251–260 of 291 posts
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Shipping counterfeit products through customs with a misleading box that is then removed prior to sale is a common ploy. And one that CBP is aware of. The box means absolutely nothing here.
Except that they're OnePlus Buds shipped in a OnePlus Box. They don't even look like Airpods, they look like OnePlus Buds.
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Looks like rather generic design to me, especially since a substantial parts of are basically dictated by the human anatomy. So regardless the questionable nature of design patents in the first place, this design certainly does not warrant such patents. But in any case, that's for a court to decide. Does the USA actively seize other products that violate patents without a court case? How would they even determine inf…
> Looks like rather generic design to me Just make a 3-way comparison between apple airpods [1], oneplus buds [2] and the previous oneplus bullets [3]. Ignore the cable. OnePlus change their design to be shaped like a quarter note, remove the controls, change to white shiny plastic, add a downward pointing cylinder with a silver ring at the end, change to hard plastic instead of a soft rubber earpiece, change to a 0…
Your definition of an off-brand clone is going way beyond my understanding of that concept. To be a clone, the intention to sell it as such is a rather integral part of the concept.
Just as with car brands, each years many of the new luxurious models share common design features. It's called (contemporary) fashion, which is about as old as brands producing luxurious items. As are companies trailing behind in such trends.
Apple's many attempts to aggressively "defend" their (rather generic, but consequential of their minimalist) product designs could be seen either as a pathetic/cynical joke in the face of history, or more likely as a form of deliberate stretching of conventional wisdom regarding design (to a point of corruption), only for the sake of profits and damned to consequences or precedents it might set (or already has).
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Heck, there are fake AirPods in every store ever, go to Walmart (tall order with the pandemic) and you can see fake AirPods in the checkout shelf... lol
Aren't those just knockoffs rather than fakes being passed off as brand name Apple AirPods?
If that's the case, I'll take a hundred Totally-Not-Yeezys please
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You said that correctly: counterfeit products. While Apple fanboys no doubt will claim that these OnePlus products are counterfeits of Apple products, that's mostly just their ignorance or wishful thinking talking. From what I can see, there is no actual counterfeiting involved here. This product is both generic enough in design and not brandishing any Apple specific markings. Also comes with a box that makes it clea…
Sorry, I didn't mention it earlier, since you seemed upset by Customs in general. This certainly appears to be a false positive, and it will most likely get resolved in favor of the importer, unless there's some trademark action we're all unaware of. The shipment is still gonna be delayed though, and that delay is not likely to be compensated; it's a risk in the system (along with many other risks of loss or delay in…
I'm not particularly upset by Customs in general, but I get upset when they stretch or abuse their already far reaching authority and privileges. Mainly because I strongly believe that all extreme powers come with extreme responsibility and require extreme accountability in order to not end up being used for all the wrong reasons.
This action, including its publication, smells like brutally political, shortsighted, and very likely unlawful (though Customs lives mostly by definition outside the usual legal territory, so there goes accountability).
Part of me stopped caring about it a long time ago, when it became clear that the USA is hellbent on accelerating its inevitable demise (as a defacto empire), as long as it can make powerful companies and politicians a few quick bucks along the ride.
On the other hand, it still hurts to see stupid things like these happen, while most people appear clueless about the consequences. I know it will be ordinary American citizens that ultimately will pay a price for this, with time.
That still pisses me off .. and hopefully it will always remain doing so.
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> I always thought they were the ugliest earbuds since earbuds became small. Ditto. Whenever I see someone wearing them I make a point of locking eyes, then smirking. AirPods and similar headphones are an upscale version of a face tattoo. They are like a South Park parody come to life. I firmly believe that in twenty years we will look back at them in chagrin, like bell bottoms and bowl haircuts.
> Whenever I see someone wearing them I make a point of locking eyes, then smirking. Some people on hacker news are so cringy... I promise you they don't even know why you're smirking, just think you're either autistic or an asshole. The answer is likely both so I guess they aren't wrong.
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>There are large categories of products, this one included, where there are ZERO remaining US suppliers. I don't know very well how patents and intellectual property protection work... But, if there are no suppliers of such a product in the United States (assuming your previous argument as true), then what product is being pirated? if there is none (worth the redundancy), to my understanding, there has to be a vendor…
It was a UL mark. Underwriters Laboratories. They are a company that tests products for electrical safety. The manufacturer of the AC adapter didn't pay for testing, but put the mark on the adapter. The adapters weren't the main thing I was importing, so I hadn't paid any attention to it in the order process. The technical reason for the seizure was trademark violation.
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Wait so they effectively imported items into the country themselves, punished you and made a buck on it? Wasn't the purpose to prevent counterfeits? Or did they trash the adapters and auctioned the main item only?
Yes, they trashed the adapters and auctioned the main item. The winning bid was well below retail pricing, but much higher than wholesale cost.
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The phone your holding has the same screen in the front, camera on the back, a home button, and the keyboard shows up on the bottom when you're typing. Maybe even the same front camera design. All of that is just straight-up rip-off of.. everyone's phone?
The smart-phone form factor is largely determined by the rectangular screen, and for the cameras to be useful, they have to be on the back and/or front. The keyboards are very different in design between Google and Apple, and many phones don’t have home buttons. Some even have more buttons. Conversely, there’s nothing about ear-buds that force you to use white plastic with black grills for the holes, EarPod-style ste…
Sidebar: Why has the AirPod design become so ubiquitous? I always thought they were the ugliest earbuds since earbuds became small. Is there some technical reason they have this design? Or do people actually like it? Or is it simply the Apple effect?
1. Apple removed the headphone jack. 2. Apple stopped giving out dongles in the box. 3. Apple limited others' ability to compete by including proprietary chips in iphone and airpods. 4. Apple marketed airpods as a status symbol. 5. People bought into the hype. Objectively, airpods are the worst wireless earbuds in the market on every single metric, but still command a premium price.
Objectively, this is the worst list formatting on the internet in every way.
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I always prefered the 4-class system, which specified a class of people who cared more about the perfection of their art, than monetary concerns. Tradesmen, engineers, and academics would fall into this category. Just lumping everyone into the middle-class based on income alone, always seemed to be an American conceit. Class is supposed to be able pedigree; thus a king in exile is still part of the aristocratic elite…
You are looking for meaning. That is a normal human instinct. I am talking about power structures. They should be examined. Most people here are not willing to do that, because they figure they will soon be the top dogs. They are wrong, and this expectation is being exploiting by less naive actors.
If one thinks the highest calling is to be a proficient tradesman then we absolutely want a union to push back against business interest stopping us from gaining more mastery. That's a direct attack against the existing power structure.