

Tablet Zero - tilt
http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/09/tablet-zero/

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Tloewald
The inventor of the ballpoint pen was named Biro (interesting because as a kid
we all referred to ballpoint pen as "biros" so I guess this wasn't exactly an
obscure fact). Bich improved on Biro's invention, mainly in ink and process,
but the classic "Bic Biro" had a rounded hexagonal cross section (which meant
the pens wouldn't roll off desks, evn when separated from their lids) not the
cylinder of the more modern pen shown in th article. Is this obvious? I can't
find out if this design was patented, but I would be surprised if it weren't.

I realize that it's annoying that what seems like such an obvious and simple
design might turn out to be protectable under IP law. Certainly Apple has
produced many seemingly more clever and inobvious designs that have turned out
to be less easy to protect.

If you look at the kindle fire it's a rounded rectangle with a flat screen. It
supposedly represents the first credible threat to the iPad. Is Apple suing?
The kindle fire is obviously a lot like the iPad for the kinds of reasons
usually raised, but it's not a slavish imitation of the iPad. It's not rounded
in the same way. The home screen doesn't feature an arrangement of icons
designed, superficially to resemble the iPad home screen. And so on. It's
perfectly possible to create a tablet with rounded corners that isn't weirdly
identical to the iPad. It's perfectly clear to anyone who has watched Samsung
over the years that they're the Burger King of consumer electronics. They let
the market leader do the R&D and then slavishly imitate their successes. If
someone behaved this way in elementary school you'd call them a cheat and move
a desk away from them; getting caught doing it in academia should end your
career (but before you get caught it might get you tenure), but it's dandy in
business. Frankly, I'd be happy to see more companies get smacked down for
behaving this way.

I also wonder why we've basically been seeing a series of histrionic anti
Apple pieces from Tech Crunch over the last few days.

~~~
tiles
The pen pen identified in the article even complicates his argument. When I
see the identifiable white cylinder Bic pen with distinctive black text, with
a black or blue-colored head and cap, I know it is a Bic or a pen closely
imitating Bic's style. Pens come in an enormous amount of variety and styles
despite the form being mostly equivalent.

Now compare an iPad and a Samsung Galaxy Tab when they are both off. Ignore
the subtle "Samsung" logo in the front, or the Apple logo in the back. Black
front with metallic bevel and back. Any consumer would either confuse the two
or say they are imitating each other. Apple's design patents may be stretching
the meaning of novelty, but when consumers can so easily confuse the two, it
is hardly defensible for Samsung to say there were _no_ distinctive factors
they could have added to lessen the confusion. The TouchPad had a slick black
back to it and an oblong home screen button. The Kindle Fire is smaller and
dark grey. Etc.

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iaskwhy
Funny you refer to the TouchPad. I have one and whenever someone sees it they
just say: "Oh, you have an iPad!"

~~~
CrazedGeek
Heh, I have an Iconia A500 (which is styled a bit differently:
[http://zapp0.staticworld.net/reviews/graphics/products/uploa...](http://zapp0.staticworld.net/reviews/graphics/products/uploaded/acer_iconia_tab_a500_871594_g6.jpg)
) and I get the same response.

In the eyes of the public, we don't own tablets, we own iPad knockoffs.

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nekojima
My starting point to design a tablet would (likely) be the screen on my laptop
and after detaching it, work from there to design/engineer a tablet. With this
starting point, and looking at the three laptops on my desk (Dell, Toshiba,
Lenovo, each a different screen size as well) it already looks a lot like an
iPad or any other tablet currently on the market.

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ricardobeat
Blah blah blah. It's fashionable to hate on Apple now.

Regardless of how basic/obvious/fundamental a design is, there are plenty ways
to differentiate one product from another, and Samsung actively did the
opposite. No comparing to Bic pens (which incidentally, are very
recognizable), TVs or whatever will change that fact.

