No one said the those were not patentable when they were invented - they might have been at the time. It has been quite a while for those inventions and they would be out of patent now if even if they had been patented.
Not really.... iPod dial lets you choose from a virtual list that could not possible fit in the space provided by allowing more rotations, while the rotary action of the phone is a side effect of the technology needed to transmit the selection, not to allow you to select from an arbitrarily large list.
Hmmm.... just like to jog dial on countless other electronic devices?
That would be patented by Sony IIRC (the ones on the side of phones and their laptops that select items from a list).
I think what apple is patented is not the wheel/scroll interface but the particular configuration of the wheel.. you do not scroll it by grasping it (pong) or by thumbing the edge of the wheel (scroll mouse, the sony jog dial) but by spinning the wheel from the face to select from a list.
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No one said the those were not patentable when they were invented - they might have been at the time. It has been quite a while for those inventions and they would be out of patent now if even if they had been patented.
but with no list selection. I believe its the whole combination that is patented, not just the wheel itself.
Not really.... iPod dial lets you choose from a virtual list that could not possible fit in the space provided by allowing more rotations, while the rotary action of the phone is a side effect of the technology needed to transmit the selection, not to allow you to select from an arbitrarily large list.