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HP introduces new Apple iMac
- stephengillie 14y agoWhile it definitely resembles an iMac, HP has been exploring the post-mouse era a bit with their Touchsmart series, and this could be seen as a cousin to that brand.
- arrrg 14y agoI think that’s exactly what makes this so strange. HP already was selling all-in-one PCs that did not look like iMacs at all. They could have continued with that – but for some reason decided not to.
- jpxxx 14y agoIn fairness to HP, the Touchsmart line is terrible. Bad build quality, BSOD's on first boot, awkward design decisions, atrocious touch experience, and literally forty preinstalled and thoroughly rotten "touch" apps that join forces with dozens of sludgeware packages to make the first hour of use punishing. The Spectre looks like a work of art compared to them. (By awkward design decisions: there's a secret chamber that holds a secret USB port that's already got a secret USB stick in it that drives the radio for the included wireless keyboard and mouse)
- lloeki 14y agoHere's another angle[0]. It doesn't even begin to ressemble an HP TouchSmart[1]. [0] http://www.engadget.com/photos/hp-spectre-one/#5256829 http://www.engadget.com/photos/hp-spectre-one/#5256829 [1] http://img1.lesnumeriques.com/produits/23/3739/23_3739_2.jpg http://img1.lesnumeriques.com/produits/23/3739/23_3739_2.jpg
- indiecore 14y agoTo be fair looking at these it's a fair distance away from an iMac as well.
- lloeki 14y agoThat's where we disagree, looking at these it's a completely unfair distance away from an iMac (read: way too close to even slightly think it's not a design copycat game) There are designers out there that know how to put both original and great designs: [0] is my keyboard and mouse at work. [1] is good design, except the front begs for a 4:3 screen (which would make it gorgeous) instead of that 16:9+big block below. [2] shows how good artists steal instead of copy. [0] http://a404.idata.over-blog.com/1/68/27/41/logitech_dinovo_media_desktop.gif http://a404.idata.over-blog.com/1/68/27/41/logitech_dinovo_m... [1] http://www.mydigitallife.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/gatewayone-lg2.jpg http://www.mydigitallife.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/gat... [2] http://static.pcinpact.com/images/bd/news/62654-sony-vaio-js1.jpg http://static.pcinpact.com/images/bd/news/62654-sony-vaio-js...
- bkorte 14y ago"Post-mouse era"? Really?
- lalitm 14y agoDownvote
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- thoughtsimple 14y agoThe all-in-one doesn't look all that much like an iMac but the keyboard and trackpad sure look like they copied Apple.
- veyron 14y agoHow would you envision a desktop trackpad that doesn't converge on the design of the apple magic trackpad?
- bradmccarty 14y agohttp://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice-pointers/mice/wireless-touchpad http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice-pointers/mice/wireless-to...
- lloeki 14y agoThere can't be any other possible design, can it? http://technabob.com/blog/2011/09/13/logitech-wireless-touchpad/ http://technabob.com/blog/2011/09/13/logitech-wireless-touch...
- floppydisk 14y agoWACOM tablets http://www.wacom.com/en/products/bamboo.aspx http://www.wacom.com/en/products/bamboo.aspx
- lloeki 14y agoIndeed, instead it just looks like an ACD. http://www.apple.com/displays/ http://www.apple.com/displays/
- phren0logy 14y agoI'm not sure if you are kidding, but I'm quite certain that my dad (who owns an iMac) wouldn't be able to tell them apart at BestBuy.
- Tichy 14y agoYou realize the second photo actually is an iMac, not the HP product? There is a huge white (or aluminium) bar at the bottom of the screen of the iMac, which the HP doesn't have. From the photo I'd estimate it is at least 10cm high. If your dad couldn't tell the difference, maybe he needs new glasses? Or perhaps the money for an iMac was wasted on him and he could have gone with a cheaper (plastic instead of aluminium) PC.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jpxxx 14y agoRidiculous. Other than the bezel color, bezel shape, metallic logo, logo positioning, aspect ratio, foot design, choice of materials, choice of finishing, keyboard design, key coloring, key layout, keyboard LED, keyboard footing, trackpad design, trackpad footing, keyboard battery chamber, and trackpad battery chamber, this is a totally unique design.
- bjustin 14y agoYou make it sound like HP copied someone here. HP's designs just follow the natural evolution of computers.
- MartinCron 14y agoThings like choice of materials and finishing aren't "the natural evolution of computers". There are deliberate design decisions to the brushed aluminum design, decisions that HP didn't even bother to make for themselves. This product from HP is shameful.
- 4ad 14y agoSo if Apple uses brushed aluminium design, and brushed aluminium is better, nobody else should use it?
- MartinCron 14y agoFaster is "better" than slower. Easier is "better" than harder. Cheaper is "better" than more expensive. These are pretty obvious and well understood. I can't really see brushed aluminum as "better" finish choice than satin nickel, semi-opaque plastic, oil-rubbed bronze, polished marble, cherry burlwood, or rich Corinthian leather. Other companies should feel free to use it, but they must understand that they will suffer the withering wrath of my derisive scorn if they are going to be so unabashedly derivative in their design choices.
- adolph 14y agoI don't think HP is using brushed aluminum.
- niels_olson 14y agoWhat kills me is there is a great touchscreen with dramatically different design headed to market, just need to add a CPU: http://www.wacom.com/en/products/cintiq/cintiq24touch.aspx http://www.wacom.com/en/products/cintiq/cintiq24touch.aspx
- zevyoura 14y agoI think the Cintiqs are a little more expensive than a multi-touch monitor.
- niels_olson 14y agobut why? I'm betting part of their cost comes from their limited scale.
- djloche 14y agobecause Wacom makes pressure sensitive tablets/screens specifically for cases where pressure sensitive is necessary. Apple would need to outright purchase Wacom if they were going to incorporate pressure sensitive screens - because to do it right, you need to license Wacom's patent library. Which Wacom won't do because they make a killing already by having exclusive technology.
- goggles99 14y agoso the Personal Computer industry is like every other industry. How is this news. Don't manufacturers/designers in the fashion industry (sunglasses, clothing, hats, shoes ETC.) The auto industry, house design, art, home furnishing, appliance, Hollywood movies and sitcoms, advertising industry, landscape (I could go on and on) do the same thing? Please stop with this...
- publicfig 14y agoYet this is a site that mostly focuses on the tech industry so of course we are going to focus in on stories like this as opposed to other stories in different fields.
- goggles99 14y agoYou are missing my point completely.
- randall 14y agoFun sidenote, the sunglass industry doesn't actually copy anyone else... they literally OWN the entire industry themselves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica Secret monopolies ftw. (LensCrafters' doctors have you buy designer glasses you need. Vertical integration gone wrong.)
- jarjoura 14y agoThere is a slight difference though, you should still be able to tell distinctly at a distance this is an HP vs. a Mac. Having a high resolution display built into an all-in-one body makes sense to copy, but using the same color scheme regardless of materials with the same shapes makes it look like a copy of an iMac.
- goggles99 14y agoI am not disputing that HP made it to look like a Mac. I am only saying that this happens in literally every industry, yet we don't see headlines because some pair of Walmart imported sunglasses look like Oakleys.
- upinsmoke 14y agoIt surprise me that it took pc makers this long time to finally copy macbooks and imac.
- Sauce1971 14y agoSo everything "converges" to Apple designs because it is the end all designs of everything ... Or so say the anti Apple crowd in here and Samsung and other copycats. Disappointed with HP in this shameless look a like product.
- ginko 14y agoWhat's interesting is that HP also has the all-in-one Z1 workstations[1] that have a more interesting design than the iMac. What's especially nice about them is that it's designed so that components can be replaced. [1] http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/workstations/z1_features.html http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/workstations/z1_fe...
- nirvana 14y agoMaybe not an example of great or innovative design (other than the replaceable components part) but clearly something original. While we've seen black monitors before, the feet and the arm and all that are interesting and different. Contrast this with the iMac "inspired" one and you can see that this Z1 looks the way it needs to for its function- while the iMac one is an attempt to copy apple's aesthetics. Its a confusion of the purpose of design. Apple makes their products look good, but they are designed for functional reasons, not looks. The Z1 is a design that is made for functional reasons as well.
- rev087 14y agoThat's indeed a very, very interesting design. And it looks good to booth. I hope they're not abandoning that idea, this is the kind of innovation that really benefits the consumer.
- snambi 14y agoTake a look at this one http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4500970 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4500970
- sirn 14y ago"I have always regarded Apple products – and the kind words Jony Ive has said about me and my work – as a compliment. Without doubt there are few companies in the world that genuinely understand and practise the power of good design in their products and their businesses. [...] I am always fascinated when I see the latest Apple products. Apple has managed to achieve what I never achieved: using the power of their products to persuade people to queue to buy them."[1] --Dieter Rams (Braun designer from 1961 to 1995) [1]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8555503/Dieter-Rams-Apple-has-achieved-something-I-never-did.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8555503/Dieter-R...
- nickm12 14y agoI think Apple's clear use of Dieter Rams' design language is more of an "homage" than a "ripoff". The fact that the Apple products and Braun products are separated by decades and in different product categories makes a difference.
- FireBeyond 14y agoDisagree, in at least terms of the Calculator - that's not homage, that's blatant copying. Colors, identical, button shape and layout, identical, ratios, identical. The thing looks like someone traced it in Photoshop. That's not "homage".
- msbarnett 14y agoDieter Rams made toasters and radios, and Apple extrapolated his design cues to things he never made, like laptops and trackpads. That's a far cry from HP taking someone's design decisions for a all-in-one computer, doing no extrapolation, and using them to make a competing all-in-one computer.
- 14y ago
- adamman 14y agoSo no one else can create a minimalist style keyboard without being accused of copying Apple?
- joe_the_user 14y agoThis looks as much like an Apple as one PC clone looked like another PC clone years ago, which is to say "a lot but who cares..."
- lamebrain 14y agoThese OEMS should be copying Apple, because their designs tend to be mediocre at best. So, the crazy thing is not OEMs copying Apple, but the people pretending like they aren't. It's ridiculous! Just admit that they're copying Apple, then make up something about how they're bringing design to people who can't afford Apple's price point. Have some shame, for God's sake.
- kmfrk 14y agoIf I have to boycot every company that does stupid shit, I'll have to manufacture my own hardware, if this keeps happening. This goddamn industry.
- stickfigure 14y agoWho cares. This is getting ridiculous. Originality counts when buying art, not tools. This is a box with some electronics inside. Does it do the job better than other computing devices? This is like complaining when Craftsman came out with polished metal wrenches that look just like Snap-On. Stop trying to make computing into a fashion statement.
- gavinlynch 14y agoWhile your viewpoint is in a way logical, that's just not how the average consumer operates. Design aesthetics absolutely do impact consumer's purchasing decisions, whether or not they are explicitly aware of it or not. Poor design can undersell a great working product. And vis versa.
- veemjeem 14y agoDesign matters even when it's not art. There's a great little documentary called "Objectified". It's worth watching if you want to see a rebuttal for your opinion.
- stickfigure 14y agoYou misread my point about tools. Design has value. Originality doesn't. Nobody is complaining that HP's new product has bad design; in fact, they seem to be complaining that it follows Apple's good design. This is petty vanity.
- dagw 14y agoHe said originality doesn't matter, not that design doesn't matter. Design is very important, in fact it's probably so important that when faced between the choice of good design and original design it's probably best to err towards good design.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jentulman 14y agoI do care what my kit looks like. Part of my consideration of price of the Apple kit I purchased was that it is prettier than a lot of other kit. I spend most of my life looking at it so I'd prefer it to be pleasing to the eye.
- ender7 14y agoThis makes me sad for a variety of reasons. One, because HP are being assholes and making what is clearly a knock-off product. Apple has every right to be upset, and probably sue them for trade dress infringement. And second, because everyone (on both sides) is going to be conflating this with Apple's UI patents, which are total bullshit and which they shouldn't be able to sue over. Ah well.
- calpaterson 14y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Star http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Star
- tjogin 14y agoAs you are obviously implying, Apple secured the rights to Xerox's technology, very much unlike HP.
- calpaterson 14y agoNo, Apple paid to visit the PARC, they did not buy or licence any patents
- nirvana 14y agoFalse. Apple obtained a license from Xerox for the technology being developed at PARC by selling them pre-IPO Apple shares. Further, by bringing this up, you are trying to say that Apple copied Xerox years ago, which is a form of trying to say "its ok to copy apple or steal their technology because apple did it in the past". Which is silly because if it was wrong for Apple to do it, as you imply, it is also wrong for HP or Samsung to do it, as you are trying to justify. Further, when you tell a falsehood like this-- one that you really, if you're at all informed on the issue, would know is a falsehood, you impeach your own integrity.
- kyberias 14y ago
- systems 14y agoso no one is now allowed to make silver screens and keyboards, they only allowed white, beige and black! the design have differences, minor of course, but ... its just a keyboard and screen
- nachteilig 14y agoIt almost seems that we're to a point where we just have to accept this as an industry. The frequency of outright copies seems to be increasing, and there's not much the Apples of the world can do about it. Seems like this is common place on the web too, where various design memes (the ribbon thing, etc. etc.) eventually spread to a large number of sites. Given that Apple is still making boatloads of cash, it seems like this isn't reducing their incentive to innovate. (Not that I'm endorsing what seems to be an outright copy)
- glhaynes 14y agoThe frequency of outright copies seems to be increasing, and there's not much the Apples of the world can do about it. Well, they did just win $1.5 billion from Samsung…
- nachteilig 14y agoNot much different than doing nothing about it when companies the size (and of the profit) of Apple and Samsung are the involved parties.
- JimmaDaRustla 14y agoApple preys on the ignorant. HP now preys on the ignorant of the ignorant who don't know the difference.
- cloverich 14y ago? Because they take design seriously? And another company wants in on their success? Is this not normal for design - cause i feel like it is. Company X finds pleasing design, others copy. Some other company / designer innovates, some other company copies. I really don't know what all the fuss is about.
- JimmaDaRustla 14y agoNo, I meant the Apple consumers who make the decision to buy a product based on looks over most other factor due to their cognitive ability. Within that subsection of consumers lays an even more naive group of consumers who would buy an HP Spectre, not knowing the difference from an iMac.
- jlarocco 14y agoThe headline confused me, then I checked the article and laughed. Seriously, though, I'm really curious what HP is thinking here. I honestly can't imagine Apple not suing them over this. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with it, but after the Samsung/Apple iPhone lawsuit, it's pretty obvious Apple is going to defend their design IP in court. It just seems like HP is inviting a big headache when there's a lot of other designs they could have used. Heck, they'll need to sell a lot of these just to cover their lawyer costs.
- powertower 14y agoI'm still confused. What would they sue over? A qwerty keyboard? A rectangular monitor? Having a silvery stand? What? I've looked at the two pictured presented and I don't see anything similar besides standard design choices.
- glhaynes 14y agoI'm certainly no expert, but Apple successfully sued eMachines over the eOne that, to my eye, looks "inspired" by the then-current iMac, compared to this HP that looks like an outright copy of the now-current iMac. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EOne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EOne A qwerty keyboard? A rectangular monitor? Having a silvery stand? What? Surely you don't think that's the extent of the similarity, right? Nearly anyone that sees this machine and is familiar with the iMac is going to say "that looks like a copy of the iMac"; people don't say that about every machine with a QWERTY keyboard and a rectangular monitor on a silvery stand.
- powertower 14y ago> Surely you don't think that's the extent of the similarity, right? Yes I do. I don't see anything apple inspired here? Again, what would they sue over? Having a thin form factor?
- jopt 14y ago> I don't see anything similar except standard design choices How do you classify design choices as standard?
- sequoia 14y agoAs a consumer, I couldn't care less. Android makes dropdown notification screen: good feature -> apple steals it -> yay. Apple makes slide to unlock: good feature -> android steals it -> yay. Honestly I'm more frustrated when the don't incorporate good ideas: Win7 & Ubuntu unity have awesome keyboard window management features and when I use OSX I find myself wondering why the hell Apple hasn't stolen these features yet. They are good features, your OS is WORSE for not having them (i.e. it's not just a "design choice" imo, window management/tiling is simply worse on Mac). I wish some pc manufacturer would rip off the MPB as faithfully as possible so I could have a decent linux notebook! Listen to Steve Jobs v1, steal good ideas! Furthermore, this article only speaks to superficial "features", i.e. the look of the box, so I care even less. Insofar as it hurts consumers by confusing them, it's bad, otherwise I say steal and steal alike. Assuming consumers are not confused/misled, is there any harm to consumers posed by this sort of copying?
- notJim 14y agoThere's a big difference between stealing and outright copying. Android didn't see iOS and then steal every single of element of it, they looked to it for inspiration and incorporated the parts they liked with their own ideas. Same thing with Apple introducing new features to iOS inspired by Android or WebOS. If HP had looked at Apple products, and incorporated certain aspects of the design (say, the matte aluminum finish), while adding their own ideas, people would be lauding them for moving things forward. Instead, we have this, which is an outright clone.
- effn 14y agoSlide-to-unlock was pioneered by Neonode long before Apple even considered going into the phone business.
- thoughtsimple 14y agoApple's patent references the Neonode patent. I don't think patent law works the way you think it does. Neonode's patent 8,095,879 was only granted in January 2012 (filing date Dec 2002.) See the references on Apple's 8,209,637 patent. It references Neonode's patent 8,095,879.
- mariusmg 14y agoYeah, Apple clearly invented plastic and shapes.
- robot 14y agoIf I was HP I would be ashamed of releasing such a product. I would not want to be an engineer working there. Perhaps they don't have any engineers left which is why they are releasing such a knock-off.
- victorbstan 14y agoThe marketing tag line being: "Sue us!"
- sequence7 14y agoReally this is worth getting worked up over. Honestly it looks a bit like an iMac, who cares, it's clearly not an iMac and the HP logo is an extra big giveaway for anyone who might be confused. The aluminium iMac design has been around for 5 years now it's hardly surprising that what is obviously a good design is going to be copied by its competitors. Why all the wailing and gnashing of teeth?
- duked 14y agoI worked for HP in 2011 and at that time (after Hurd was fired) they were clearly making only a very small profit on the computer business and the different business units justified doing so to get brand recognition despite 1 digit profit margin (compared to double digit from the PSG group). But they had no will to compete on the consumer market, it's probably a change of strategy to try to make double digit profit margin on consumer device. The sad thing is they didn't even try to be innovative they just copy whatever Apple is doing. You may agree/disagree with the patent system but you have to be really dishonest or blind to tell me it's not a copy of an Apple product. They will probably fool some family with it but I suspect the majority of people are going to buy the "original" Apple. Really sad, HP can't stick a valid strategy or a CEO ;)
- yuhong 14y agoYea, Leo tried to sell it which led to backlash. Luckily Leo was replaced with Meg in time to stop this.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- stcredzero 14y agoThe look of all-in-one computers is fluff. What people are doing with computers is the heart of the matter. Why aren't people doing more with such large multitouch interfaces available for so cheap? (I've seen all-in-one multitouch PCs for a little over $1000.) I think one could do something really cool with statistics and scheduling programs using such interfaces. Why aren't more people using these things as little physical desktops?
- philwelch 14y agoA big screen laying flat on a desk is uncomfortable to look at, and a big screen facing towards you like a computer display is uncomfortable to touch continuously. The term is "gorilla arm".
- stcredzero 14y ago> A big screen laying flat on a desk is uncomfortable to look at What about a "drafting table" setup? > a big screen facing towards you like a computer display is uncomfortable to touch continuously. The term is "gorilla arm". Please re-read my proposal as written by someone who's already aware of this.
- philwelch 14y ago> What about a "drafting table" setup? Sounds interesting.
- rimantas 14y agoKeeping your hands up or head down for long time sucks.
- stcredzero 14y agoFunny, but I used horizontal workspaces with high-contrast stylus driven reflective display/interfaces for decades. When I was a kid, those were called "desks" with "paper." Working like that for a long time sucks, but so does an "ergonomically correct" PC workstation. Also strange is that my girlfriend's RSI (non-carpal tunnel) is more aggravated by the PC workstation than it is by writing with pen and paper on a horizontal desk.
- pooriaazimi 14y agoLet's turn to our wise friend Macalope[1] and hear what s/he said just last week: Samsung wasn’t copying Apple, it’s just that smartphones naturally evolve into flat touchscreens with minimal buttons on the front and slide to unlock and a virtual keyboard and an Apple logo on the back and oops we went too far. [1]: http://www.macworld.com/article/1168385/macalope_the_sincerest_form_of_jerkery.html http://www.macworld.com/article/1168385/macalope_the_sincere...
- brudgers 14y agoIt's a different form factor. Unlike the iMac, the Spectre One contains electronic components in the stand. A stand which is very "unMaclike." Images here: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/09/hp-spectre-one/ http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/09/hp-spectre-one/ It's not as if HP just entered the all in one PC market. And this one may get something the iMac's probably won't - a touch screen.
- RandallBrown 14y agoYeah, it does look quite a bit different in most of the press shots than it does in the first post of the blog. Similar, but not enough that I would be that upset about it. The keyboard and trackpad though? Blatant ripoffs.
- fellowniusmonk 14y agoYeah, the profile of this machine looks radically different than the profile of an iMac. People forget that almost all all-in-one desktops are effectively just clones of past flatscreen stands/mountings, with computer bits crammed in, the bended metal stand of the iMac already existed as a mounting choice for some monitors, then from a design standpoint Apple effectively just stuck an extremely thick monitor on the bended stand. The only exception to this was the sunflower iMac, which I don't remember seeing any monitor with a stand/mounting system anywhere close to it (though perhaps there were some in the medical field that had similar types of articulating arms, just mounted to hard surfaces), and of course even that mounting system wasn't that different than many amazing lamp/mirror designs, they just stuck a monitor on the end instead of a lamp/mirror. This whole design recrimination thing is rather silly way to treat these design choices. Any field that has similar bare minimum elements/requirements and is focusing on functionality instead of artistic flare, only has a small number of design choices within the chosen design philosophy. Minimalism when applied to tools will only produce so much variation, the stand on this thing itself certainly qualifies as being quite different.
- rootwyrm 14y agoSo where's that iMac with the multi-touch gesture capable IPS display again? Looking, looking... What's that you say? Such a product has never existed? Apple has never made a touch screen iMac? Oh dear. What's that you say? HP introduced their first TouchSmart system featuring a polished aluminum housing with integrated display and touch screen on JANUARY 7, 2007, putting them only 8 months ahead of Apple's release? (IQ770. Look it up, kids.) CURSE YOU, FACTS!
- exogen 14y agoThis is about trade dress, not features. Multi-touch and IPS are irrelevant. And the IQ770 looks like a hideous product Apple would never, ever make: http://www.strongengineering.com/images/products/detail/hp4070.jpg http://www.strongengineering.com/images/products/detail/hp40...
- MBCook 14y agoOh my god, that's a real picture. When I pulled it up, I figured it was one of those "Here's the kind of thing PC maker build" pictures, where a bunch of irrelevant things are put on because people might want them. It had to be a joke image. Nope. It's on Amazon[1]. Their picture looks a tad better though. Were there any industrial designers on that project? [1] http://www.amazon.com/HP-TouchSmart-IQ770-Processor-SuperMulti/dp/B000NX1UNU http://www.amazon.com/HP-TouchSmart-IQ770-Processor-SuperMul...
- tspiteri 14y agoWhile they are similar in some ways, they are not as similar as the article makes them out to be. From images I found elsewhere, the iMac seems to have its components behind the screen, and a very thin stand, while the Spectre One seems to have its components in its thick stand, while its screen is thinner. I think the article is misleading by not showing that, which to me makes them completely different designs. As for the keyboard and trackpad, of course they're going to try to make them as small as possible.
- egsmith 14y agoHP Makes the TouchSmart line which is an all-in-one computer and is not similar to an iMac so clearly they know how to do original design. So what they heck were they thinking when they released this product? Did they think no one would notice? It boggles the mind.
- egsmith 14y agoI was curious how the fashion industry deals with this problem. I mean when is a pair of slacks a knock-off, a copied design, and an original design. I would think the clothing fashion industry would have way more experience with this. This came up via Google: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04iht-fashion.1.7373169.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/business/worldbusiness/04i... Somewhat old, but it reads just like these Apple v. whomever stories. Unfortunately it looks like they landed on the same solution as the tech industry; litigation. But now that I really think about it, what else can one do?
- jsz0 14y agoHP deserves to get roasted in the court of public opinion on this one. Absolutely pathetic. This is the type of stuff no-name Chinese fly by night companies do to make a quick buck hoping they can trick consumers into buying the wrong thing. It's so shameless I'm surprised they didn't change their logo to a pear or something. If HP has any self respect left they need to just discontinue this product now and publicly apologize to Apple.
- nileshtrivedi 14y agoI wonder why there was no such furor when refrigerator companies copied each other's designs.
- css771 14y agoIn my opinion, the computer itself looks nothing like an imac. The keyboard, and touchpad however, do look exactly like Apple's equivalent products.
- wethesheeple 14y agoIt's what's on the inside that counts.
- zmonkeyz 14y agoThis all-in-one is ok but their Z1 workstation is actually pretty nice. It actually has easily accessible internals.
- onetimeuse001 14y ago<start pathetic argument> I can't believe Apple is suing HP for making a computer with a keyboard, mouse and a monitor with round corners. Apple is a patent troll, suing instead of innovating</end android fanboi argument>
- shanemhansen 14y agoCongratulations HP, and good luck with that. I realize that many HN readers (including myself) are working on their own products which are almost indistinguishable from what came before and what will come after, and we hope that no competitor will ever be able to get a slice of our pie, but if I put on my consumer hat for a minute, here's what I have to say: Thanks goodness most cars have round wheels, steering wheels at chest height, and reasonably similar control layout. Had that industry developed in today's environment they'd all be suing each other left and right over door handles that pulled upward to open the door and sun roof patent licensing deals. Who knows, maybe back in the day they did. Thank goodness for wintel and competition. How dare people look down their noses at the market forces that produced a sub 1k laptop (or sub 400). Many people, myself included, are pretty lucky that the "race to the bottom" resulted in home computers that we (or our parents) could afford, allowing us to eventually become part of the hacker community. Congratulations to Apple for making a beautiful high end product, but the fact that their product is beautiful and high end should be all the market advantage they need/deserve, and if they can't out compete imitators like HP, they don't deserve our business.