Disclaimer: I think that these patents are ridiculous, and would be happy if they went away completely.
However, are you saying that attractive and distinct product design plays no role in a purchasing decision?
Of course not, but there's only so many shapes a corner can be and 'rounded' is probably the most obvious. Patents are supposed to be for "non-obvious" things.
If Apple had patented spiky, razor-sharp corners then they might have a point if other people started doing the same. Spiky isn't a natural choice for the corners of a consumer product.
Taking a quick look at this makes me realise just how insanely similar they are, and just how much apple has a point.
...apart from the way they're being carefully held so they look like they're the same size and aspect ratio and the Samsung logo appears to have been photoshopped out and the border seems to have changed color from black to silver, then, yes, they're quite similar.
instead of it being a singing/dancing/cooking/losing weight/dog grooming/clogging/whatever competition, it's a "who gets to go to mars" contest.
They could send two ships and the public can vote on which one gets the most thrust every day based on the crew's hilarious antics/bitchiness.
First one to Mars wins!
They could even vote on who gets thrown out of the airlock just before landing. Put the cast of Jersey Shore in there and you're on your way to being a trillionaire.
There's a clue in the previous post that I believe you've missed. Re-read that part about "parts of my body dragging along the ground." (Hint: this is generally done in a controlled environment.)
Ok, you do it in a place where you wear full armor, have medics standing by, have some sort of knowledge about the condition of the road surface and no solid obstacles in the way or other road users.
That reduces the risks quite a bit, sure...but how many accidents have you had despite all that? What about the other people you know who do it? Are they all safe and well?
I ride a motorcycle. I've done speeds well in excess of 100MPH, with parts of my body dragging along the ground.
There is a huge difference between engaging in activities that *could* kill you, and engaging in activities that *will* kill you.
Doing that *will* kill you. It's just a matter of doing it often enough.
I don't however, make a habit of shooting myself in the head,
You're playing Russian Roulette and arguing about the number of bullets in the gun? Two is safer than three...? Only for some abstract, technical definition of "safe".
I'm pretty sure that won't happen in a vacuum. Normally there's not much gas dissolved in the blood. Deep sea divers breath stuff which is pressurized to many atmospheres (one atmosphere for every ten meters of depth). They can easily have 20 or 30 times more gas dissolved in their blood then a person at the surface.
The roundness of the corners, the width of the bezels, the thickness of the pad...all completely different.
Apple is arguing over exactly this sort of detail but they don't even follow it themselves. The Samsung is at least as different from the registered design as the iPad is.
Ask your self this: Why did Apple's lawyers have to photoshop the picture of the Samsung tablet so they could hold it up in court as 'evidence' of infringement.
Also, if you see the registered design it's about as vague as you can get. Nowhere does it specify the roundness of the corners, the bezel, the aspect ratio, etc. It's just a very rough pencil sketch.
Look at that then look at a picture of an iPad. Check the bezels, etc., they're not even the same as the original 'design'. The actual iPad is probably as far from that sketch as the Samsung is.
Nitrogen has been proposed as a method of execution to replace all the messing about with needles and electric chairs that we currently use. OTOH there's some people who want the ending to be nasty. Hypoxia is pleasant.
Milton Thompson wrote about how guys would lift their faceplate to scratch their nose, but they held their breath -- breathe in an you are dead. This inert gas asphyxiation danger has taken lives of farmers entering silos, where fermentation displaces the oxygen.
You can breathe a couple of lungfuls of nitrogen, no problem. Maybe it's not a good idea but it won't kill you by itself.
The real problem is that your brain has no mechanism to detect when you're breathing stuff with no oxygen in it. The brain only knows about CO2 buildup in the blood, that's what causes the desperation to breathe when you hold your breath. When you breathe pure nitrogen you're still getting rid of the CO2 so the brain assumes everything is normal. You won't have any warning at all before you pass out due to hypoxia.
Every time you go to sleep there's a chance you might not wake up. Every time you get in a car you can't say for sure if you'll get out alive.
If somebody really wants to do this, why do they need anybody's permission? They aren't dying anonymously like most people will, they're guaranteeing immortality for themselves.
Yeah, that's what I meant. There's like a red mark on the video seek bar and an ad appears over the video the video when it gets there. You have to click to close it.
I don't get them on my machines. Maybe it's noscript that's zapping them, not adblock.
I'm going to be outweighed by people who don't care.
These are the same people who don't seem to mind closing a popup window for every single youtube video they watch.
I'm always horrified when I see Youtube without adblock. It's one of the most popular sites on the 'net and it can put a popup advert across every video without losing any viewers? Idiocracy isn't far away.
Yep. I'm always horrified when I have to watch youtube on other people's computers. You have to close a popup window for every single video....and people still go there? This is really the level people have come to expect from their media? Idiocracy here we come...
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Disclaimer: I think that these patents are ridiculous, and would be happy if they went away completely.
However, are you saying that attractive and distinct product design plays no role in a purchasing decision?
Of course not, but there's only so many shapes a corner can be and 'rounded' is probably the most obvious. Patents are supposed to be for "non-obvious" things.
If Apple had patented spiky, razor-sharp corners then they might have a point if other people started doing the same. Spiky isn't a natural choice for the corners of a consumer product.
Mod parent up. It's a couple of month's profit for Microsoft. Spread it over eight years and it's not a bad investment.
That's hardly more accurate, given that the perspective wildly skews the proportion.
It's every bit as informative as the image posted by the OP.
That's not a galaxy tab 10.1, it's the smaller cousin... Which is why it looks less similar.
Ok, here's the Galaxy 10.1 shown with Samsung logo and true aspect ratio: http://www.techdigest.tv/2011/08/did_apple_fake.html
That all depends on how many rounds you do.
1 round guarantees someone'll win 100% of the time 100% of the time.
Maybe you need to retake Statistics 101. Just sayin'.
Taking a quick look at this makes me realise just how insanely similar they are, and just how much apple has a point.
...apart from the way they're being carefully held so they look like they're the same size and aspect ratio and the Samsung logo appears to have been photoshopped out and the border seems to have changed color from black to silver, then, yes, they're quite similar.
A more accurate photo might show them like this
instead of it being a singing/dancing/cooking/losing weight/dog grooming/clogging/whatever competition, it's a "who gets to go to mars" contest.
They could send two ships and the public can vote on which one gets the most thrust every day based on the crew's hilarious antics/bitchiness.
First one to Mars wins!
They could even vote on who gets thrown out of the airlock just before landing. Put the cast of Jersey Shore in there and you're on your way to being a trillionaire.
I'm historically immortal is a very poor solace,
As poor as it is, it's still better than dying anonymously of old age (in many people's opinion).
There's a clue in the previous post that I believe you've missed. Re-read that part about "parts of my body dragging along the ground." (Hint: this is generally done in a controlled environment.)
Ok, you do it in a place where you wear full armor, have medics standing by, have some sort of knowledge about the condition of the road surface and no solid obstacles in the way or other road users.
That reduces the risks quite a bit, sure...but how many accidents have you had despite all that? What about the other people you know who do it? Are they all safe and well?
I ride a motorcycle. I've done speeds well in excess of 100MPH, with parts of my body dragging along the ground.
There is a huge difference between engaging in activities that *could* kill you, and engaging in activities that *will* kill you.
Doing that *will* kill you. It's just a matter of doing it often enough.
I don't however, make a habit of shooting myself in the head,
You're playing Russian Roulette and arguing about the number of bullets in the gun? Two is safer than three...? Only for some abstract, technical definition of "safe".
I'm pretty sure that won't happen in a vacuum. Normally there's not much gas dissolved in the blood. Deep sea divers breath stuff which is pressurized to many atmospheres (one atmosphere for every ten meters of depth). They can easily have 20 or 30 times more gas dissolved in their blood then a person at the surface.
There's actually opposition to nitrogen execution because it's not nasty enough.
People should be afraid of the execution method, ask any Texan.
Worse, the iPad isn't even the same as the original registered design.
Here's the design: http://www.scribd.com/doc/61944044/Community-Design-000181607-0001
Here's an iPad: http://www.tablettweet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dimensions_20100127.jpg
The roundness of the corners, the width of the bezels, the thickness of the pad...all completely different.
Apple is arguing over exactly this sort of detail but they don't even follow it themselves. The Samsung is at least as different from the registered design as the iPad is.
Ask your self this: Why did Apple's lawyers have to photoshop the picture of the Samsung tablet so they could hold it up in court as 'evidence' of infringement.
Also, if you see the registered design it's about as vague as you can get. Nowhere does it specify the roundness of the corners, the bezel, the aspect ratio, etc. It's just a very rough pencil sketch.
Here ya go: http://www.scribd.com/doc/61944044/Community-Design-000181607-0001
Look at that then look at a picture of an iPad. Check the bezels, etc., they're not even the same as the original 'design'. The actual iPad is probably as far from that sketch as the Samsung is.
What was so "innovative" about the shape of the corners on the iPad that it needs this much legal protection?
In Switzerland they force you to own an assault rifle. By law.
Nitrogen has been proposed as a method of execution to replace all the messing about with needles and electric chairs that we currently use. OTOH there's some people who want the ending to be nasty. Hypoxia is pleasant.
Milton Thompson wrote about how guys would lift their faceplate to scratch their nose, but they held their breath -- breathe in an you are dead. This inert gas asphyxiation danger has taken lives of farmers entering silos, where fermentation displaces the oxygen.
You can breathe a couple of lungfuls of nitrogen, no problem. Maybe it's not a good idea but it won't kill you by itself.
The real problem is that your brain has no mechanism to detect when you're breathing stuff with no oxygen in it. The brain only knows about CO2 buildup in the blood, that's what causes the desperation to breathe when you hold your breath. When you breathe pure nitrogen you're still getting rid of the CO2 so the brain assumes everything is normal. You won't have any warning at all before you pass out due to hypoxia.
There's no discomfort in a vacuum. The discomfort/craving for air is caused by buildup of CO2, not lack of O2.
Hypoxia (lack of O2) gives you a sort of high then you pass out.
Every time you go to sleep there's a chance you might not wake up. Every time you get in a car you can't say for sure if you'll get out alive.
If somebody really wants to do this, why do they need anybody's permission? They aren't dying anonymously like most people will, they're guaranteeing immortality for themselves.
Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn't apply for this. I'm sure there's some suitable people among the 7,000,000,000 others who live here.
Yeah, that's what I meant. There's like a red mark on the video seek bar and an ad appears over the video the video when it gets there. You have to click to close it.
I don't get them on my machines. Maybe it's noscript that's zapping them, not adblock.
I'm going to be outweighed by people who don't care.
These are the same people who don't seem to mind closing a popup window for every single youtube video they watch.
I'm always horrified when I see Youtube without adblock. It's one of the most popular sites on the 'net and it can put a popup advert across every video without losing any viewers? Idiocracy isn't far away.
Yep. I'm always horrified when I have to watch youtube on other people's computers. You have to close a popup window for every single video....and people still go there? This is really the level people have come to expect from their media? Idiocracy here we come...
Yes, but you know the name "Go Compare", right? You probably even know the URL....