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222 Comments
- WestonP, on 09/07/2008, -10/+222The market was already flooded with MP3 players before the iPod. Apple just reinvented the wheel and did a better job with it than everyone else.
- CrimsonBlur, on 09/07/2008, -2/+173FTA: "But in 1988, after a boardroom split, he was unable to raise the £60,000 needed to renew patents across 120 countries and the technology became public property."
Apple isn't even the first company to create an MP3 player anyway, the Creative one I had years ago looked almost exactly like the picture this guy drew. Sucks to be that guy, he would be freaking rich if it weren't for that stupid board! - dvsbastard, on 09/08/2008, -6/+140Please stop calling it an "iPod"... The device is a portable MP3 player...
Feel free to call it an iPod when you are referring to Apples portable MP3 player though... - inactive, on 09/08/2008, -85/+197***** APPLE!
(bring it fanboys) - jakerudy7, on 09/07/2008, -14/+96sucks to be him
- Saladas, on 09/07/2008, -11/+74dailymail.... sigh...
- wissler, on 09/08/2008, -4/+54Give me a break, it's an obvious use of technology, hundreds of people likely independently "invented" the iPod.
- ViralSpiral, on 09/08/2008, -6/+54Please stop calling it an "MP3"... it's a digital audio file...
- borez, on 09/08/2008, -5/+47Please stop calling them digital audio files... they're are 0 and 1's
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+42You must not understand the expression "sucks to be him". Because this is the definition of "it sucks to be him".
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -11/+50was the poster of this story a ***** retard or what?.
this guy doesn't deserve royalties for something that became public domain that others had already copied anyway.there wasn't even any legal battle about this, everyone knows the truth, apple, and the guy himself..
blatant sensationalism huh?. - gordonp, on 09/08/2008, -9/+46‘I can’t even bring myself to buy an iPod for myself,’ he said. ‘Apple did give me one but it broke down after eight months.’
- ModernChem, on 09/07/2008, -4/+36not exactly. having a good product wasn't the only thing that made the ipod popular.
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -7/+34sure you did Kramer...sure you did..........
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+26Fail. They're two arbitrary states.
- MilesyMiles, on 09/08/2008, -5/+29Upped for a humourous retake on an otherwise lame meme.
- ZenMojo, on 09/08/2008, -19/+43Yeah. iTunes's proprietary distribution and Mac fanboyism made the iPod popular.
- HonestAbe, on 09/08/2008, -4/+27Reinvented the click wheel?
- tbredofsin, on 09/08/2008, -6/+28So what? It was never the technology that made the iPod so successful, it was the marketing.
- Ramble, on 09/08/2008, -2/+24Actually a lot of Apple fans hated the iPod when it was first released. Many thought it was the undoing of Apple.
- cycledesign, on 09/08/2008, -3/+24I wholeheartedly agree with Jared from the comments in the article:
"This is ridiculous. The only thing Apple admitted was that it was influenced by the user interface of this device. Notice how the article mentions that this man's device was capable of 3.5 SECONDS of audio playback? That's because none of the necessary technology -- D/A conversion, miniature hard drives, data compression, truly portable LCDs, etc. -- didn't exist.
Do you want to be an "inventor" like this guy? It's simple. Get yourself some graph paper and some crayson and sketch out a weightless, holographic audio player that's controlled telepathically. And when such a device is actually created in the year 2090, feel free to claim credit for it." - jisrael, on 09/08/2008, -9/+28Mac fanboyism blew-up after the invention of the ipod - maybe even because of the ipod.
also, itunes wasn't proprietary on windows machines, which is obviously where tons of those ipods ended up.
the ipod is a damn good product and not just the mac fanboys realized it... - vpshockwave, on 09/08/2008, -1/+19It was the dancing silhouette commercials obviously.
- gringer, on 09/08/2008, -3/+20Please stop calling it a portable MP3 player... The device is a portable music player...
Feel free to call it a portable MP3 player when you are referring to a device that only plays MP3 files though... - Me1000, on 09/08/2008, -0/+15You sure about that?
- ThreeDee912, on 09/08/2008, -0/+15What about the dozens of MP3 players that were invented before the iPod?
http://www.pongalong.com/Beerblog/wp-content/uploa ...
Just sayn'... - se1zure, on 09/08/2008, -2/+17Buried as inaccurate. The guy didn't invent the ipod. he patented the mp3 player, sat on his ass for 20 years, and let the patent expire. Sorry, but Apple wasn't even the first to make an mp3 player, so why hate on apple? And apple should owe him nothing, because they did not infinge any patents or even steal the design. they 'improved' on technology that had already been in production by companies like creative for several years.
- HappyScrappy, on 09/08/2008, -0/+15He didn't invent the iPod, I guess he made an early portable digital music player though. He didn't invent the mp3 player either, since mp3 didn't come around until the 90s.
- specialK16, on 09/08/2008, -5/+19lolwut
- EliteMacFreak, on 09/08/2008, -2/+16No, it doesn't. Ideas aren't worth a cent unless you can implement them. He obviously failed.
Hell, I drew up little sketches of adaptive cruise control back when I was six, but the fact that you can get those systems on your Lexus, Jaguar, or Mercedes now doesn't give me the right to cry about it.
While I'm at it, we need to give up this idea of the "original inventor"--history has proven that most of our groundbreaking technologies were envisioned and developed by multiple, unique minds at roughly the same time. The ones that got the product out the door first won the bragging rights. - andyb747, on 09/08/2008, -2/+14Al Gore is going through a similar legal issue with the Internet
- epohs, on 09/08/2008, -7/+19Wrong, It was the user interface.
I had a Zen Nomad for years and it did the job. I liked it. Then my sister got an iPod and after a couple of hours playing with it on a road trip I was sold. Technically it did the same thing as my Nomad, but by contrast the iPod was actually fun to use. - david76, on 09/08/2008, -0/+11Let this be a lesson to not under capitalize your business.
- borez, on 09/08/2008, -2/+13I've already invented time travel... in my head.
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -1/+11stupidest comment so far
well done - Charlotte_Web, on 09/08/2008, -0/+10That's almost like karma...
- m0zzie, on 09/08/2008, -5/+15http://www.progarchives.com/forum/uploads/18240/lo ...
- meghalc, on 09/08/2008, -0/+9learn2readArticle
- MilesyMiles, on 09/08/2008, -2/+11I'd probably buy an iPod if it smelled like the beach.
- Aeomyr, on 09/08/2008, -13/+22If the ipod was a good product it probably wouldn't be popular.
- TsuruchiBrian, on 09/08/2008, -1/+9He didn't invent the walkman.
He didn't invent audio compression.
He didn't invent the embedded computer.
He didn't invent the hard drive.
What the hell did this guy actually invent?
The portable mp3 player is an obvious outcome of the advance of technology. No one deserves to have a patent on anything like this.
I might as well patent the first quantum computer powered mp3 player, so when it finally comes out I can just get a bunch of money without doing any of the work to actually build it. - olliholliday, on 09/08/2008, -0/+8http://www.trivia-library.com/a/history-and-story- ...
actually we did.
thanks. - zang74, on 09/08/2008, -1/+9Why should they? They have zero obligation to do so.
He let his patents expire, forfeiting his protection for invention of the idea. He didn't invent the technology behind it, or even build a prototype. Hell, it doesn't sound as if he even tried selling the idea to Apple.
An idea is great, but just because someone thought of something once doesn't mean they deserve monetary remuneration every time that idea is used. An idea needs to be realized before it really has value.
You know, when I was in elementary school, I drew a picture of a tank with a laser cannon and rocket engines on it. If the military builds it, I should get credit and money! That's pretty much what this case amounts to.
That said, it sounds as if Apple *will* give him credit and money for the design (via his drawings), but had you read that far into the article, you might have noticed that. - inactive, on 09/08/2008, -2/+10Didn't they invent fanboys?
- WilliamAdama, on 09/08/2008, -1/+8No, but you were.
- shiftless, on 09/08/2008, -0/+7AHAHAHAHA yeahhh... boy, I better break out the Crayolas and claim I invented the next starship. God dammit.
- tupperbacharach, on 09/08/2008, -0/+7Well, Apple definitely did not invent nor originate the personal computer. Not by a longshot.
The first computer that was "marketed" to be a personal computer (not that marketing defines the essence of a device) was the Heathkit EC-1 released in 1960: http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?c ... Here is the EC-1 excerpt from the Heathkit catalog: http://www.heathkit-museum.com/computers/hvmec-1.s ...
Let's see... Apple Computer was founded in 1976 or 1977 -- so the personal computer preceded Apple by 15 or 16 years!
Neeeeeeext! - cquinnd, on 09/08/2008, -0/+7patent != trademark - and Disney has been desperate about that for decades now.
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+7He did a LOT more than draw up a little sketch. And yes it would suck to be in his position. I'm not saying he should be bitter about it but it's still gotta suck.
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