As pissed off as I am about Apple right now, I am going off topic in another direction:
I understand that the USA is a huge market, but it seems like the rest of the world is catching up in a lot of ways (centers of excellence in science and R&D in the Orient, India, and Europe; also: so-called 3rd world countries getting larger highly educated and motivated workers; growing affluence in previously 3rd world countries == they become better customers).
Apple has not been doing as well patent trolling outside of the USA.
When I explain the Apple patent problem to non-technical family and friends I usually couch it by describing how we in the USA are losing our tech edge and Apple's behavior will help speed up our decline relative to the rest of the world. In other words, don't be proud of Apple as a USA company, but rather understand how their actions will hurt our country.
On a more positive note: I now view myself more as a citizen of the world rather than a citizen particular tax jurisdiction, like the USA. I believe that open source technology and products based on open source and open standards will eventually win out. The world should be a level playing field, and people and companies should prosper based on the quality of their work, skills, and general productivity. A lot of people I know believe that our world history has entered a phase of continuous, never ending series of wars that make the world's elite even wealthier. Contrary to that, I believe/hope that there will be enough people (and yes, even corporations) that do the right thing and probably things will turn out well for more people around the world.
Apple is fundamentally altering the technology industry by being aggressively litigious. The statutory precedents they've established are going to change they way computers and software are designed and developed at the ground level, often making it harder for companies with fewer resources. I hope they don't sue themselves in to a corner by ultimately staggering future innovation. Sometimes you don't need to re-invent the wheel.
don't worry - apple can't fundamentally change the industry... i think the precedents they are setting are mostly worthless and the fact that they are allowed to get away with this kind of behaviour is only temporary. people are both smart and intolerant - it won't be tolerated for too long before apple find themselves being punished for being dicks about this...
Yeah, it used to be embarrassing to use anything but a mac in silicon valley and other tech circles. That seems to be changing now, I keep hearing people are not buying a mac for their next machine.
And when you see someone without a mac these days, the first assumption isn't that they lack style, it's that they are willing to compromise on another machine in order to not support Apple's patent warfare.
Well, you could always switch to Linux. The latest versions of KDE, GNOME and Unity are all pretty close to a mac-level experience now (especially since OS X has been going downhill after Snow Leopard). I miss a few apps here and there of course, but that problem is nothing new to a long-time mac user anyway.
The only other major problem is that Linux desktop environments aren't configured very nicely out of the box (If you're used to OS X). I've been happiest with kubuntu so far, but it's taken a few hours to get it set up the way I like it.
I'd think their superior phones are the primary reason they are such a huge competitive threat.
It feels weird to me to even say that but it's true. I played around with my boss's new iPhone 5 on Friday and was pretty surprised that it seems nearly featureless aside from power. The features are in the power, in the fact that they give the software (90% of this is relevant to gaming) more capability. This is the ultimate upgrade to whatever existed, but if I was hardware-naive and I saw an iPhone 5 and a Galaxy S3 side by side, I'd think the iPhone 5 must have come out a year earlier for all the features it lacks.
This is the year I stopped telling people "iPhone" when they ask me what smartphone they should get, and Samsung's line is probably the biggest reason why.
The more i read about apple news related to patent issues(simple ideas that should not have been granted patents) and suing, i am starting to develop serious hatred for apple. Even though i respect the products they've come up with; i don't feel like buying any apple product.
They seem to be trying to create a monopoly - implicitly making an effort to stop companies both big and small - start-ups from innovating. They seem to fear competition.
This patent issues among all these big companies is starting to hurt a lot.
You're starting your history a few lawsuits too late. Apple was not among the incumbents in the smartphone industry who initiated the practice of lawsuits as royalty negotiation tools. Around the same time as press started pointing out Apple's disproportionate piece not of smartphone marketshare but of smartphone profits, Apple became a target. But, not an easy target. They had profits to fight back with. Now when the incumbents face setbacks, and people no longer see Apple as underdog, turns out those people who didn't notice how this started now blame Apple for playing the game the others started. Sorry, but that's revisionist.
Again, these are not "patent wars", these are royalty negotiations, and this was how it was done among the phone makers long before Apple had a phone. The only thing different is that you're paying attention, while Apple doesn't just cave to pay royalties it doesn't think it owes such as for FRAND patents or patents licensed through purchase of licensed chips.
[+] [-] mark_l_watson|13 years ago|reply
I understand that the USA is a huge market, but it seems like the rest of the world is catching up in a lot of ways (centers of excellence in science and R&D in the Orient, India, and Europe; also: so-called 3rd world countries getting larger highly educated and motivated workers; growing affluence in previously 3rd world countries == they become better customers).
Apple has not been doing as well patent trolling outside of the USA.
When I explain the Apple patent problem to non-technical family and friends I usually couch it by describing how we in the USA are losing our tech edge and Apple's behavior will help speed up our decline relative to the rest of the world. In other words, don't be proud of Apple as a USA company, but rather understand how their actions will hurt our country.
On a more positive note: I now view myself more as a citizen of the world rather than a citizen particular tax jurisdiction, like the USA. I believe that open source technology and products based on open source and open standards will eventually win out. The world should be a level playing field, and people and companies should prosper based on the quality of their work, skills, and general productivity. A lot of people I know believe that our world history has entered a phase of continuous, never ending series of wars that make the world's elite even wealthier. Contrary to that, I believe/hope that there will be enough people (and yes, even corporations) that do the right thing and probably things will turn out well for more people around the world.
Sorry for the off topic rant.
[+] [-] imtyler|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tisme|13 years ago|reply
I actually hope they do. That would be one way in which it would be clear for everybody that this is not the way to go.
[+] [-] jheriko|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] agagasasg|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] azakai|13 years ago|reply
And when you see someone without a mac these days, the first assumption isn't that they lack style, it's that they are willing to compromise on another machine in order to not support Apple's patent warfare.
[+] [-] mistercow|13 years ago|reply
The only other major problem is that Linux desktop environments aren't configured very nicely out of the box (If you're used to OS X). I've been happiest with kubuntu so far, but it's taken a few hours to get it set up the way I like it.
[+] [-] Roritharr|13 years ago|reply
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/10/hp-spectre-one-all-in-one...
[+] [-] tarellel|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] drawkbox|13 years ago|reply
Then again, if they know so much and are so key to Apple maybe they are a huge competitive threat.
[+] [-] homosaur|13 years ago|reply
It feels weird to me to even say that but it's true. I played around with my boss's new iPhone 5 on Friday and was pretty surprised that it seems nearly featureless aside from power. The features are in the power, in the fact that they give the software (90% of this is relevant to gaming) more capability. This is the ultimate upgrade to whatever existed, but if I was hardware-naive and I saw an iPhone 5 and a Galaxy S3 side by side, I'd think the iPhone 5 must have come out a year earlier for all the features it lacks.
This is the year I stopped telling people "iPhone" when they ask me what smartphone they should get, and Samsung's line is probably the biggest reason why.
[+] [-] Jarihd|13 years ago|reply
They seem to be trying to create a monopoly - implicitly making an effort to stop companies both big and small - start-ups from innovating. They seem to fear competition.
This patent issues among all these big companies is starting to hurt a lot.
[+] [-] Terretta|13 years ago|reply
Again, these are not "patent wars", these are royalty negotiations, and this was how it was done among the phone makers long before Apple had a phone. The only thing different is that you're paying attention, while Apple doesn't just cave to pay royalties it doesn't think it owes such as for FRAND patents or patents licensed through purchase of licensed chips.
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] lwhi|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmishe|13 years ago|reply