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.
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..
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.
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.
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.
Also, he shows off a "OS/X" [sic] virtual machine to convince laymen that Apple's overcharging because you can run OSX in a VM. This is clearly a guy fabricating a story.
Anyone who's ever virtualized OSX outside of VMWare Fusion will tell you this line is bullshit and would never offer that as a legitimate substitute for the real OSX desktop experience. Even legit OSX VMs on Fusion perform worse than their natively installed counterparts (GPU drivers just aren't very robust).
I am already considering to drop OS X after the lawsuit, but I only read 2 paragraphs before I decided to look for this comment in HN before reading further.
This man is clearly lying. So awkward and artificial that is clearly fabricated, like a geek joke prepared and rationalized but void and dead of humor.
Imagine a teenage that could not differentiate between and iPod and some other thing "that is the same".
Yeah, because normal people know how to install a VM, do a grep and an ssh....but they could not differentiate from a computer witch battery last 3 hours instead of 8, or weights double, or is made in real aluminum(and not plastic with metallic paint) or it is actually cheaper than the competence.
Here's what's going to happen. These people will buy a Samsung device. And they will hate it. And then they will learn to never buy anything but Apple. Apple has, for a short bump in near term revenue, earned themselves a lot of lifetime customers.
Some people do hate Samsung products, and some people just hate Android in general. It may come as a shock to you, but in spite of this fact, there are actually tens of millions of people out there who prefer Android, Windows, and reasonably priced laptops.
I bought a retina iPad because at the time I was in the market, it was the best tablet available. If I were going to get one today, it would be a close call between the iPad and the galaxy note 10.1. As far as phones go, Apple has neglected the trend towards larger screens. For a power user, the Iphone's tiny screen is unacceptable. I recently purchased a Galaxy Nexus, and it's easily the best phone I've ever used, at a better price than an off contract iPhone.
I'm not sure if you're trolling, or just don't like the Samsung devices, but either way... no they won't. At least not all of them. I'm sure there's going to be a group not satisfied with Samsung. There are also groups not satisfied with Apple. Some of those people will say - hey, this was always annoying me in i$DEVICE, but here's it's better.
Why would you think everyone will hate it? (or even that they will have the same opinion, whatever it may be)
I'm still on Apple but I've heard no complaints from friends who have switched. Instead I hear, check out how much better than the iPhone this is and the battery lasts days.
Many mass market consumers will be more than happy to get a slightly poorer experience if they can save half their money. But, if these people just switched from an iPhone or iPad, its likely that they were a year or two in and the performance started degrading. Applications build for the latest hardware crash, the battery has been abused enough that it lasts less than a day. The stark contrast at the switch will tell them Samsung is better.
That's actually what kind of happened to me with MP3-Players. "Mhm, I could buy an iPod Nano for ~150 or this whatever-brand with more space for ~100. Two months later I got the iPod Classic, best decision ever."
funny, i've never hated any of the Samsung products I've owned, including the ones they made before apple required that all phones become smudgescreens. I have hated using every iphone, ipod, ipad, and mac I've laid my hands on, having found the interfaces for all offensively restrictive.
This is a perfect example of judging a book by the cover. So these folks look at the device and think that the hardware is what makes it. Problem is, either you realize that it's about the software and you care what iOS and the Apple ecosystem gives you, or you're just an average Joe PC user who can't tell the difference between a good coffee and Starbucks, I mean between Windows and Mac. Regular people, with very little ability to discern the average from the good, the half finished from the polished, won't care. But maybe they do. Maybe once they experience a iPad or iPhone and then switch to Android, maybe they will realized there is a difference. I think this is what Apple is betting on. But then again, some wont. And some Samsung/Android fanatics are going to revel in these cases, just like the PC fanatics revel in talking about how amazing Windows is, and how much software they have access to. I still can't understand how these people think, and how they judge quality, I think for some people, mediocre is good enough. Obviously, I have my own particular way of judging things, and I wouldn't confuse an iPad with a Samsung device.
> just like the PC fanatics revel in talking about how amazing Windows is,
Hm, let's see. You could probably say I am a PC fanatic. "Personal Computer". I don't really care if the PC is from Samsung, Dell, Lenovo or Apple. I don't think Windows is amazing. It's ok as long as it is supported by much 3rd party software. I personally would chose linux anytime I am not forced by some proprietary (quasi-) monopoly software to use a specific operating system.
> I still can't understand how these people think, and how they judge quality, I think for some people, mediocre is good enough.
I happen to use an android phone. It has some annoying bugs:
A touchscreen that is activated in a pocket while receiving a call will sometimes behave very erratically. Sometimes (once every few months I get kernel panics [1], I think caused by the proprietary graphics drivers. But still the inconveniences are not that big that I would use some completely proprietary and locked down smartphone. If you think android phones are "mediocre" then maybe you are looking for the wrong qualities. Try comparing them with software freedom in mind and tell me how again the devices running android lose vs apple devices.
It's good that you have some internal determination of what quality is, but to apply that to others and try to make them sound inferior because they don't share the same values and judgements just paints you as a member of the same sort of "fanatic" group you define. Having no clue what objectivity is doesn't put someone above others, it just produces judgemental rants like the one you posted. That sort of position contributes zero to the discussion and "the little people" attitude is just disgusting really.
There are some things that are better about PCs and some things that are better about Macs. Same with Android and iOS. To put it bluntly if you think otherwise you are an uninformed, brainwashed idiot.
While I agree that mediocre can be "good enough" (e.g. I don't see any reason to buy high end headphones, when I am perfectly happy with ~150 Euro ones), I think this should always be a decision made consciously, not one born out of stupidity or ignorance.
If those people don't require any of the things that make a "Samsung iPad" different than the Apple one, then fine, go save a few bucks, but don't chose it because you just assume that it's all the same.
A Pro-Google Android Zealot writes a story on Google Plus about people switching from Apple to Samsung due to a patent lawsuit and you all believe it? I guess there really is a sucker born every minute.
Check Apple's earnings later to see who was right.
In addition, I am at Starbucks once a day, at least. Never seen people so damn eager to talk with strangers, which makes this story even more.... "amazing"? :)
I am extremely skeptical that a lawsuit that few people are even aware of will have any effect on either company's brand image. A lot of Apple's products could be called "iconic" - people with little interest in technology differentiate between an iPhone 3GS and an iPhone 4. I'd be surprised if anyone could tell a Samsung from an HTC. A lawsuit isn't going to change that.
I agree that most people haven't heard much about the lawsuit, but saying "I'd be surprised if anyone could tell a Samsung from an HTC" surely only applies to your acquaintaces.
Here in Uruguay they definitely will - and it is Samsung phones which sell the most, by far (we're very price sensitive which is a nicer word for poor :P ).
A few commenters here are not sure if this is real or not. I thought it was quite plainly put out as a tongue-in-cheek commentary in the form of an anecdote on the ridiculousness (according to the author) of this whole patent situation. "If Samsung copied Apple, why would we buy Apple? Just buy the cheap knock-off" is what he's angling at.
So a while ago, I had this thought: "It's pretty obvious that the casual user will buy iPhones and not Galaxies. After all, Apple works very hard to make iPhones perfect for the casual user, and all of the goodiness that comes from having a more open phone is meaningless for the casual user".
A little later, as more and more people I knew gravitated towards the Galaxies, I realized the flaw in this thinking - the average user doesn't know that the iPhone is geared towards him/her, and is a much better fit for someone who doesn't want to tinker with their phone. Only techies know this.
The average user wants to buy a phone that they can put apps on. As far as they're concerned, the iPhone and the Galaxy is the same product, only with a vastly different price structure.
Just anecdotal (in the same way as the OP), but I ran into plenty of young, non-tech people who are aware of the difference and still choose Android. For them, Android is the OS with slightly worse apps but you can get them all for free, without ever using a credit card. E.g. WhatsApp couldn't afford to be paid-only on Android because it just wouldn't work with the audience.
Lots of non-tech users have no clue about the difference between an ipad and a galaxy tablet -- the only thing they know to differentiate is the price. Samsung makes their stores identical to Apple (they even have an equivalent genius bar -- they're called smart tutors in the samsung store), so when the average joe walks into a Samsung store, they think they're just buying a cheaper Apple product.
Even my 85 year old mother knows that there is Apple and then there are others. She doesn't know what the difference is, but she knows that there is one.
What perfect PR for Samsung. It reminds me of the story where a company hired actors for a PR stunt where they used pre-launch devices in public to create buzz for the product. Who was that?
A more probable headline - Apple consumers are wondering what they are paying for.
Not really news, and I doubt its going to affect sales for now. Eventually they'll have to reinvent themselves if they want to stay cool, though. (Like Sony Walkman failed to do so as a brand)
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 costs $100 less than the latest iPad, and the same as the iPad 2. May I assume that "Samsung's iPad" in this case was actually a seven inch model, and a blatantly unfair comparison?
edit: not to mention that the value of OS X is part of tw cost of MacBooks; running it in a VM on another OS is common, but unfair to portray to random people as a legitimate action as evidence that Apple is ripping peons off.
What Apple has done is essentially throw all the hard work of its own marketing department out the window. Marketing works hard so consumers will pay more for what they perceive is a better product. Even if it's not.
Now Apple has called attention to how similar Samsung products are and people ARE going to make this connection no matter what.
Even if Apple gets an injunction, do you think customers will still be willing to pay that premium over Apple products? They will at least start questioning their choices.
In this consumerist society we might as well see riots and protests so Apple lowers the prices or the govt cancels the injunctions.
apparently this is exactly what Gigaom was referring to earlier today. I didn't think people would care, but apparently they do, don't understand, and Apple is paying the price.
> Samsung's iPad is the same as Apple's iPad, and I paid how much for the Apple one? Honey, I told you they were a ripoff"
Maybe now, but if Samsung has to pay a billion-dollar fine, the prices will be more comparable -- assuming that Samsung isn't also ordered to stop building machines so much like Apple's.
The sense of the article is that the lawsuit outcome favors Samsung -- that Apple is outing Samsung's units as being similar to Apple's but less money. This only works if Samsung's business isn't crippled by fines and cease-and-desist orders.
[+] [-] bpatrianakos|13 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] jmitcheson|13 years ago|reply
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..
[+] [-] alberich|13 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] Zak|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] naner|13 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] samstave|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sigzero|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] othermaciej|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] evilduck|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lloeki|13 years ago|reply
"And it really is just the same. See, it even runs OS X!"
[+] [-] firat|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] forgottenpaswrd|13 years ago|reply
Imagine a teenage that could not differentiate between and iPod and some other thing "that is the same".
Yeah, because normal people know how to install a VM, do a grep and an ssh....but they could not differentiate from a computer witch battery last 3 hours instead of 8, or weights double, or is made in real aluminum(and not plastic with metallic paint) or it is actually cheaper than the competence.
This man is wet dreaming.
[+] [-] pjzedalis|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tedunangst|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] phaus|13 years ago|reply
I bought a retina iPad because at the time I was in the market, it was the best tablet available. If I were going to get one today, it would be a close call between the iPad and the galaxy note 10.1. As far as phones go, Apple has neglected the trend towards larger screens. For a power user, the Iphone's tiny screen is unacceptable. I recently purchased a Galaxy Nexus, and it's easily the best phone I've ever used, at a better price than an off contract iPhone.
[+] [-] viraptor|13 years ago|reply
Why would you think everyone will hate it? (or even that they will have the same opinion, whatever it may be)
[+] [-] AJ007|13 years ago|reply
Many mass market consumers will be more than happy to get a slightly poorer experience if they can save half their money. But, if these people just switched from an iPhone or iPad, its likely that they were a year or two in and the performance started degrading. Applications build for the latest hardware crash, the battery has been abused enough that it lasts less than a day. The stark contrast at the switch will tell them Samsung is better.
[+] [-] mmanfrin|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xqyz|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] uvTwitch|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mynameishere|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sliverstorm|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] victorbstan|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tmmrn|13 years ago|reply
Hm, let's see. You could probably say I am a PC fanatic. "Personal Computer". I don't really care if the PC is from Samsung, Dell, Lenovo or Apple. I don't think Windows is amazing. It's ok as long as it is supported by much 3rd party software. I personally would chose linux anytime I am not forced by some proprietary (quasi-) monopoly software to use a specific operating system.
> I still can't understand how these people think, and how they judge quality, I think for some people, mediocre is good enough.
I happen to use an android phone. It has some annoying bugs: A touchscreen that is activated in a pocket while receiving a call will sometimes behave very erratically. Sometimes (once every few months I get kernel panics [1], I think caused by the proprietary graphics drivers. But still the inconveniences are not that big that I would use some completely proprietary and locked down smartphone. If you think android phones are "mediocre" then maybe you are looking for the wrong qualities. Try comparing them with software freedom in mind and tell me how again the devices running android lose vs apple devices.
[1] http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=24118 (I don't use the galaxy nexus but it seems similar enough)
[+] [-] novalis|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bornhuetter|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vasco|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xqyz|13 years ago|reply
If those people don't require any of the things that make a "Samsung iPad" different than the Apple one, then fine, go save a few bucks, but don't chose it because you just assume that it's all the same.
[+] [-] greenwalls|13 years ago|reply
Check Apple's earnings later to see who was right.
[+] [-] joering2|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] saturdaysaint|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] GFischer|13 years ago|reply
Here in Uruguay they definitely will - and it is Samsung phones which sell the most, by far (we're very price sensitive which is a nicer word for poor :P ).
[+] [-] nateabele|13 years ago|reply
And indeed, Apple's products are iconic, but these are normal people we're talking about. I wouldn't put it past them.
[+] [-] waterside81|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] edanm|13 years ago|reply
A little later, as more and more people I knew gravitated towards the Galaxies, I realized the flaw in this thinking - the average user doesn't know that the iPhone is geared towards him/her, and is a much better fit for someone who doesn't want to tinker with their phone. Only techies know this.
The average user wants to buy a phone that they can put apps on. As far as they're concerned, the iPhone and the Galaxy is the same product, only with a vastly different price structure.
[+] [-] gurkendoktor|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] veemjeem|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Nick_C|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jdq|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kmfrk|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] espeed|13 years ago|reply
EDIT: Maybe it was Samsung I'm thinking of. Evidently they have done stuff like that before (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110325/12360313633/samsun...). Netflix has done this too (http://www.avclub.com/articles/netflix-apologizes-for-hiring...).
[+] [-] dimitar|13 years ago|reply
Not really news, and I doubt its going to affect sales for now. Eventually they'll have to reinvent themselves if they want to stay cool, though. (Like Sony Walkman failed to do so as a brand)
[+] [-] prostoalex|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lines|13 years ago|reply
edit: not to mention that the value of OS X is part of tw cost of MacBooks; running it in a VM on another OS is common, but unfair to portray to random people as a legitimate action as evidence that Apple is ripping peons off.
[+] [-] Steko|13 years ago|reply
I'd say people who upvote before they read are part of the problem but I'm more concerned that many people did read and still upvoted it.
[+] [-] gtirloni|13 years ago|reply
Now Apple has called attention to how similar Samsung products are and people ARE going to make this connection no matter what.
Even if Apple gets an injunction, do you think customers will still be willing to pay that premium over Apple products? They will at least start questioning their choices.
In this consumerist society we might as well see riots and protests so Apple lowers the prices or the govt cancels the injunctions.
[+] [-] psychotik|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pedalpete|13 years ago|reply
apparently this is exactly what Gigaom was referring to earlier today. I didn't think people would care, but apparently they do, don't understand, and Apple is paying the price.
What would have happened had Samsung won??
[+] [-] lutusp|13 years ago|reply
Maybe now, but if Samsung has to pay a billion-dollar fine, the prices will be more comparable -- assuming that Samsung isn't also ordered to stop building machines so much like Apple's.
The sense of the article is that the lawsuit outcome favors Samsung -- that Apple is outing Samsung's units as being similar to Apple's but less money. This only works if Samsung's business isn't crippled by fines and cease-and-desist orders.
[+] [-] AllenKids|13 years ago|reply
Also after a few months it tricks me into G+ again, nope, still no value for me.