As staunch upholders of intellectual property rights, Apple, I'm sure, greatly appreciates this oversight being pointed out to them.
Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
211–220 of 260 posts
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does the original clock pause? If so, why?
There is an explanation in the Wikipedia article about the clock (written yesterday). The reason is to give some extra time to close the doors, and to also give the clocks a bit of more room to synchronize with the central clock. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_railway_clock
Wow, so the trains don't run on time, so they make the time run on the trains?
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
While this is true, there are bounds of I (heart) something_somethings and AFAIK, NYC does not go after them for infringement (I feel as though Apple's rendition is sufficiently different that it's not the same as the orig (hand lengths, motion, etc). Moreover, in the NYC case, I (heart) NY is trademarked and part of an advert campaign, so I can understand their defence of their TM. Did The Swiss RR get a design pate…
Yes, actually NYC (well, NY State Dept. of Economic Development) constantly goes after people for infringement of the "I heart NY" logo. They definitely do follow through. It's not about money being made, it's a legal necessity that a trademark owner needs to actively defend the mark in order to keep it.
In order to keep it to what purpose? To make money.
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
The big distinction that seems to be getting missed is that Apple isn't selling wall clocks with this design. So they aren't remotely competing with the designs that they 'copy' from. Samsung is copying Apple, arguably intentionally, to create directly competing products. This is a very different thing.
Nice reframing there. The Mondaine clockface isn't just used in wall clocks.
I'm not saying Apple is right. I'm saying the contexts are wildly different. They probably ought to cough up some sort of fee, or change if the designers don't want them to use it.
But one face on one app of a multifunction device is simply not the same as aping a plurality of features and designs of a competing device.
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hypocrisy is the antithesis of the golden rule, which is why I tend to have a problem with it. It's not anything that automatically refutes someones arguments, it just tells me that when it comes to that subject, they're an asshole. And when someone is being an asshole, I just don't care about their arguments.
>And when someone is being an asshole, I just don't care about their arguments. But that's too bad. Better to do what a hypocrite proposes if it's the right thing, than to ignore it because of what he does. Here's a nice article on the topic: There are many reasons a charge of hypocrisy might be reactionary and counter-productive. First of all, the hypocrisy mindset pays too much attention to people's personal lives…
An assessment of the morality of hypocrisy, as with lying, cannot ignore the motivation of the hypocrite (or liar). It's one thing if a fat person shares diet secrets with you. That is along the lines of someone who is a great coach but can't play. I wouldn't throw the label of hypocite at that person.
But it's quite another thing if someone tries to convince you to behave one way while s/he secretly behaves differently- and it is to his/her personal benefit and (perhaps) to your detriment to do so.
For example, if somebody makes a 'moral' claim that all feezos should be in the public domain in order to convince others to donate their efforts, but that person makes a best-in-class feezo based on all the others' work and doesn't release it into the public domain, that person is a hypocrite with bad motivation. I don't like those people. I don't excuse those people. Any public good that comes of it is likely accidental, although I am sure they will try to convince you otherwise.
So I agree with sbov with the following addition: I don't care about the hypocrite's arguments of persuasion. I won't throw out a good idea just because it comes from a hypocrite. But I won't believe it's a good idea just because the hypocrite says so even if the hypocrite is an expert in the area being discussed. I will seek other ways to validate his claim. And yes, I know, we should always do this, so I can state this a different way: I won't use the hypocrite to validate a claim.
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#216I don’t understand why Apple made such blatant mistake.
Originally the clock app wasn’t included on the iPad.
This version of clock is well made, simple to use as this kind of app should be. Not rocket science but alternatives version are clearly missing on the Appstore. (I looked for one of them that could replicate the one I have on my Android 4 Galaxy S2).
(Re)introducing the Clock app is great, but borrowing the design of very well known clock is a even better.
It fit the trend of Apple reunding well known texture and design. If that trend is good or bad is another question fueled by love and hate feelings.
But Mondaine, the owner of that clock design, have licensing option already in place : http://www.mondaine.com/private-label/
Apple could have just bought the licence of this design. End of story.
Apple could also have taken this opportunity to ask worldwide watchmaker to give their clockface designs for the official Apple Clock application.
I am sure every watchmaker in the world would have even paid fro that privilege. After all they are all spending millions in magazine adverts.
I don’t understand the position of Apple just after the Samsung lawsuit.
The result is to show Apple being arrogant once more and it put the company in a mismatch branding situation that could have been avoided.
Clearly somebody at Apple is not doing his / her job.
We’re talking about a Clock application here! Not Maps which is another fiasco much much more difficult to fix.
That kind of decision never been the role of Steve Jobs. Who else is missing at Apple ?
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#217On an unrelated note, I wish there was a wall clock with the real Swiss stop-to-go[1] action... Edit: and [2] would make for a great 11.5" laptop sticker [1] http://www.3quarks.com/en/StationClock/index.html [2] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/SBB-CFF-FFS.sv...
The 3quarks.com page is exhaustive in detail about the station clock, with a customizable working clock well worth a look. At the end the author, Rüdiger Appel, points to his free iOS clock app: http://itunes.apple.com/en/app/clockmaker/id493255256?mt=8
I meant a physical wall clock, not an app. I suppose I could mount and iPad on my wall and run the app, but I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on a clock that will sue me.
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#218No, no, no you guys don't understand. This is not a cheap rip-off. It's an homage and the Swiss will be honoured that their famous clock has been elevated to the high-art status of Apple design and innovation. The critical eye of an average iPhone user will appreciate the fine craftsmanship & precision of the painstaking work that went into translating the iconic clock into an exact digital replica.
Serious question, if the Railway company was a government institution when the design was released, is the design not in the public domain? Nowadays, it seems they're quasi-governmental, but back then I think they were strictly a national org. It'd be like DARPA trying to get royalties on the internet or something similar. I could be wrong in this line of thinking, of course.
The railway company is only licensing the design from another company though.
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#219For all the Gruber haters here, his comment is "What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Apple needs to cough up a licensing fee here."
Re: Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
#220If a couple of rounded corners and some UI tweaks are worth $3B then I wonder what the design of a clock is worth.