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Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival

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Re: Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dislike Windows but I dislike OSX even more, so software is indifferent for me, seeing as I will be installing Linux anyway. I suspect there are many people who think like me.

OS X nudges past Linux for me because it is much more efficient (this is what I was alluding to in my statement about hardware and software working together). If Linux could work out some way of being just as efficient with the battery as OS X, I would put Linux on my laptop instead of keeping it only on my server.

I don't know of any objective benchmarks on that regard, but I do know that Linux is famously erratic in conserving power, with results often varying a lot depending on the specific hardware.

Re: Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival

#413
post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then he/she clearly did something better than you. Had the insight that you lack.

So you think it's ok to sit around wait for someone else to do all the hard work and then just copy what they did?

you must be kidding, copying someone else's HARD work is not easy, especially if you have to reverse-engineer it.

And if you do, good for you.

Re: Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival

#414
post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then he/she clearly did something better than you. Had the insight that you lack.

So you think it's ok to sit around wait for someone else to do all the hard work and then just copy what they did?

Not if they cite their sources :)

Re: Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival

#415
post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sweeping generalizations like this aren't helpful when the degree to which these things occur is extremely important. Xiaomi has built its entire company on blatant theft of designs. Let's not say "oh, it's okay because Apple once did X" which is like saying murder is no different from a speeding ticket since both things are illegal.

True, but throughout history Apple has done this plenty. They have never been first to market with a product.

They were never first to market with a category of product, that's just not in their DNA. Even the Apple I was a computer largely similar in terms of features to a multitude of others on the market, but it wasn't a direct copy of any of their competitors.

Their ideal product entry point is when consumers are familiar with the product but are unhappy with the current offerings because they lack the right contextual fit.

Maybe if you have a specific example here of where Apple's flagrantly copied something like Xiaomi has we can talk specifics.

Re: Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival

#416
post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Sony Ericsson P800/P900/P910 had a removable keypad making them effectively rectangular phones. The Neonode N1 had a touch driven interface, including the slide to unlock feature. Then there were PDAs like Sony Clie PEG-TH55. All this a couple of years before the iPhone. The reason phones didn't look like rectangles wasn't because no one had the idea, but because screens were expensive and touch technology (and o…

Of those only the Prada is close, and even then the similarities are very superficial: http://gizmodo.com/261172/settling-this-iphone-vs-lg-prada-n... Since it was released so close to the launch of the iPhone that it's not like Apple could have possibly dropped everything and rebuilt their entire design strategy around it. The protracted lawsuit with Samsung showed how Apple had been working on that design for some…

Not only did you completely miss the point, you changed your whole argument when the facts didn't suit your views anymore. Phone look like they do because of the state of technology. I don't know why this is hard to understand?

"Of those only the Prada is close"

No, the P900 was a smart phone and therefor a rectangular phone like the iPhone, but with a hardware keyboard in addition to the virtual one since touch technology wasn't very good. The Neonode had a touch interface because they had developed their own touch technology. The Sony PDA has a very similar design since it was made for using applications similar to what would later become common with phones when larger screen and faster processors became available. The LG Prada was also a premium phone, which is why it could look similar to an iPhone.

"they were merely historical curiosities that nobody ever copied."

Except Apple then I guess.

"There was incredible variety in the phone space prior to the iPhone"

Not really. Most phones looked largely the same with a keypad and maybe a joystick, because that was the state of technology at the time. Just like most phones look the same today, because of the state of technology today. Even if you wanted to make a different phone today there wouldn't be much point. Because you would have to create your own parts, your own operating system and your own application ecosystem just to be 99% similar to everyone else since you're using the same technology. Look how things went for Google Glass, which isn't surprising since the technology isn't ready.

"Today we're seeing the same ridiculous convergence with keyboards where everyone plus dog is using the Apple layout."

Do you mean the Sony layout? Because that's where the chiclet design was copied from.

http://www.cnet.com/products/sony-vaio-x505/

"as in all the bargain-priced knock-off phones"

Those are novelty phones, you literally have to search them out to find them. They have about zero percent of the market.

Re: Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival

#417
post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Imagine if I said: Atom is such a rip off and the sublime guy must be feeling that GitHub is lazy and a thief. Edit: my original comment wasn't very constructive. My issue with the analogy is that Xiaomi openly copies the design of competing products that have gained success, at least in part, due to having differentiated designs. Usually they copy without providing even incremental innovation or product differenti…

Parent comment gave screenshots and claimed things are copied. I am also giving two screenshots and telling you that those are copied. What is the point I am missing?

Looks like Balmuda (original designer of the air purifier) is claiming the same:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2858592/xiaomi-faces-copycat-...

Re: Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival

#418
post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This post should be marked as reference anytime some Apple-zealot brings the "Apple invented everything under the sun" argument. Don't get me wrong: Apple deservingly got tons of credits (literally, in their bank accounts) for the combination of great hardware/software/ui design/marketing of the past 10 years. They still do. But their success means that just like Jony Ive got "inspired" by Braun, Apple is not inspiri…

I use air-quotes on inspired because while it's obvious in hind-sight the way the Braun styling was adapted, distilling the design language of a blender or a pocket calculator made in the 1960s into a cutting edge product launched in the mid 2000s is not exactly a straight-forward exercise. If you look at the mock-ups people made of the hypothetical and long-rumored "iPod phone" that Apple was working on you'll see h…

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