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I'm sure that if you look at computers before and after the PC you'll see that most companies followed the leader. Probably same with various generations of car

I'm sure that if you look at computers before and after the PC you'll see that most companies followed the leader. Probably same with various generations of cars, planes, televisions, toasters, whatever. Where's the line between copying and being inspired by a better way to do things? I don't know, but I think we have to be careful where we put that line.

ashishgandhi 15y ago
"I'm sure that if you look at computers before and after the PC you'll see that most companies followed the leader. Probably same with various generations of cars, planes, televisions, toasters, whatever." That's true. And I'm sure we all remember the lawsuits that followed. Like I said, it being reasonable or not is a different issue. Of couse, if you ignore advances made towards "a better way to do things" to avoid being labelled as copying there will be no progress. At the same time you want to make sure there is incentive for them who put in the effort to come up with the "better way to do things" otherwise the competition will simply sit around and copy while those who bear the burden to innovate aren't rewarded. So where to draw the line? That's a difficult question.
sbuk 15y ago
"Where's the line between copying and being inspired by a better way to do things?" Somewhere between here; http://cl.ly/8lZ5 http://cl.ly/8lZ5 and here; http://cl.ly/8lIC http://cl.ly/8lIC "I don't know, but I think we have to be careful where we put that line." The line in the sand is there already and crystal clear. This dispute is nothing new. To be clear, Apple aren't arguing that the phones cannot have radiused corners or have silver bevels, they are saying that the look of the Galaxy S phone is too close to the look and feel of the iPhone to be anything other than plagiarism and therefore an infringement of copyright. When you compare the two phones I've linked here, one can clearly see that HTC have done their own thing. They have their own design language that differs significantly from their competitors. It would generous to claim that Samsung where only inspired by Apple's IP; the look of the icons, the grid layout, the shape of the icons, the look and feel of the hardware, the placement of the d-pad. It's all too similar.

ashishgandhi 15y ago

"I'm sure that if you look at computers before and after the PC you'll see that most companies followed the leader. Probably same with various generations of cars, planes, televisions, toasters, whatever." That's true. And I'm sure we all remember the lawsuits that followed. Like I said, it being reasonable or not is a different issue. Of couse, if you ignore advances made towards "a better way to do things" to avoid being labelled as copying there will be no progress. At the same time you want to make sure there is incentive for them who put in the effort to come up with the "better way to do things" otherwise the competition will simply sit around and copy while those who bear the burden to innovate aren't rewarded. So where to draw the line? That's a difficult question.

sbuk 15y ago

"Where's the line between copying and being inspired by a better way to do things?" Somewhere between here; http://cl.ly/8lZ5 http://cl.ly/8lZ5 and here; http://cl.ly/8lIC http://cl.ly/8lIC "I don't know, but I think we have to be careful where we put that line." The line in the sand is there already and crystal clear. This dispute is nothing new. To be clear, Apple aren't arguing that the phones cannot have radiused corners or have silver bevels, they are saying that the look of the Galaxy S phone is too close to the look and feel of the iPhone to be anything other than plagiarism and therefore an infringement of copyright. When you compare the two phones I've linked here, one can clearly see that HTC have done their own thing. They have their own design language that differs significantly from their competitors. It would generous to claim that Samsung where only inspired by Apple's IP; the look of the icons, the grid layout, the shape of the icons, the look and feel of the hardware, the placement of the d-pad. It's all too similar.