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132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

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Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#21

Post by mc32 »

Drakim wrote: post #15
cube13 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this isn't the issue at hand. Apple's claiming that Samsung deliberately copied their trade dress to confuse consumers. Remember, trade dress isn't functionality. It's the look and feel of the product, not the functionality. It's over things like the color of the slide to unlock mechanism. The choice of icons and placement. Not the fact that you move your finger across the screen in a certain place to unlock the…

Doesn't their phone say "SAMSUNG" on the top of the frontside? Surely Samsung wanted to mimic that sleek smartphone feeling that was all the rage, but try to confuse customers with a clone? They would be doing a terrible job.

That's true, but people are known to buy knock-offs because their looks are close enough to that of the genuine article.

In this kind of example, so long as it looked pretty similar and acted pretty similar, people might feel okay to buy the alternative product --whereas if it had the same functionality, or perhaps better fucntionality, but did not look like the genuine product, they might look elsewhere.

Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#23

Post by batista »

Drakim wrote: post #15
cube13 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this isn't the issue at hand. Apple's claiming that Samsung deliberately copied their trade dress to confuse consumers. Remember, trade dress isn't functionality. It's the look and feel of the product, not the functionality. It's over things like the color of the slide to unlock mechanism. The choice of icons and placement. Not the fact that you move your finger across the screen in a certain place to unlock the…

Doesn't their phone say "SAMSUNG" on the top of the frontside? Surely Samsung wanted to mimic that sleek smartphone feeling that was all the rage, but try to confuse customers with a clone? They would be doing a terrible job.

>Surely Samsung wanted to mimic that sleek smartphone feeling that was all the rage, but try to confuse customers with a clone?

Confusing them with a clone doesn't necessarily mean having them believe they are buying an iPhone.

It's about having them believe: "well, this looks same-ish to me, it should be just as good as that iPhone thing".

Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#24

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

RandallBrown wrote: post #10
sdm wrote: post #4

How is this about copying? This is a company taking a long hard look at how their product stacks up against the competition. It's called capitalism and competition. If you're not taking a hard look at how you compare to competitors then you're going to die. Notice development steps on each page point on how to improve their offering.

To me, what's damning is how similar EVERY SINGLE SCREEN looks to the iPhone. They also pretty much never point out that differences in their design are better than the iPhone. They only talk about how they need to make it more like the iPhone.

But that's because this is an internal memo about improvements, not "how well does Samsung stack up against Apple"?

Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#25

Post by fishbacon »

laserDinosaur wrote: post #9

Wait, is this the same memo as http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4349519 ? If so, jesus, what a link bait title.

It is a link bait title even if it isn't the same memo, the document in this article (linked several times on the front page already today) shows that Samsung was looking at the marked leader and trying to figure out what they did right that Samsung wasn't doing.

Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#26

Post by unfamiliar »

jseims wrote: post #3

What's annoying is this isn't the real issue. Of course Samsung felt threatened by the iPhone, and set out to copy the aspects of it they liked. That's how capitalism works. The real issue is what degree of protection should our legal system provide original innovators against those who want to copy their innovations. I think the guiding principle should be the least legal protection that would still leave enough inc…

I wouldn't argue that lack of legal protection for "slide to unlock" would stop them including it. But I would suggest that had they had absolutely no legal protection then there is a significant chance that the entire R&D project that became the iPhone wouldn't have happened. Why invest that much time and money, playing with prototypes and ideas that might never come to market, invest billions in production lines, software development and be the first in taking a bold leap into uncharted waters if you have no recourse when someone simply rips you off at the end of the day?

Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#27

Post by nessus42 »

Drakim wrote: post #15
cube13 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this isn't the issue at hand. Apple's claiming that Samsung deliberately copied their trade dress to confuse consumers. Remember, trade dress isn't functionality. It's the look and feel of the product, not the functionality. It's over things like the color of the slide to unlock mechanism. The choice of icons and placement. Not the fact that you move your finger across the screen in a certain place to unlock the…

Doesn't their phone say "SAMSUNG" on the top of the frontside? Surely Samsung wanted to mimic that sleek smartphone feeling that was all the rage, but try to confuse customers with a clone? They would be doing a terrible job.

I don't know about Samsung's phones, but I've definitely held a Samsung tablet that did not say "Samsung"--or in fact anything--on the frontside. It was clearly designed to look as much like an iPad as possible.

And I now own a Google Nexus 7 tablet (in addition to an iPad). It also does not say anything on the frontside. It, clearly, is also designed to look from the front as much like an iPad as possible--only smaller.

Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#28

Post by xmmx »

Some of these make it seem like the firm just wants an iphone clone.

For example, #52: No menu for going back to the previous screen when watching a video. Isn't this a trait of the android OS? Hard button to go back, and it's universally like this for all apps. Adding a back button just for video would break the continuity.

#56: Star to 'add to fav' should be replaced with a plus because users don't recognize what a star does. I'm pretty confident that people will understand what a star does in this context...

Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#29

Post by thurn »

unfamiliar wrote: post #26
jseims wrote: post #3

What's annoying is this isn't the real issue. Of course Samsung felt threatened by the iPhone, and set out to copy the aspects of it they liked. That's how capitalism works. The real issue is what degree of protection should our legal system provide original innovators against those who want to copy their innovations. I think the guiding principle should be the least legal protection that would still leave enough inc…

I wouldn't argue that lack of legal protection for "slide to unlock" would stop them including it. But I would suggest that had they had absolutely no legal protection then there is a significant chance that the entire R&D project that became the iPhone wouldn't have happened. Why invest that much time and money, playing with prototypes and ideas that might never come to market, invest billions in production lines, s…

Walk into a Walmart and you can find tons of knockoff products like "Honey Nut Oatie Os". The breakfast cereal industry doesn't appear to have collapsed, though. In fact, you can buy a generic brand version of almost anything.

Re: 132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone

#30

Post by twelvechairs »

unfamiliar wrote: post #26
jseims wrote: post #3

What's annoying is this isn't the real issue. Of course Samsung felt threatened by the iPhone, and set out to copy the aspects of it they liked. That's how capitalism works. The real issue is what degree of protection should our legal system provide original innovators against those who want to copy their innovations. I think the guiding principle should be the least legal protection that would still leave enough inc…

I wouldn't argue that lack of legal protection for "slide to unlock" would stop them including it. But I would suggest that had they had absolutely no legal protection then there is a significant chance that the entire R&D project that became the iPhone wouldn't have happened. Why invest that much time and money, playing with prototypes and ideas that might never come to market, invest billions in production lines, s…

Yes. It's the designers whose jobs are devalued because although they have created something of immense and enduring worth to society, their value to a (single) organization is much less.

That said it's a complex issue and patents have historically never really covered designers (look at the history of the motorcar, the plane, photography, architecture, etc.)

Also the iPhone is probably the exception - it actually did make a huge amount of money before being copied. Most design projects are far more marginal.

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