Apple and Samsung Legal "Thermonuclear" War

Has it escaped your notice that Apple isn't the only company suing over smartphones, or threatening lawsuit?

Including, in a bout of delicious irony, Motorola (owned now by Google) suing Apple for violating Moto cell phone patents, like f'rex the internal antenna. Let's see Apple try to claim prior art against the company that basically created the cell phone as a consumer product.

(Yes, I know the last bit isn't quite that simple, but this is a forum post not a doctoral dissertation. )

@Cassie: I suspect that it took that long to get from a "we should sue!" when the Samsung phones came out, to a trial. Civil trials on something this big take a long time. There's the whole discovery process, made more complicated by the fact that Samsung internal documents, once produced, need to be translated & that translation checked for accuracy. Certainly this kind of delay is not unprecedented.

The only software ripoff that I think counts is Apple's inertial-simulating and bouncing scrolling. I don't think there was that much software design infringement, if any.

It may not have been all the Galaxy S phones that had bad GPS, but I did hear copious reports of the T-Mobile version having this issue a lot. They probably fixed it for other editions.

@Morven, so you had problems with your Samsung phone, did Samsung say "you're holding it wrong"? LOL

Yep, exactly. That is it in a nutshell. Apple basically called everyone who bought one of their baby fondleslabs and couldn't get the frelling things to work properly due to their shitty design, idiots and fools.

Any other company on the market who tried to pull that shit would have wondered why the light from outside their windows was starting to have a distinct orange tint and also why a large group of people were coming towards them with farming implements.

By the way, The BBC had an interview with the Jury Foreman, who works within the Industry: here's the Full Interview

...and in Tokyo: Samsung Wins.

So apparently there were only thirty-three questions, not seven hundred.

What.

I hope that juror has a good lawyer. I think he is going to need one.

I'm pretty close to 100% sure that jurors can't be sued in civil court for their decisions, or everyone would do it. Jurors can be sanctioned by the judge if their actions cause a mistrial because they did things they were told not to do, but I suspect that's unlikely to happen. Unlikely they'll get punished if the trial judge doesn't change her mind but it's overturned on appeal, for instance.

FWIW, I always got dropped calls from my HTC phone until I realized where the antenna was situated in the phone and that wrapping my hand around that part was counterproductive. Ain't just Apple who have those problems, though Apple's decision not to place an insulating layer over the metal sides appears kinda dumb.

There seems to me to be a psychological need in some to find fault in Apple products and to paint Apple buyers/users as naive fools. I'm not sure, but it feels to me as if some perceive Apple and its buyers as elitist, to be looking down their noses at everyone else. These people feel attacked somehow that others are buying and using something that they don't, and I don't really get it. There's a vehemence and defensiveness that one doesn't often see in consumer factionalism.

The only comparison I can think of is the way fans of US auto-makers have often treated Japanese imports.

There is of course a need to show facts and truths, and the fact is, Apple users are Sheeple. "More money than sense" so to speak. That's why brother-in-law's selling Apple products (which he can get cheaply in Singapore) over here in the Philippines to customers with "more money than sense". To exploit that fact.

It's probably also because Apple is seen as the top dog of the smartphone market. People generally seem to dislike the top dog of a particular industry, even if the dislike is unfounded. I could probably describe half a dozen times when this happened in other markets, but they'd be off-topic.

edited 31st Aug '12 3:28:49 AM by GameGuruGG

Morven: You nailed it with the domestic vs import argument, lots of people say 'Not Built Here' or 'Built Here' and go ape over it, like there's some magic that gets involved if your product has this or that sticker or emblem on it.

Really, that's not the case. The thing does what it does because of how it's designed and built, not based off of cosmetic things like branding.

Personally, I blame the Apple fanboys for making the company become complacent. If they know the fanbase is going to buy whatever the hell they turn out and treat it like the second coming, there's no incentive for the company to innovate with its products. And thus the technology stagnates.

@Deadbeat: have you seen how much Apple users bitch and whine about tiny imperfections in their Apple products? Probably not, since you're on the outside and don't frequent the parts of the Internet where that happens.

Apple users are picky about things. That's often the exact reason they're Apple users; Apple is also picky about things. But it means they don't cut the company slack when they feel it's not living up to their very high standards.

I differentiate between Apple users, even enthusiastic ones, and Apple fanboys, though. Fanboys are pathetic, and the Apple breed are no better than the rest. They, alas, are the ones that go onto general Internet forums and pick fights. Thus, you notice them, even though they're a vanishingly small percentage of Apple users.

@entropy: You see, you're demonstrating the problem. Because you don't see, don't appreciate or don't care for the things that make Apple users like their products better, you assume that there are no such reasons and therefore Apple users are sheep.

And those reasons certainly aren't valid for everyone, since people are different. And it also varies from person to person whether the disadvantages of Apple products personally bother you.

It's just like you could have a friend that other people can't stand — because his personality grates with theirs, while it doesn't bother you, and you have interests in common. That doesn't make your friend an objectively good person or bad person; it simply means that he has good and bad points, and how well those mesh or clash with yours depends on your own personality and nature.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that your priorities are universal.

This is true - they pitched a fit when the two screws on the iPhone were changed from something mundane to something very esoteric. Even made a kit you can buy that will change them back. That sort of dedication to the product and DIY attitude is admirable.

I have no problem with an Apple fan, it's the fanboys that grate me.

I'm sure PC fanboys are grating to Linux and Apple users, too.

So it goes.

Apple products, despite their prices, DO have their flaws. There isn't a lot of auto correction failure sites out there without a reason. Maybe if there are Android generated failures such as those can Apple truly sue Samsung over

Besides, no one's ever wrong by wanting more out of what they paid for. Even Samsung buyers complain about what they have, so the argument's invalid.

OK, so I need to revise my argument to include "highly resistant to change".

Given the shitstorm that erupted when the Macbook Pro stopped being offered in white.

The MBP was never white. From the point it was introduced with the Intel transition to now, every single one of them sold has been silver. The keys and screen bezel were originally silver too, but are now black.

The Macbook was white, but briefly transitioned to being silver before vanishing in favor of the Macbook Air, which is silver as well. I suspect that's what you mean? Certainly there was a lot of whining.

Yes, I got confused over product names. >.<

But yeah, they stopped making some form of Macbook in white, and the internet pretty much exploded.

People are frightfully conservative, really, and nerds are no exception. In fact, we're often worse about it than regular people. We're keen on change we create or participate in. Change forced from outside? Cue panic.