
I can't make this stuff up - vibrunazo
https://plus.google.com/u/0/114476892281222708332/posts/246srfbqg6G
======
bpatrianakos
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.

~~~
alberich
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.

~~~
Zirro
"Apple products are a jail that looks very nice, but its a jail anyway."

Please clarify this. I don't feel more restricted with my MacBook Pro than I
did with my old Lenovo-laptop. In what way was it a jail to you?

~~~
paulgb
The comment was made about an iOS device, which it is more applicable too.
Apple has a monopoly on legit iOS App distribution, where Android tablets and
phones can install apps from the wild.

It may sound like a small point, but the feeling that I didn't own my iPhone
is a big reason I prefer Android.

~~~
nirvana
> Apple has a monopoly on legit iOS App distribution,

I know why you think that, but you're missing that there is a completely
legitimate app distribution mechanism outside the AppStore.

You can install (and distribute) whatever apps you want for iOS devices, and
users can download them from the web and install them on the device. And I'm
not talking about jailbreaking.

Since the first day the iPhone has shipped, you've been able to download and
install apps built with javascript from anywhere on the web.

These are full apps, written in Javascript and running on the machine. They
have access to the iOS design components such as the navigation controller and
tab bar UI, etc, can read touches and orientation and even your current
location.

You can turn off the network- put the device in airport mode- and they still
run. These aren't links to web apps running on the web, they are full apps.

Apple only curates what goes on in the App Store. Apps distributed outside the
App Store are not curated. Apple built this platform for apps specifically so
it wouldn't have to curate them.

Its just that once the App Store came out, everyone switched to writing native
apps (And at the time, writing native apps are what people were clamoring for)
that that native app distirbution model won out.

But the javascript app platform is still there on the device and completely
un-regulated by apple.

It's also still supported by Apple, and each year at WWDC they have a couple
sessions talking about it.

I know it fits some people's ideology better to believe that Apple will only
let you run apps approved by Apple on your device, but it simply isn't true.

Further, if you want native apps of arbitrary origin, you can join the
developer program and run whatever native apps you want.

But Apple has always allowed this other distribution mechanism. These apps
can't spread malware and so there is no need to regulate them. Since native
apps can, they need to be curated, hence the AppStore.

It is disingenuous for people to pretend like Apple only wants you to buy apps
from the AppStore-- because the javascript app platform has existed since a
year before the AppStore and they continue to maintain it.

~~~
paulgb
I've done some mobile javascript development and do commend Apple for pushing
the limits of what can be done in-browser. The accelerometer support comes to
mind, which came sooner and better than the same support on Android.

That said, I wasn't aware that the two environments could be considered
equivalent. Can you call the camera API from javascript? Write a music player?

It would be one thing (though still unfortunate) if the App store monopoly
were used only for quality control, but instances where politics were at play
really left a bad taste in my mouth. Grooveshark, Google Voice, and Opera
mobile come to mind as projects that if I am remembering correctly were
blocked or delayed for political reasons. They all require a native
environment that's richer than HTML apps can provide, to my knowledge.

~~~
zxoq
Google Music is a javascript app and works well on the iPhone, the remote etc.
all behave properly and it can play while in the background.

------
othermaciej
I am skeptical that this is actually a true story and not a parable. The
alleged regular people consumer statements do not ring true.

~~~
evilduck
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).

~~~
nnnnnnnn
That's not something noticeable during basic desktop use. I've used VMWare
Fusion a fair amount and I was _very_ impressed. I imagine someone non-
technical would not be able to tell the difference.

~~~
dthunt
This in reply to the 'essentially piracy' comment below, which for some reason
I cannot reply to (too much nesting?)

What's next? Am I stealing music if I put it in a CD player and it makes a
25ms buffer copy while I'm playing?

Fair Use is an important principle. We can't structure our laws to work
against Fair Use, or dig ourselves into the absolutely braindead position that
exercising your fair use rights of software, music, etc - should be regarded
as piracy.

To do that is to be a total shithead.

~~~
icebraining
Regarding your first line, the link only appears after a delay, that increases
based on how nested the thread already is. It's a feature that is supposed to
prevent flamewars by forcing people to "cool off" before replying.

In practice it seems to lead to this, which is worse since it breaks the flow
without solving the issue.

~~~
deno
Simple “reply (charging…)” would fix that. Javascript counter would be even
better but let’s not hope for miracles :)

------
forgottenpaswrd
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.

This man is wet dreaming.

~~~
pjzedalis
I dunno. I mean I think it's all true minus the part about the customers
talking to each other and then talking to him.

------
tedunangst
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.

~~~
phaus
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.

~~~
aaronbrethorst
What is a power user of a mobile phone, and what makes a 3.5" screen
unacceptable?

edit: Ah, I see. Reading a lot. I actually read all of _Guns, Germs, and
Steel_ on my iPhone 4S earlier this year, and probably do an hour or two of
reading on it a day in total.

It's not necessarily an ideal experience, but it certainly isn't terrible. I'm
looking forward to the rumored 4" screen on the upcoming The New iPhone, but I
think that 4.5" and 5" are both way too big.

The impression I get is that most larger screens out there today don't pack in
larger pixels, but instead just use bigger pixels. Ultimately, I'm more
interested in the quality of the text than I am the total number of lines I
can see at one time. For instance, before I got the retina screen-equipped
iPad this year, I actually preferred reading on the iPhone to the iPad by a
wide margin.

~~~
esolyt
A power user is a user who regularly browses the web. Browsing the web on a
4.65-inch 1280x720 screen is significantly better than browsing the web on a
3.5-inch 960x640 screen.

Reply to your edit: The fact that Android phones have low pixel density is
absolutely wrong. That used to be the case. But now they have both larger
screens and more pixels. Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S3, HTC One X, Xperia S all have
1280x720 screens and are all 300+ ppi.

~~~
shinratdr
That all depends on what's running on the screen. I find browsing on my iPhone
much faster and more responsive on my iPhone vs my friends Android devices.

I browse the web on my phone constantly. I still wouldn't rather a bigger
screen at the expense of all the other benefits of a compact phone like one
handed usage.

I resent the implication that I'm not a power user or I don't really browse
the web just because I prefer a smaller screen on my phone.

~~~
esolyt
No, I definitely wasn't trying to imply anything like that about any iPhone
user. I'm sure you are a power user and you regularly browse the web with your
iPhone. But this doesn't mean you wouldn't have a better browsing experience
with a 1280x720 resolution and a larger screen.

I don't want this to turn into a typical iPhone vs Android forum dicussion, so
I'm not really going to say anything else. But browsing on a high-end Android
phone (like Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S3, One X, Xperia S) will be significantly
faster than iPhone 4S. Your friend's Android device was probably pre-ICS
and/or a low-end device.

From what I understand, most iPhone users here have not tried the recent high-
end Android phones and are still thinking about the old days of Android, when
it had choppy scrolling and a UI which kept stuttering.

~~~
shinratdr
> I don't want this to turn into a typical iPhone vs Android forum dicussion,
> so I'm not really going to say anything else.

I agree, but I can't let this stand as implied fact.

> But browsing on a high-end Android phone (like Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S3, One
> X, Xperia S) will be significantly faster than iPhone 4S.

My comparison was to a Galaxy Nexus running Chrome. Is it fast? Yes. I
personally don't find it as fast and responsive as a 4S though. Just throwing
power at Android doesn't solve the responsiveness issues it still has in ICS.

~~~
spot
jellybean solved those problems. latency was definitely one area where iOS
_was_ ahead. if you look at general features, you'll find iOS has been playing
catchup for about a year.

~~~
arthurrr
Audio latency is better but still not very good, compared to iOS/CoreAudio. I
suspect it will never catch up simply because of the underlying design, Google
simply does not have the knowledge necessary to implement low-latency audio.

~~~
ladzoppelin
I agree with this and don't think Google has the desire/skill to do anything
about it. This is the biggest issue for Android from day one because the
portable device is now considered a musical instrument and Android can't
compete. Things are going to get shaken up again once Windows 8 tablets start
running Ableton Live/Cubase so at this point Google should just wait and see
what happens.

~~~
esolyt
Wouldn't it be possible to just use ALSA with software mixing? Because ALSA
has very low delay as far as I know.

------
victorbstan
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.

~~~
Tmmrn
> 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.

[1] <http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=24118> (I don't use the
galaxy nexus but it seems similar enough)

~~~
shinratdr
> Try comparing them with software freedom in mind and tell me how again the
> devices running android lose vs apple devices.

OK. Every app worth getting for an Android device, I can get via the iOS App
Store. Everything that requires a rooted or unlocked Android device, I can get
via jailbreaking.

I'm not an OS developer so I'm not going to be contributing patches back to
AOSP. The vast majority of Android devices are bootloader-locked so they
aren't free or open at all, no more than a jailbroken iOS device.

In practice, it seems about the same. You need to root, unlock or jailbreak
the device to install things that the manufacturer doesn't want you to. Before
that, you're locked in. After that, you have total software freedom.

Unless you're actively contributing patches back to AOSP, I don't see how the
difference in "software freedom" actually matters in practice.

~~~
css771
Except that the vast majority of Android devices are not bootloader locked
(Almost all samsung phones are sold unlocked, HTC provides an after-market
unlock tool for most phones, Motorola recently started doing so). Besides,
even if an Android phone is bootloader locked, you can actually do more on it
than on an iphone.

And also, you dont have to contribute patches back to aosp to appreciate
software freedom. How about building and running your own kernel on your
phone. Is that something you would be interested in? Most Android phones can
do that.

~~~
chipotle_coyote
* How about building and running your own kernel on your phone. Is that something you would be interested in? Most Android phones can do that.*

No, I'm interested in browsing the web, reading and sometimes replying to my
email, checking my calendar, doing online banking, finding restaurants via
Yelp, reading my Instapaper queue, checking my RSS feeds, reading and replying
on Twitter, listening to and downloading new podcasts I subscribe to,
occasionally reading ebooks, listening to my own music and Internet radio,
getting turn by turn navigation and sometimes walking or transit directions,
and checking in on Foursquare.

In other words, I want a smartphone. Ideally, I want one that works without
dorking around with a damn kernel recompile. Android phones can absolutely do
all of those things (without damn kernel recompiles). And, darned if iPhones
can't just as easily.

In practice, applications aren't lock-in. _Data_ is lock-in. What Apple can do
to piss me off is _locking in my data,_ which is a potentially grave concern
with iCloud. But just about _everything I mentioned above_ is stuff that would
take me about a day to migrate from iOS to Android or vice-versa, because
nearly all of it involves open data formats.

Being able to put a new kernel on your phone? Sure, it could be fun. But when
push comes to shove, the best thing a smartphone can do for me is to make its
inner workings as invisible as possible. When I want to spend time cursing at
a Unix shell prompt, that's why I have Arch Linux. Not on my phone.

------
greenwalls
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.

~~~
joering2
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"?
:)

------
saturdaysaint
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.

~~~
nateabele
Well, enough people have heard about it that it's made the front page of a
newspaper, so people are bound to talk about it.

And indeed, Apple's products _are_ iconic, but these are normal people we're
talking about. I wouldn't put it past them.

~~~
objclxt
Totally anecdotal (but then again, so's the post we're all talking about
here), but from talking to various non-technical people around the office a
lot of people seem to think Samsung 'had it coming'. And let's not forget the
jury found Samsung guilty, a jury that supposedly represents the common
person.

So while we're all aghast at what's going on here it could be quite likely
that a lot of people have sympathy with Apple...rightly or wrongly.

------
waterside81
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.

~~~
dubya
"... Samsung's iPad is the same as Apple's iPad, and I paid how much for the
Apple one?" pretty much clinches this as fiction. Samsung's tablets are not "a
lot cheaper" than the iPad. Not to mention all of the Starbucks patrons
chatting with strangers.

------
edanm
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.

~~~
gurkendoktor
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.

~~~
_djo_
I also have anecdotal evidence of this, where Android is perceived as the
better option because there are supposedly more free apps and paid apps are
easily pirated.

Even the local carrier's sales representatives try to move customers away from
iPhones and iPads towards Android devices because 'most apps are free and
they're just the same as the ones on the iPad/iPhone'.

------
jdq
Everything about the story reads like it was fabricated.

~~~
kmfrk
The title implies that it was indeed deliberately fashioned by someone.

~~~
lurker14
How so?

~~~
kmfrk
The original title originally had the word "costumers" in it instead of
"customers". :)

I see that the title has been changed at least twice since the joke.

------
espeed
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?

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...](http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110325/12360313633/samsung-
hires-actors-to-pretend-to-be-happy-galaxy-tab-testers.shtml)). Netflix has
done this too ([http://www.avclub.com/articles/netflix-apologizes-for-
hiring...](http://www.avclub.com/articles/netflix-apologizes-for-hiring-
actors-to-pretend-to,45507/)).

------
dimitar
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)

~~~
chipotle_coyote
I think a more probable headline is "Nothing happens." Except that won't be
much of a story.

Seriously, who's going to read "Samsung owes Apple $1B for patent
infringement" and come away thinking that _Apple is the bad guy?_ There are
perfectly valid answers to that -- people concerned about the terrible state
of patent law in the US, open source advocates, Hacker News readers -- but
"average consumers" is not in that set of valid answers.

In practice what this means is that by Christmas Samsung has a bunch of new
phones out that don't violate Apple's trade dress patents and everyone who is
not a nerd mostly forgets about this. Samsung may lose on appeal, they may
not, but a year from now they'll still be the #1 phone maker in the world and
they will have phones that are more distinctive than they have now.

Or they will have phones that all look like Nokia's.

------
prostoalex
Costumers are people in charge of costumes, right? I can't imagine Apple would
have that many.

~~~
joelrunyon
Yes, can we get the titled edited?

------
lines
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.

~~~
objclxt
I think you are probably safe to assume that. Clearly the guy writing this is
coming from one particular side of the argument. I really couldn't care one
way or the other - I like my iPhone, but if a Galaxy is going to make you
happier go buy it.

However, don't discount the _other_ side of the price argument. For some
people price will be an important factor - however, as the iPod showed, it's
not necessarily the main consideration for all consumers.

I had a discussion about a year ago with someone from Samsung - "look", he
said, "the problem is this: our phones cost basically the same to make as
Apple's phones, but the average consumer thinks that the iPhone is worth more
than a Galaxy". Samsung would probably quite like to charge as much for a
Galaxy S3 as Apple do for an iPhone 4S. In some markets and territories this
actually happens.

------
Steko
I'm mystified that an anecdote that's very likely fabricated and is filled
with misinformation is one of the highest rated pieces here.

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
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.

------
psychotik
Well, all this story tells me is that the folks who frequent Starbucks aren't
the sharpest tools in the shed.

~~~
nsmartt
That's not an unfair generalization or anything.

------
pedalpete
I take back the comment here <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4432744>,

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
> _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.

------
AllenKids
I think the author make this stuff up.

Also after a few months it tricks me into G+ again, nope, still no value for
me.

------
stock_toaster
Sounds like a case of assumed "difference regret", where people (esp those who
don't know much about the products they are choosing from) think they didn't
get the best deal.

------
stesch
Sure. They buy a Samsung notebook and try to install Mac OS X on it. That will
be fun!

------
morpher
I find this (apparently fake) story interesting for the reaction that it
created. I found it surprising (disturbing?) that anyone (even a fictional
character) would equate losing a lawsuit for patent infringement with having
an identical product. I was even for surprised reading through to comments on
g+ to see how many were simply along the lines of "haha stoopid iPeons". As if
they are dumb for having purchased an iProduct in the first place instead of
the obviously identical but cheaper product from Samsung. Wat? I don't doubt
the authors conjecture that some customers may have this odd reaction to the
lawsuit, but why do so many people seem to think that it is a natural reaction
to have?

------
chmars
Google+ asks for my Google account password. Is there an alternate URL for
this text?

~~~
barik
It's a bit annoying, and you shouldn't have to do this, but you can read it in
privacy mode within your browser (in which case you won't be asked to login).
I have a somewhat orthogonal issue that requires this. My Google Apps
administrator has disabled Google+, so it asks me for a login when accessing
Google+ pages despite the fact that I won't actually be able to read the
article even after logging in.

Fortunately, Google+ pages still show up rarely on HN.

~~~
chmars
Same problem with Google Apps here. Chrome for iOS to my rescue! :)

------
enos_feedler
Tim Cook specifically stated the reason they took action is in alignment with
Apple's values, with innovation being the big one. Looking at the products
Apple cranks out I don't think anyone can deny they value innovation (even if
it means stealing along the way). They used the existing system in the best
way they could in alignment with their core values, despite the fact it might
confuse the customer, they lose sales etc, etc. Good for Apple.

------
nachteilig
Why do I have a strong feeling that this is anti-Apple blogspam? If people
confuse Apple products with Samsung products, it's because Samsung wants that
confusion to exist. Apple's innovations weren't "obvious" until Apple put them
into their products. Please consider the criticism iPhone received for not
having a keyboard or buttons back in 2007.

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keithpeter
If we accept the message behind this apparent parable (Samsung tablets have
higher visibility now because of the lawsuit) is this not a great opportunity
for WinRT based tablets?

Trusted brand, cheaper than iPad (I'm assuming for the WinRT ones) range of
styles from different manufacturers, a (possibly limited) version of Office...

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Tichy
One more thing about the lawsuit: the battle startet long before it was taken
to court, with all of Apple's ads suggesting that they invented stuff they did
not really invent. And now a jury got to decide, that was of course also
raised/brainwashed with Apple advertisements.

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chris24
This story reminds me of that recent Mac genius ad with the sketchy computer
salesman.

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metatronscube
Nope, I will now only ever consider Samsung capable of bad ripoffs and
plagiarism.

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EternalFury
Good one, nonsense.

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adamgb
Self-fulfilling prophecies are a bitch.

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Z3UX
I'm sorry for my honest comment but this just proves what some people over the
world thinks: Americans are dumb! =X

~~~
KirinDave
I hope you understand why you are going to be aggressively downmodded, and
it's not because of any nationalism. It's because this sort of comment is
beneath the basic standards of cordiality in any serious discussion, even in a
forum as notoriously crass as this one. Not to mention it adds nothing to the
discussion of substance, having even less impact than "Me too!"

What's more, it's not even fair. Indeed, the entire point of this trial was
for Apple to make a case that consumers _are_ confused in America. So you
can't really accept the verdict of this case and then say this is implausible
or "Americans are stupid." If Apple is right, then Samsung has engaged in
deliberate deception. If Samsung is right, then it's not unreasonable to ask
if Apple actually has been overcharging people off on phones dictated by basic
design principles.

~~~
Z3UX
What I can't understand is what sort of message the media over there is
sending about the whole trial that gets people to think that their hardware is
the "same"... Even non tech fellows understand "oranges and apples", in most
situations! Maybe we're better educated on this subject on my region but most
people understand this stuff. People that don't understand this, don't give a
crap for the actual brand and just buy some Huawei or carrier branded
phone/tablet.

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anuraj
FUD

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logn
Sweet ironic justice.

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delllapssuck
Beautiful.

For Apple, it's all about controlling the minds of consumers. And controlling
their access to information about the devices.

For Samsung, it's less about that and more about plain old lack of
interoperability: proprietary plugs, crappy Windows proprietary "install"
software that was written hastily, and other little annoyances, stuff that
will only work with Samsung. Like every other Asian manufacturer for as long
as I can remember. (But at least companies like Samsung make SSD's and other
components that can be used in any device. They keep companies like Apple
afloat. Can Apple make its own components? Not as cost-effectively as
Samsung.)

The result is always the same: the consumer overpays for these cheap
electronics and gets next to zero customer service. It's "take it or leave
it".

Showing a random Starbucks customer OSX in a virtual machine? Priceless.

If they only knew what their iPhones, iPads, "iOS" and "OSX" were really made
of. They might never care. But they do care about overpaying.

~~~
nachteilig
How can you claim to say what it's all about for Apple? You are very far out
of bounds to claim it's about controlling something. From my perspective it's
about making devices that offer a good experience, and from their current
earnings I'd say that consumers believe it to be a fair price for that
experience.

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dakimov
If you cannot tell the difference between an iPhone and a Samsung, you should
better buy yourself a Huawei.

