

132-page internal memo shows how Samsung set out to copy the iPhone - ServerGeek
http://www.bgr.com/2012/08/08/apple-samsung-patent-lawsuit-internal-report-copy-iphone

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jseims
What's annoying is this isn't the real issue. Of course Samsung felt
threatened by the iPhone, and set out to copy the aspects of it they liked.
That's how capitalism works.

The real issue is what degree of protection should our legal system provide
original innovators against those who want to copy their innovations.

I think the guiding principle should be the least legal protection that would
still leave enough incentive for the original innovation to be created. In the
case of software, where there is little fixed investment cost and a
competitive advantage to being "first to market", I have a hard time seeing
the need for any legal protection.

For example, could anyone seriously argue that Apple wouldn't, say, implement
a "slide to unlock" mechanism on the iPhone if they couldn't patent that
behavior?

We really need an act of congress to rectify this situation.

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unfamiliar
I wouldn't argue that lack of legal protection for "slide to unlock" would
stop them including it. But I would suggest that had they had absolutely no
legal protection then there is a significant chance that the entire R&D
project that became the iPhone wouldn't have happened. Why invest that much
time and money, playing with prototypes and ideas that might never come to
market, invest billions in production lines, software development and be the
first in taking a bold leap into uncharted waters if you have no recourse when
someone simply rips you off at the end of the day?

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thurn
Walk into a Walmart and you can find tons of knockoff products like "Honey Nut
Oatie Os". The breakfast cereal industry doesn't appear to have collapsed,
though. In fact, you can buy a generic brand version of almost _anything_.

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sdm
How is this about copying? This is a company taking a long hard look at how
their product stacks up against the competition. It's called capitalism and
competition. If you're not taking a hard look at how you compare to
competitors then you're going to die. Notice development steps on each page
point on how to improve their offering.

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RandallBrown
To me, what's damning is how similar EVERY SINGLE SCREEN looks to the iPhone.
They also pretty much never point out that differences in their design are
better than the iPhone. They only talk about how they need to make it _more_
like the iPhone.

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TazeTSchnitzel
But that's because this is an internal memo about improvements, not "how well
does Samsung stack up against Apple"?

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RandallBrown
I don't think that the slides are proof that Samsung is GOING to copy Apple,
it's proof that they did.

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TazeTSchnitzel
They aren't. It's proof Samsung saw Apple as a competitor and tried to fix
obvious flaws when comparing interfaces.

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LVB
For me the most depressing part is that you have what I consider to be a
pretty reasonable gap analysis with recommendations that has now become
damning evidence showing bad behavior. This is unfortunate. I'd like all
companies to profile their own products against others and own up to where
they fall short and have plans to get better. If a company says, "Our phone
gets only four hours on a charge but their's gets six, we should step it up",
that's OK. But if they say, "The date display on the Calendar icon should
match the current date on the phone", that's "slavishly copying".

Side note: where did Apple get inspiration for their should a reel-to-reel
recorder image in the new podcast app? Slide 121? Answer: I don't know but it
shouldn't matter.

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cube13
>But if they say, "The date display on the Calendar icon should match the
current date on the phone", that's "slavishly copying".

I don't think that's the case, if it's just showing the date on the icon.

On the other hand, if the instruction is to "Show the date display on the
Calendar icon _exactly like Apple's icon_ ," that's a different story.

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laserDinosaur
Wait, is this the same memo as <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4349519> ?
If so, jesus, what a link bait title.

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fishbacon
It is a link bait title even if it isn't the same memo, the document in this
article (linked several times on the front page already today) shows that
Samsung was looking at the marked leader and trying to figure out what they
did right that Samsung wasn't doing.

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michaelbuckbee
Setting aside any legal aspects of this, I found the document really
interesting as a User Experience tutorial.

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grecy
It's a shame that every single screen simply talks about how they can make
their products more like the iPhone.

It would have been nice to see them trying to make their products better than
the iPhone, but, alas, they are only trying to play "catch-up", not "exceed".

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paranoiacblack
I might argue that when you're that far behind, it isn't unreasonable to make
the quarterly goal to "catch-up" and then finally to "exceed". These are not
mutually exclusive goals, they are just situation relative.

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grecy
I agree.

And we've seen time and time again, that just as everyone else "catches-up" to
an Apple device, Apple go and release the next one that jumps them ahead again
_, because they have that 1-2 year head start.

_ Yeah, I know it has not always been the case, but I think it's pretty safe
to say it was the case with the iPod for it's entire life, and it does happen
with the iPhone/iPad/MBA/MBPr

~~~
Nerdfest
I think it's Apple playing catch-up with Android for the past couple of years.
The MPB is a big jump ahead for Apple with that screen though.

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xmmx
Some of these make it seem like the firm just wants an iphone clone.

For example, #52: No menu for going back to the previous screen when watching
a video. Isn't this a trait of the android OS? Hard button to go back, and
it's universally like this for all apps. Adding a back button just for video
would break the continuity.

#56: Star to 'add to fav' should be replaced with a plus because users don't
recognize what a star does. I'm pretty confident that people will understand
what a star does in this context...

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andy_herbert
Pretty damning, I'm confident that all the mobile manufacturers do this
against each other, why wouldn't they? It just sucks to be Samsung right now.

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hypnocode
Copyright laws in America are broken.

That said, this kind of corporate innovation is pretty broken, too. The way I
interpret this document is not "how can we make a great product?" but rather:
"How can we emulate a great product?"

Almost ironic, now that the iPhone app store is almost entirely comprised of
mine craft rip offs.

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vampirechicken
Meanwhile, we basically nationalize Samsung's patents that are fundamental to
mobile phone infrastucture...

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mc32
Can't the same be said of many Moto tech and patents?

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vampirechicken
Maybe. I only know what I read on HN. My point is that the patent holder who
invented the infrastructure should be enriched by their patent. but we have a
gov't setting limits on how much they can charge to license their patent,
somehow the design elements of the device are going to turn out to be worth
more than the tech that enable the device to work.

I'm saying (poorly) that I think that reason should dictate that if apple pays
X per device for the tech that enable the device then samsung should pay Y < X
if found to be infringing on round corners and colorful icons.

I don't value the design that much more highly than the enabling tech. I was
pretty satisfied with my old compact nokia phone - I had a midi of run to the
hills as my ringtone. Life was good.

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jstalin
Everything is a remix:

<http://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/>

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ams6110
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

