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Google: Wait.. Don't Be Evil. Naw we'll just steal it.

rufugee 17y ago
That's like saying Toyota steals from Ford because it puts four tires on its cars in roughly the same position. Sometimes design happens just because it makes sense. I see no theft here.
- CoryMathews 17y ago
  That argument would be the same as both have buttons they must be the same. We are not talking about elements that make up the design. We are talking about how these elements were set on the screen. Same buttons in the EXACT same places. Almost the exact same wording, same functionality. Same thing. Google owns a patent on its home page design. Why is it ok for them to patent that then make a design that is so blatantly like another site and expect it to be ok?
  - Timothee 17y ago
    If you decompose the interface we see in the screenshot, it's difficult to make a strong case for theft. Maybe they were inspired, but it's hard to call the Brightkite interface innovative. At the top you have the navigation bar with Cancel on the left, "Post" on the right. Very standard given the iPhone's UI (again, Google is using a library they developed for mobile products that reproduces the iPhone UI, though it is a webapp). Below that you have the place to type your status. There isn't many ways to do that. Then comes what is, to me, the only arguable point: the location part. But again, it's not very far off from what other things Google has done in other mobile products. Plus, keeping in mind how the iPhone UI works, there isn't that many ways to do it: you can't go to the left to see more options, so the arrow goes to the right. You could put the cross on the right too, but it can get error-prone. (and the iPhone UI puts the delete button on the left too) Finally, you have the toggle Public/Private. It makes sense to have it after you type your message, so at the bottom. And in terms of design, same thing: standard iPhone UI. I think the issue is that they have the same functionality. And it's not super complicated functionality. Given the fact that they use a similar UI library, you end up with similar designs. (NB: you're saying they have similar wording, but that's disingenuous: you have Cancel/Cancel, Post/Post, Public/Everyone, Private/Friends. Difficult to pick widely different words for such similar meanings)

That's like saying Toyota steals from Ford because it puts four tires on its cars in roughly the same position. Sometimes design happens just because it makes sense. I see no theft here.

CoryMathews 17y ago
That argument would be the same as both have buttons they must be the same. We are not talking about elements that make up the design. We are talking about how these elements were set on the screen. Same buttons in the EXACT same places. Almost the exact same wording, same functionality. Same thing. Google owns a patent on its home page design. Why is it ok for them to patent that then make a design that is so blatantly like another site and expect it to be ok?
- Timothee 17y ago
  If you decompose the interface we see in the screenshot, it's difficult to make a strong case for theft. Maybe they were inspired, but it's hard to call the Brightkite interface innovative. At the top you have the navigation bar with Cancel on the left, "Post" on the right. Very standard given the iPhone's UI (again, Google is using a library they developed for mobile products that reproduces the iPhone UI, though it is a webapp). Below that you have the place to type your status. There isn't many ways to do that. Then comes what is, to me, the only arguable point: the location part. But again, it's not very far off from what other things Google has done in other mobile products. Plus, keeping in mind how the iPhone UI works, there isn't that many ways to do it: you can't go to the left to see more options, so the arrow goes to the right. You could put the cross on the right too, but it can get error-prone. (and the iPhone UI puts the delete button on the left too) Finally, you have the toggle Public/Private. It makes sense to have it after you type your message, so at the bottom. And in terms of design, same thing: standard iPhone UI. I think the issue is that they have the same functionality. And it's not super complicated functionality. Given the fact that they use a similar UI library, you end up with similar designs. (NB: you're saying they have similar wording, but that's disingenuous: you have Cancel/Cancel, Post/Post, Public/Everyone, Private/Friends. Difficult to pick widely different words for such similar meanings)