"Greetings, Professor Falken." "Hello, Joshua." "Strange game. The only winning move is not to play."
Google tried that (not filing patents, not suing anyone) and it didn't help them.
Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
31–40 of 73 posts
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#32This feature is largely useless, anyway. An example is, I receive text messages from Amazon when an order ships and is delivered. The "system and method to cause a computer to detect and perform actions" then highlights the tracking number and order number as though they are phone numbers, which it immediately dials when your finger comes nearby. This is very annoying because they are not phone numbers, they are trac…
Tracking numbers have a lot more digits than phone numbers; do they actually get detected as such? I've never seen it happen. I have, however, found it useful to tap on an address to bring it up in Google Maps or a phone number to open it in the dialer.
Actually a fair number of shipments by small companies and even Fedex have shipment numbers that total out to 10 or 11 digits which fits a fully dialed international number perfectly and will be highlighted by Android. So the feature is bad and good at the same time.
Source: I made and maintain a shipment tracking progam on Android.
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#33Here's the patent in question, #5,946,647, filed Feb. 1, 1996: http://www.google.com/patents/US5946647 "A system and method causes a computer to detect and perform actions on structures identified in computer data... uses a pattern analysis unit ... to detect structures in the data, and links relevant actions to the detected structures. .... Thus, the user interface can present and enable selection of the detected st…
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Please note the original patent filing date of Feb. 1, 1996
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#34Seriously, this is the company that made the '1984' commercial and touted themselves as being 'anti monopoly' just a few years ago?
Oh, absolutely.
http://www.amazon.com/Commodify-Your-Dissent-Salvos-Baffler/...
Very good book, BTW.
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#35Hey, Apple et al., here's an innovative idea: let's all agree to start the next thing from the most effective version of the last thing. We might all benefit. (I wonder how Wikipedia would be doing if we weren't allowed to modify others' entries?)
Apple's probably fine with that as long as the maker of the next thing pays the maker of the last thing.
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would it need to benefit the consumer? None of these companies operate to directly benefit the consumer. Note: I agree with your sentiment
My knee-jerk, emotional, response is to agree with you because from my perspective: they aren't working to win consumers by building the best product, they either buy-out the technology they want or stomp competing technology with patents. The biggest players cost each other billions hoping to cripple each others ability to compete, or eradicate the competing product altogether. Yes, we get a phone out of it, but tha…
You are confusing Google with Apple.
Apple doesn't make money on its App Store. It has a great app store to sell devices.
In contrast, Google gives away adware products to earn more money (by tracking and spying on Android users).
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#37This feature is largely useless, anyway. An example is, I receive text messages from Amazon when an order ships and is delivered. The "system and method to cause a computer to detect and perform actions" then highlights the tracking number and order number as though they are phone numbers, which it immediately dials when your finger comes nearby. This is very annoying because they are not phone numbers, they are trac…
Tracking numbers have a lot more digits than phone numbers; do they actually get detected as such? I've never seen it happen. I have, however, found it useful to tap on an address to bring it up in Google Maps or a phone number to open it in the dialer.
Skype's browser extension does this to phone numbers on webpages; does this mean they're violating the Apple patent as well?
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#38Sigh, emotionally this sort of crap from Apple just really irritates me. Sure software patents are stupid, but does it strike anyone else that this Android Jihad by Apple is doing more damage to their corporate brand than help? I should have realized during the 'look and feel' wars that its part of their DNA.
As someone who has been de facto boycotting Apple (the last Apple device I've owned was an iPhone 3G) over annoyance with their iron fisted control policies, I wish you were right that this would damage their corporate brand, but I don't think it will. Most non-geeks just don't care about this stuff one way or another. And most geeks either rationalize it or post how annoyed by it they are from their shiny new MacBoo…
> If they ever did manage to get Android killed in the way they seem to want to (Jobs' 'thermonuclear' option), don't they realize that would make them the 90's-Microsoft of smartphones?
Not really, because it wouldn't. You don't see Apple going after WP7. Nor WebOS. Yes they are small competitors but that's only because Android is free and established, if there was no Android, they would pick up the slack quite quickly. Apple has a specific problem with Android because of the level of insider information Google had on the iPhone project at the time Android was being retooled into an iOS competitor.
Microsoft's schtick was embrace, extend, extinguish which was a much more two-faced policy and evil policy. 90's Microsoft wanted to own everything and control everything, from the lowliest embedded device to the most powerful servers in the world, from desktop PCs, to mobile devices, to the internet in general, you name it. If it was related to computers, it should run Windows, browse with IE and Microsoft should receive a license fee for it.
Apple has no such desires now, and never really had them in the first place. 90's Microsoft was genuinely malicious. 2011 Apple on the other hand just doesn't like Android and has a serious problem with how it was conceived. IMO because it repeats so perfectly the mistake Steve Jobs made when letting Bill Gates get so close to Apple. True, they maintain more control over their devices than Microsoft ever did, but they don't have the "100% control of the entire market in all aspects" aspirations that Microsoft had. It's just a completely different situation.
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#39Apple == US company HTC == Taiwan company Any surprise why the US International Trade Commission bans HTC?
Check Apple patents, check HTC patents. Apple is responsible for bringing the PC to mass market, and the touch interface. HTC has gone from clone PC maker to premium Android phone maker, and many companies think Android is a clone, as the name implies.
Any notion of national preference is silly, HTC simply is the newest company, and thus has the fewest patents, making it the easiest android OEM to sue.
Please support your wild implied claims before making a statement. Apple is just excercising their right, and it would be silly of them not to. Although patent reform should happen one way or another.
Re: Apple wins ban of HTC devices at US International Trade Commission
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who has been de facto boycotting Apple (the last Apple device I've owned was an iPhone 3G) over annoyance with their iron fisted control policies, I wish you were right that this would damage their corporate brand, but I don't think it will. Most non-geeks just don't care about this stuff one way or another. And most geeks either rationalize it or post how annoyed by it they are from their shiny new MacBoo…
> If they ever did manage to get Android killed in the way they seem to want to (Jobs' 'thermonuclear' option), don't they realize that would make them the 90's-Microsoft of smartphones? Not really, because it wouldn't. You don't see Apple going after WP7. Nor WebOS. Yes they are small competitors but that's only because Android is free and established, if there was no Android, they would pick up the slack quite quic…
The overall motivations of the company are irrelevant, what matters for antitrust concerns is marketshare plus using that marketshare as leverage to own other markets.
Apple gets away with things like the 30% content tax on their devices because they don't have the sort of marketshare Microsoft enjoyed. In a world sans-Android and with the iPhone on all the major carriers, that would soon change.
And sorry, I don't believe WebOS or WP7 would factor into the conversation even if Android died (and I say this as a WP7 fan). WebOS in particular is all but dead at this point.