7 ms·

Even if this is a true story, it isn't the lawsuit that made people think this. What makes people think that Apple products and Samsung products are the same is

Even if this is a true story, it isn't the lawsuit that made people think this. What makes people think that Apple products and Samsung products are the same is the fact that Samsung intentionally ripped them off to get exactly that. Apple did not do this. Samsung did and the lawsuit was so they could stop it. If this story is true, which it kind of sounds like it isn't, then the only reason people are being vocal about it is because of the news. They're now comparing the two side by side and saying "hey, they look the same so they must be like the same thing". Up until about two months ago I was dirt poor (as in I only ate once a day, if that) and my experience with Apple products has been then you definitely get what you pay for in a good way which is why I have bought so many despite my door poor-ness. Samsung making their products look like Apple's was meant so people like me (minus the tech savviness) would buy them thinking they'll get the same thing. You really don't. But I digress. This post has it wrong. What he supposedly overheard in a Starbucks wasn't caused by the Apple v. Samsung ruling but was a direct result of what Samsung had been trying to do all along.

Zak 14y ago
Even if the appearance of say... an iPad and a Galaxy tablet are very similar, I don't think it's fair to call the Galaxy a ripoff. That basic design is just where the industry was headed. Case in point: the Crunchpad was announced nearly two years before the iPad and has a nearly identical design.
- ricardobeat 14y ago
  The original version did not look like an iPad at all (http://www.slashgear.com/crunchpad-200-web-tablet-gets-second-prototype-video-1930939/ http://www.slashgear.com/crunchpad-200-web-tablet-gets-secon...), it got more similar on later revisions.
  - deno 14y ago
    That’s dishonest. It’s a development prototype. Here’s a good overview and timeline: http://www.nikcub.com/posts/crunchpad-proof-obviousness-in-ipad-design http://www.nikcub.com/posts/crunchpad-proof-obviousness-in-i...
    - ricardobeat 14y ago
      Now that's funny - look at the top comment in the article :D
alberich 14y ago
I always wonder if this is what they call the reality distortion effect. You get what you pay for? Long time ago I had an ibook g4. Supposedly it was very nice back then, and very pricey too. However, after playing with it sometime, it just looked cute. Overpriced and cute. Apple products are a jail that looks very nice, but its a jail anyway. Now I have an IPad (don't remember the generation) because my job. It is still overly priced and cute. Oh, and a jail. Is this what you are supposed to get for paying a high price? Guess I'll never "get it". For me, it's just stylish and pricey stuff, that locks you in. Paying to give up your freedom... go figure.
- Zirro 14y ago
  "Apple products are a jail that looks very nice, but its a jail anyway." Please clarify this. I don't feel more restricted with my MacBook Pro than I did with my old Lenovo-laptop. In what way was it a jail to you?
  - pooriaazimi 14y ago
    Come on... You know what he's going to say. What's the point of asking? It just wastes yours and his/hers time.
    - epistasis 14y ago
      I honestly don't know what he's going to say, or how he thought it was a jail, and would like to know.
      - alberich 14y ago
        I just couldn't install any other usable operating system on the hardware other then Apple's OS. The specifications were closed, you couldn't get much anything useful installed on it because it depended on proprietary software that, of course, only worked on OS X. edit: besides, things don't look much better nowdays, eh?
        14y ago
sigzero 14y ago
That title of the is all wrong. How do you deduce "consumers" from one conversation at Starbucks. That is wishful Android fanboyism at its finest.
- bpatrianakos 14y ago
  What is fanboyism? Really, I'm serious. I don't think such a thing exists. I think it's all people who don't get why other people value product X explaining it away with the fanboyism argument. I don't mean to detract or disagree because that was my first reaction but when I got to thinking about it I realized that I could easily be labelled a fanboy. I don't want that argument used against me so I won't use it against someone else anymore. There's some kind of weird jealousy or something going on there but its also much more. I haven't quite nailed it yet but I think saying someone or some view is a "fanboy" is a lazy argument now. But I secretly agree. But please ignore that last sentence.
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  Anecdotes are not data, etc, etc, but: I'm writing this post after the FOURTH group of Starbucks patrons... That's starting to suggest a trend.
- lurker14 14y ago
  The title was made up by the submitter, not the author (and has since been fixed by the mods)
jmitcheson 14y ago
Not true. 'Regular' people probably didn't think anything about this before the lawsuit. Now they think something. Cars and computers all look pretty similar, but people manage to distinguish them. The only difference between cars, computers and mobile devices is that mobile devices were only just invented in our lifetime. We have had the experience of seeing none of them, then only one brand, then finally more brands. Cars and computers? We were born (most of us) into the reality of them already existing. With all of the different brands and models. Trust me, once mobile devices have been around for a person's entire lifetime, that person would laugh at this lawsuit just as much as we today would laugh at a lawsuit based on 'damages' incurred from mistaking a Ford for a Honda, or for mistaking a 50" LG Plasma for a 48" Sony LCD. Mobile devices seem different because they are new. That's not Samgsung's fault..
samstave 14y ago
So apple's overly inflated prices on everything are defensible because they were copied?
- encoderer 14y ago
  I've always found this argument so odd. Look at articles about the Surface tablet. When they talk about possible pricing it's always "Do they dare price it more expensive than an iPad or do they undercut the iPad and lose money?" Clearly the iPad price isn't inflated. Look at the on-contract and off-contract prices of iPhones. Compare to say, Galaxy S3. Or the new Droid. Or the new Evo. Clearly the iPhone price isn't inflated. Want a consumer-line notebook? Apples consumer notebooks are the Air line. Find a good competitor, say the ASUS Zenbook UX31E. It's about $950, vs $1200 for the Air. That is a big price difference. And the machines look an awful lot alike. But the Air has a faster processer, faster RAM, faster SSD and faster graphics (3000 series vs 4000 series Intel). The Asus has 1600x900 vs the Air's 1440x900. The Air also comes bundled with software that's all written by Apple as first-class companions to OSX. The bundled software on PCs is almost universally mocked and either ignored or uninstalled. Their Pro line is more expensive, yes. But the products I listed above make a large majority of Apple's sales and profits. And the people that actually have bought a Pro line seldom complain. They seldom think they didn't get value, that they didn't get their monies worth. I get it, there are certain people who see a Mercedes as a car, like any other. They see, well, the Mercedes has a 2.5L engine, a Kia has a 2.5L engine. The Mercedes has 8 air bags, so does a Ford Focus. The Mercedes has.... you get my point. For those people, certainly, a Mercedes doesn't sound right for you. But you're ignorant if you don't see the value others see in it, and it's not just vanity or shallow brand obsession. You may not weigh that value as heavily in your life as they do, but any honest person has to at least acknowledge it.
naner 14y ago
Samsung didn't rip Apple off to trick people into thinking they had Apple products. What's the point of that? They want their products returned and customers angered? Apple had put more effort into designing their products so Samsung aped much of that in an attempt to replicate the aesthetics and appeal of Apple products. Part of what's happening here is that people who don't deal with this stuff frequently (and don't have the background that we do) don't understand tech products. People go to WalMart and pick out the cheapest tablet and then will return it a few days later when they discover it is not an iPad.

Zak 14y ago

Even if the appearance of say... an iPad and a Galaxy tablet are very similar, I don't think it's fair to call the Galaxy a ripoff. That basic design is just where the industry was headed. Case in point: the Crunchpad was announced nearly two years before the iPad and has a nearly identical design.

ricardobeat 14y ago
The original version did not look like an iPad at all (http://www.slashgear.com/crunchpad-200-web-tablet-gets-second-prototype-video-1930939/ http://www.slashgear.com/crunchpad-200-web-tablet-gets-secon...), it got more similar on later revisions.
- deno 14y ago
  That’s dishonest. It’s a development prototype. Here’s a good overview and timeline: http://www.nikcub.com/posts/crunchpad-proof-obviousness-in-ipad-design http://www.nikcub.com/posts/crunchpad-proof-obviousness-in-i...
  - ricardobeat 14y ago
    Now that's funny - look at the top comment in the article :D

alberich 14y ago

I always wonder if this is what they call the reality distortion effect. You get what you pay for? Long time ago I had an ibook g4. Supposedly it was very nice back then, and very pricey too. However, after playing with it sometime, it just looked cute. Overpriced and cute. Apple products are a jail that looks very nice, but its a jail anyway. Now I have an IPad (don't remember the generation) because my job. It is still overly priced and cute. Oh, and a jail. Is this what you are supposed to get for paying a high price? Guess I'll never "get it". For me, it's just stylish and pricey stuff, that locks you in. Paying to give up your freedom... go figure.

Zirro 14y ago
"Apple products are a jail that looks very nice, but its a jail anyway." Please clarify this. I don't feel more restricted with my MacBook Pro than I did with my old Lenovo-laptop. In what way was it a jail to you?
- pooriaazimi 14y ago
  Come on... You know what he's going to say. What's the point of asking? It just wastes yours and his/hers time.
  - epistasis 14y ago
    I honestly don't know what he's going to say, or how he thought it was a jail, and would like to know.
    - alberich 14y ago
      I just couldn't install any other usable operating system on the hardware other then Apple's OS. The specifications were closed, you couldn't get much anything useful installed on it because it depended on proprietary software that, of course, only worked on OS X. edit: besides, things don't look much better nowdays, eh?
      - 14y ago

sigzero 14y ago

That title of the is all wrong. How do you deduce "consumers" from one conversation at Starbucks. That is wishful Android fanboyism at its finest.

bpatrianakos 14y ago
What is fanboyism? Really, I'm serious. I don't think such a thing exists. I think it's all people who don't get why other people value product X explaining it away with the fanboyism argument. I don't mean to detract or disagree because that was my first reaction but when I got to thinking about it I realized that I could easily be labelled a fanboy. I don't want that argument used against me so I won't use it against someone else anymore. There's some kind of weird jealousy or something going on there but its also much more. I haven't quite nailed it yet but I think saying someone or some view is a "fanboy" is a lazy argument now. But I secretly agree. But please ignore that last sentence.
sliverstorm 14y ago
Anecdotes are not data, etc, etc, but: I'm writing this post after the FOURTH group of Starbucks patrons... That's starting to suggest a trend.
lurker14 14y ago
The title was made up by the submitter, not the author (and has since been fixed by the mods)

jmitcheson 14y ago

Not true. 'Regular' people probably didn't think anything about this before the lawsuit. Now they think something. Cars and computers all look pretty similar, but people manage to distinguish them. The only difference between cars, computers and mobile devices is that mobile devices were only just invented in our lifetime. We have had the experience of seeing none of them, then only one brand, then finally more brands. Cars and computers? We were born (most of us) into the reality of them already existing. With all of the different brands and models. Trust me, once mobile devices have been around for a person's entire lifetime, that person would laugh at this lawsuit just as much as we today would laugh at a lawsuit based on 'damages' incurred from mistaking a Ford for a Honda, or for mistaking a 50" LG Plasma for a 48" Sony LCD. Mobile devices seem different because they are new. That's not Samgsung's fault..

samstave 14y ago

So apple's overly inflated prices on everything are defensible because they were copied?

encoderer 14y ago
I've always found this argument so odd. Look at articles about the Surface tablet. When they talk about possible pricing it's always "Do they dare price it more expensive than an iPad or do they undercut the iPad and lose money?" Clearly the iPad price isn't inflated. Look at the on-contract and off-contract prices of iPhones. Compare to say, Galaxy S3. Or the new Droid. Or the new Evo. Clearly the iPhone price isn't inflated. Want a consumer-line notebook? Apples consumer notebooks are the Air line. Find a good competitor, say the ASUS Zenbook UX31E. It's about $950, vs $1200 for the Air. That is a big price difference. And the machines look an awful lot alike. But the Air has a faster processer, faster RAM, faster SSD and faster graphics (3000 series vs 4000 series Intel). The Asus has 1600x900 vs the Air's 1440x900. The Air also comes bundled with software that's all written by Apple as first-class companions to OSX. The bundled software on PCs is almost universally mocked and either ignored or uninstalled. Their Pro line is more expensive, yes. But the products I listed above make a large majority of Apple's sales and profits. And the people that actually have bought a Pro line seldom complain. They seldom think they didn't get value, that they didn't get their monies worth. I get it, there are certain people who see a Mercedes as a car, like any other. They see, well, the Mercedes has a 2.5L engine, a Kia has a 2.5L engine. The Mercedes has 8 air bags, so does a Ford Focus. The Mercedes has.... you get my point. For those people, certainly, a Mercedes doesn't sound right for you. But you're ignorant if you don't see the value others see in it, and it's not just vanity or shallow brand obsession. You may not weigh that value as heavily in your life as they do, but any honest person has to at least acknowledge it.

naner 14y ago

Samsung didn't rip Apple off to trick people into thinking they had Apple products. What's the point of that? They want their products returned and customers angered? Apple had put more effort into designing their products so Samsung aped much of that in an attempt to replicate the aesthetics and appeal of Apple products. Part of what's happening here is that people who don't deal with this stuff frequently (and don't have the background that we do) don't understand tech products. People go to WalMart and pick out the cheapest tablet and then will return it a few days later when they discover it is not an iPad.