were millions of designs they could have come up with, but instead they decided to copy a design Apple spent lots of money developing because it's a hot selling item. I don't see why people make Apple the bad guy here and simply exonerate eMachines from any wrongdoing. It's that "Apple Sucks" mentality that everybody seems to propagate, and these days it's really baseless, and very aggravating.
rooooar
At first Glance it does look like an Apple, but who cares? Im going to sue them both as soon as i get my patent back for cases with round corners. Then we will see who has the last laugh...HAH
Erm.. no you don't understand, the first guy was correct KMFDM sucks! Fiachra
next thing you know, whichever computer manufacturing company was the first to think up the infamous beige box/tower will sue all the other companies for the same thing.
or, even better, apple will sue HP for selling their towers with the translucent plastic on the front found here. I've seen 'em closer up in stores, of course (and as I know that others have as well..)
anyway, my take is, "spare us the agony!" It's so childish of apple to be doing this. if somebody wanted an apple that bad, they'd go out and buy themselves one. sheesh!
Insert mind here.
I'm sure people are going to get in a huff about this, but it does make sense in light of trademark law. (We'll leave out the whole intellectual property debate for now.) Apple has already sued Future Power under 'trade dress' for what is most decidely an iMac ripoff.
Yeah, I don't think the eOne is a blatant ripoff, but it walks up to the line. Further, I think an eMachines spokesman told a reporter they were looking to trade on the brand name of the iMac (don't have the exact quote), which surely sent their legal department into conniption fits.
Since you *have* to defend your trademarks to keep them valid, I think Apple feels compelled to at least go through the motions regarding the eOne. Otherwise, Future Power can say "Hey, eMachines has a translucent blue all-in-one but they didn't get sued!"
My prediction: eOne gets settled out of court, while the Future Power never sees a store shelf.
My first computer with a disk drive was an Apple //c (before that, I had a TI994A). I always loved Apple, both for its innovative designs and what it stood for.
When I started college I bought a Powerbook 5300 (everyone said that Michigan was a mac school so I thought I'd join the club). It seemed defective right out of the box, but I could not return it to the computer "kickoff" office at the university, nor could I return it to Apple. I was stuck with a lemon, even after Apple admitted it was junk and did a product recall (the first time I sent it to them, they claimed everything was fine -- incidentally, this was the occasion that caused me to lose all respect for the company).
At work, I deal with Apple products regularly. In particular, I deal with a lot of mac zealots. Unfortunately, being a mac zealot these days says a lot about how stubborn someone is rather than what they actually do with their computer.
I would never buy another Apple product, and I tell people that -- as many people as will listen. The fact that Apple no longer offers free phone support for most of their machines is just the icing on the cake.
I don't think I am a Mac hater. I am just incredibly frustrated with a company that had one of the most loyal group of users ever and proceeded, again and again, to push that loyalty to the absolute limit.
Fortunately, my university is finally shifting to 80% PC's (no linux yet, unfortunately).
If customer loyalty had a direct effect on profits, Apple would have gone out of business long ago. It seems that every time I decide to use a mac for a project, or to test out some new mac hardware, I end up crashing the machine and remembering why I use Linux and why I won't ever buy another Macintosh.
If the NeXT-based API (Cocoa) is the API of CHOICE, then why did Apple release Carbon? The Apple DEVELOPERS have not chosen NeXT->YellowBox->Cocoa. And, in fact, because there *IS* GnuSTEP, this weakens Apple's standing as the 'one vendor' closed-arch. nature the Mac was born with. (Remeber, Cartoon Maker Jobs went to the board and pitched the mac as a closed standard as part of why Apple should make the Mac) Jobs will CONTINUE to push Carbon over other choices BECAUSE THERE IS NO CARBON CLONE! Now, with the release of the Carbon API, a clone is possible. And, if somegroup were to create a BSD licenced Carbon-compatible API, Jobs would not sleep well. For the clone market woudl come back with a vengance!
If the NeXT-based API (Cocoa) is the API of CHOICE, then why did Apple release Carbon?
The Apple DEVELOPERS have not chosen NeXT->YellowBox->Cocoa. And, in fact, because there *IS* GnuSTEP, this weakens Apple's standing as the 'one vendor' closed-arch. nature the Mac was born with. (Remeber, Cartoon Maker Jobs went to the board and pitched the mac as a closed standard as part of why Apple should make the Mac)
Jobs will CONTINUE to push Carbon over other choices BECAUSE THERE IS NO CARBON CLONE! Now, with the release of the Carbon API, a clone is possible. And, if somegroup were to create a BSD licenced Carbon-compatible API, Jobs would not sleep well. For the clone market woudl come back with a vengance!
I hate to point this out, but the same can be said for many of the Linux crowd.
And it is *NOT* just an age-restricted thing. Look at Joe Barr and his Mindcraft letter.
But, yes, the Apple fanatics stand out more than any other group. Of course they have sites like 'mac solders' or 'mac evanglist'. And so far, I've spotted nothing like that for the linux camp.
Perhaps its this: If you really think Apple is cool, you can hawk their products. With OpenSource, you can contribute in a MEANINGFUL way.
As for the iBook, it may be pretty, but it'll still kick your sorry laptop's ass, sparky. It'll also sell like mad. It'll also usher in mainstream wireless networking, something which all your mighty PCs never had a chance at.
One last note for anyone reading this: yes, Apple may screw up sometimes, but even so they're the only ones with the balls to innovate instead of just duplicating (and I hope no one out there will embarrass themselves by pretending that Apple didn't pay handsomely to play with Xerox' tech, or that Xerox' demo was even remotely similar to the Mac OS). I sincerely hope that they're around for a long, long time, because the alternatives are frightening in their mediocrity.
that Apple's IPO was probably on par with Redhat's. And Netscape's.
:-)
Maybe Red Hat will follow the fine tradition set by these two companies and start screwing up in five years.
There is already stories of people buying the eMachine thinking that it was an iMac. If Apple can pull a few of these people in, more the better. They need to get an injunction on both companies pronto!
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Anyone who's been to Taiwan, Korea or China knows that every casemaker there is manufacturing translucent cases, mice, keyboards, modems, usb hubs, digital cameras, headphones, speakers, scanners.......you name it. Is Apple going to try to sue them in those countries and all the other countries they are shipped to? If so, someone better remind Jobs what happened the last time Apple screwed around in the courts Asia.......Zip.
Because one ass cheek didn't know what the other ass cheek was up to in Xerox. They lost in court because Apple showed that they had a licensing agreement in the form of a stock offering. BTW, the same thing happened between Apple and Microsoft.
How about the fact that there was a Mac OS 1-8.6 before it (OK, so there have been slight name changes through the years, but the OS 9 refers to a version number, not a name). Its MAC OS NINE POINT ZERO!
The Apple Quadra pizza-box looked a lot like a Sun. Did Apple invent this distinctive design? Did Sun sue Apple? Apple did not invent the GUI either, Xerox did. Why is Apple free to rip-off the idea of others, but others can not use the ideas that Apple ripped-off in the first place?
I think an iMac running linux would be cuter. www.linuxppc.com
Okay, so I'm going to market my new Linux distribution and call it Rouge Beret and the symbol will be, of course a red beret. Will Red Hat rightfully sue me and if so will all of you knuckleheaded Apple haters cry foul or for my head?
Little is the number that think with their own mind and feel with their own heart. ~ Albert Einstein
I now truly hate Apple. I had macs since the aquarium mac plus up to the PowerPC line. MacOS was once upon a time a great OS but now... One of my friend even have a G3... and even that Apple washed out brain admitted that MacOS X is sucking big time. Get a clue Apple, stop suing and work on your products.
Well I just wish they go out of buisness, it's all they deserve for being such assholes. Why doesn't they sue all the theme writters out there that are trying to get the feel of MacOS into there own OS??
Unix is user friendly... it just chooses it's friends selectively!!
ARRRRRG! It makes me so mad! I love Apple, and I think they make some decent product for particular application, but /why oh why/ must they have their heads so far up their own asses? If they really think that the shape of their box is whats going to keep selling their machiens, they're in the wrong business! Get back to hardware and software you fools! My PC is an offwhite box with no distinguishing features, and I still love it to death.
"Old man yells at systemd"
I think Apple is cheesed off because the eMachine box costs $400 less, and has the added benefit of being a PC-compatible.
If you can't beat them, sue them...