5 ms·

The author seems to argue that only unsuccessful design is entitled to protection.

by jopt 15y ago

freehunter 15y ago
No, just that only non-obvious design should be entitled to protection. A thumb-width, neutrally colored bezel, a rectangle screen, and non-lethal corners are obvious. Apple's suggestions are to specifically engineer a device that looks unlike an Apple product, rather than designing a device in the obvious way. Apple wants to corner the market on simple design. Imagine if your coffee cup couldn't be designed to be round, have a handle that goes from the top to the bottom, or have an opening on the top to drink from.
- sbuk 15y ago
  >>Apple wants to corner the market on simple design. Imagine if your coffee cup couldn't be designed to be round, have a handle that goes from the top to the bottom, or have an opening on the top to drink from. I don't understand this point of view at all. It's seems loaded and emotive. I'll ask you this; why can other hardware manufacturers make tablet devices that are aesthetically appealing to consumers that aren't using a near identical visual language.
  - freehunter 15y ago
    Can you link me to one? I'm having a hard time finding a tablet that does not look like an iPad. The HP Touchpad, the Playbook, Motorola Xoom, even the Kindle Fire looks like a 7" iPad. The Nook Tablet is about the only one, and it's just a silver iPad with a notch cut out of the corner for some reason. Eee Transformer? iPad with an optional keyboard. The Acer Iconia has a silver lining around the bezel. That and the Nook are about as "different" as I'm seeing. They're all 7" or 10" TV screens. No one is screaming that their TVs or monitors all look the same, but they're all black boxes with a screen.
    - sbuk 15y ago
      Sure; any of these at the bottom of the picture - http://gdeluxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111004-034552.jpg http://gdeluxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111004-03455...
      - freehunter 15y ago
        The Sony tablet was pointed out in this article as a poor design that was over engineered. I pointed out the Nook Tablet as one exception. The rest (beyond the clamshell designs) all look similar to the iPad. Basically you're saying companies should have to design their tablets with two screens because a one screen black box is too similar to the iPad?
        sbuk 15y ago
        No. I am saying that all the examples and the ones that you mention, perhaps except the HP TouchPad, are different enough not to be plagiarising from Apple, unlike Samsung's devices, which are flagrant rip offs of Apple design's for a tablet. For instance the radius of the corner could reasonably be anything between <5mm - >25mm, changing the aesthetic substantially. The bezel could have a different finish; acid etched for instance, it could be a different size or had an inlaid trim. Using a morphological chart you could discover many more options http://wikid.eu/index.php/Morphological_chart http://wikid.eu/index.php/Morphological_chart, some good, some of them not so good. Quite simple really. Of course you are entitled to disagree with my opinion, however to claim that other devices merely "all look similar to the iPad" is not really understanding what design is, just like the articles author. 'Design obviousness' to me is an indication of a successful design. It is also a bias of hindsight. It's tantamount to stating that anyone can produce an Andy Warhol piece. >>The Sony tablet was pointed out in this article as a poor design that was over engineered. The article is neither factual or authoritative. It is opinion and supposition.
- jopt 15y ago
  What about design the success of which makes it obvious only in retrospect? I thought that was precisely what IP was there to protect. If the design becomes successful but is still not obvious to competitors, would IP be needed to protect it? For the record I don't support IP.
  - freehunter 15y ago
    Considering there were devices that looked like the iPad before the iPad was released, I don't think that's the case here.

The author seems to argue that only unsuccessful design is entitled to protection.

by jopt 15y ago

The author seems to argue that only unsuccessful design is entitled to protection.

No, just that only non-obvious design should be entitled to protection. A thumb-width, neutrally colored bezel, a rectangle screen, and non-lethal corners are obvious. Apple's suggestions are to specifically engineer a device that looks unlike an Apple product, rather than designing a device in the obvious way. Apple wants to corner the market on simple design. Imagine if your coffee cup couldn't be designed to be round, have a handle that goes from the top to the bottom, or have an opening on the top to drink from.

sbuk 15y ago
>>Apple wants to corner the market on simple design. Imagine if your coffee cup couldn't be designed to be round, have a handle that goes from the top to the bottom, or have an opening on the top to drink from. I don't understand this point of view at all. It's seems loaded and emotive. I'll ask you this; why can other hardware manufacturers make tablet devices that are aesthetically appealing to consumers that aren't using a near identical visual language.
- freehunter 15y ago
  Can you link me to one? I'm having a hard time finding a tablet that does not look like an iPad. The HP Touchpad, the Playbook, Motorola Xoom, even the Kindle Fire looks like a 7" iPad. The Nook Tablet is about the only one, and it's just a silver iPad with a notch cut out of the corner for some reason. Eee Transformer? iPad with an optional keyboard. The Acer Iconia has a silver lining around the bezel. That and the Nook are about as "different" as I'm seeing. They're all 7" or 10" TV screens. No one is screaming that their TVs or monitors all look the same, but they're all black boxes with a screen.
  - sbuk 15y ago
    Sure; any of these at the bottom of the picture - http://gdeluxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111004-034552.jpg http://gdeluxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111004-03455...
    - freehunter 15y ago
      The Sony tablet was pointed out in this article as a poor design that was over engineered. I pointed out the Nook Tablet as one exception. The rest (beyond the clamshell designs) all look similar to the iPad. Basically you're saying companies should have to design their tablets with two screens because a one screen black box is too similar to the iPad?
      - sbuk 15y ago
        No. I am saying that all the examples and the ones that you mention, perhaps except the HP TouchPad, are different enough not to be plagiarising from Apple, unlike Samsung's devices, which are flagrant rip offs of Apple design's for a tablet. For instance the radius of the corner could reasonably be anything between <5mm - >25mm, changing the aesthetic substantially. The bezel could have a different finish; acid etched for instance, it could be a different size or had an inlaid trim. Using a morphological chart you could discover many more options http://wikid.eu/index.php/Morphological_chart http://wikid.eu/index.php/Morphological_chart, some good, some of them not so good. Quite simple really. Of course you are entitled to disagree with my opinion, however to claim that other devices merely "all look similar to the iPad" is not really understanding what design is, just like the articles author. 'Design obviousness' to me is an indication of a successful design. It is also a bias of hindsight. It's tantamount to stating that anyone can produce an Andy Warhol piece. >>The Sony tablet was pointed out in this article as a poor design that was over engineered. The article is neither factual or authoritative. It is opinion and supposition.
jopt 15y ago
What about design the success of which makes it obvious only in retrospect? I thought that was precisely what IP was there to protect. If the design becomes successful but is still not obvious to competitors, would IP be needed to protect it? For the record I don't support IP.
- freehunter 15y ago
  Considering there were devices that looked like the iPad before the iPad was released, I don't think that's the case here.