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201 Comments
- bytor4232, on 10/08/2008, -2/+78Is avant window navigator and cairo dock in trouble?
- digitalpencil, on 10/09/2008, -7/+69it's kind of iconographic to Apple, and yes, it is very much in their interest to patent every creation they possibly can, the same way it is for every business..
- radixus, on 10/08/2008, -5/+66Apple isn't the only company that patents everything. Hence why our patent system is broken.
- joostfunke, on 10/08/2008, -44/+98This is getting ridiculous. It's just a representation of icons... Does Apple have to patent everything??? Soon we can't create anything because Apple will take legal action against it... ObjectDock rules!!!
- uptwolait, on 10/09/2008, -2/+45Better download ObjectDock NOW!
- vilago, on 10/09/2008, -3/+46yea people park their boats there
- SOS84, on 10/09/2008, -11/+51How the hell can Apple patent something they did not create? The dock existed long before OSX.
- kmkl, on 10/08/2008, -22/+55Guess they don't want Microsoft copying anything anymore...
- meamog, on 10/09/2008, -3/+29Also, it's not just a representation of icons - if you haven't noticed, it's also a task manager, task switcher, and notification area.
- tupperbacharach, on 10/09/2008, -5/+28Actually, Apple is copying Microsoft. The first dock/taskbar appeared in Windows 1.01 in 1985: http://toastytech.com/guis/bigw101.gif
It was dropped from Windows soon after, and then appeared in Acorn's Arthur OS in 1987: http://toastytech.com/guis/bigarthur.gif
Apple doesn't really innovate much -- they just use what's already been invented and market/advertise it heavily. - jrm125, on 10/09/2008, -5/+26Relax all, they just patented the name, and the precise implementation such as zooming icons, etc.
It helps to read articles and not just Digg titles :-) - inactive, on 10/09/2008, -2/+21I'm a RocketDock user (on Windows XP, my Ubuntu install is kept simple). Will this patent eventually affect the development of these types of tools? These patents in the software world are getting way out of hand.
- maninalift, on 10/09/2008, -2/+21public toilets are now closing as Apple has patented *****
- dungbeetle, on 10/09/2008, -5/+22It's Apple. They will hound everyone they can to death. They are worse than Microsoft. At least Microsoft just buys you and keeps what you made. Apple will kill you and let what you made rot.
- robzthird, on 10/09/2008, -3/+19Really? You think Apple's the only one that does this? Really?
- BinaryFragger, on 10/09/2008, -4/+20Apple did *not* invent the dock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_(computing) - inactive, on 10/09/2008, -3/+18NeXT created it (though youll hear that Acorn did it before; this is misleading at best). Steve Jobs started and ran NeXT and was ultimately responsible for all of its intellectual property, including the dock in NeXT Step and Open Step. When Jobs sold the company to Apple for around 400 million, along with that sale went every drop of intellectual property.
So, while Apple did not create it, they DO own the IP, quite legally and ethically actually. - dn11, on 10/09/2008, -3/+17"Apple summarizes the Dock as a "user interface for providing consolidation and access."
Apple also seems to think they invented magnification of icons on scroll over
could that be any more vague? - groverblue, on 10/09/2008, -0/+14Apple purchased NextSTEP.
- cardyology, on 10/09/2008, -2/+14So next on Apples legal hitlist: gOS
- 4lun, on 10/09/2008, -1/+13"its just a system in place to keep people from stealing original ideas and making money off it before the original inventor has the chance to establish production and sell the concept."
IMO I think they've already managed that. - PhillyMJS, on 10/09/2008, -8/+19"Does Apple have to patent everything???"
Well, yes, when the alternative is for them to not patent something, and then have a competitor shamelessly copy it and then even more shamelessly act like they were the ones who invented it. It has happened in the past, you know. - so1omon, on 10/09/2008, -0/+11I apologize in advance, as I have never ever highjacked a first post in a thread before today, but I can't believe no-one has said this...
Doesn't anyone actually READ anymore?! Apple didn't patent the concept of a Dock, so all of your bitching and whining about who had a dock first is completely meaningless and irrelevant to the actual patent. They patented a very, VERY specific implementation of the OSX Dock, complete with algorithms for the magnification. And they filed for this patent 9 years ago.
I am not a huge proponent of software patents in general, but for the love of God, people... READ!! - dungbeetle, on 10/09/2008, -1/+12http://draginol.joeuser.com/article/318845/No_Mac_ ... I guess they didn't steal it, just copied it.
- Yetisquatch, on 10/09/2008, -0/+11yzdock user here. they can patent whatever they want but clones and alternatives will always be available. i think their major reason for patenting the dock is to keep microsoft or any other major competitor from using it though.
- MatthewDuke, on 10/09/2008, -0/+10Did you read the patent application? There are 129 claims (typical patent app. is around 30), they are so detailed and narrow that this patent only stops other companies from copying the OS X doc exactly in every detail. Big woop.
- plainOldFool, on 10/09/2008, -0/+9The Colonel's secret seasoning is a trade secret and has legal protection on IP law.
- Balanced, on 10/09/2008, -0/+9Presumably the patent is for specific behaviors of their dock, not the entire dock concept.
- dragossh, on 10/09/2008, -0/+8They didn't come up with it. It existed in RISC OS before NeXTStep came out.
- so1omon, on 10/09/2008, -0/+8I doubt anyone will read this, since I'm so late to the party... Doesn't anyone actually READ anymore?! Apple didn't patent the concept of a Dock, so all of your bitching and whining about who had a dock first is completely meaningless and irrelevant to the actual patent. They patented a very, VERY specific implementation of the OSX Dock, complete with algorithms for the magnification. And they filed for this patent 9 years ago.
I am not a huge proponent of software patents in general, but for the love of God, people... READ!! - renegadeafk, on 10/09/2008, -1/+9both those screenshots are fakes... every win 7 build looks nearly identical to vista.
- vilago, on 10/09/2008, -2/+10after 19 years you will be able to create it. (the NES patent expired a couple of years ago and companies made improved versions.) its just a system in place to keep people from stealing original ideas and making money off it before the original inventor has the chance to establish production and sell the concept.
- ivansotof, on 10/09/2008, -14/+22Well, If they created.. they can patent it.
- magnet14, on 10/09/2008, -0/+8RTFM
"Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X is a direct descendant of Nextstep." / Wikipedia / - inactive, on 10/09/2008, -2/+10I remember Acorn. What it had was absolutely nothing like any dock you're thinking of, and that citation needed in the wiki article will probably never happen. The first dock familiar to you would have been NeXT Step, and then only just. The very next docks after that were in the directly philosophically opposing "afterstep" and "windowmaker", two NeXT Step GUI clones for Unix and Unix like systems running X11.
Around that time GnuStep came out and never really worked at all, and passed into irrelevancy. And it used WindowMaker's dock anyhow.
So, really NeXT created the dock, and that was Jobs' company, which he sold along with all of its intellectual property to Apple. So yes, the dock does belong to Apple.
Hope this helps. - tupperbacharach, on 10/09/2008, -2/+9@dn11
Apple/Jobs/NeXT did not invent the dock/taskbar.
The first dock/taskbar appeared in Windows 1.01 in 1985: http://toastytech.com/guis/bigw101.gif
It was dropped from Windows soon after, and then appeared in Acorn's Arthur OS in 1987: http://toastytech.com/guis/bigarthur.gif - vilago, on 10/09/2008, -0/+7KFC doesnt patent its recipe, it keeps it a secret among only 2 or 3 of the highest ranking people in the company. that way the secret wont expire the way a patent does. unfortunately, you can't keep something as innovative as the dock a secret!
- judicar, on 10/09/2008, -0/+7You should patent 'not proof reading a post before submitting it'.
- MatthewDuke, on 10/09/2008, -1/+8Big woop, I just wrote a patent on a truck suspension - do you think all trucks now infringe? No. It's so narrow that it only covers my client's invention, that's it. Same with this patent. Read the 129 claims, they are so narrow that they only cover the specific Apple implementation of the OS X doc --> which not coincidentally is exactly how a patent should issue if the examiner is doing his/her job...
- Archer007, on 10/09/2008, -3/+10http://rocketdock.com/
- inactive, on 10/09/2008, -2/+8"google portion of themselves"?
- inactive, on 10/09/2008, -2/+8I learned about patents, copyrights, and company image before I even entered middle school. Though I agree that there are some ridiculous instances of copyright claims, it's kind of foolish to rail against a system that rules everything around you. From the keyboard you typed your comment on, to the screen you viewed before posting, to the chair you're sitting on, to even the very website we're all looking at right now, the intellectual property of others is, generally for a short period of time before it becomes public domain, protected financially in order to encourage innovation.
Read the very last line on this page if you need any further explanation. - cadmiumpaint, on 10/09/2008, -1/+7you can make it smaller and reposition it in the prefs. maybe you should use a piece of software before you knock it.
- MacParrot, on 10/09/2008, -0/+6But...but...but if people on Digg actually read the articles, there would be no snarky off-topic comments!
Where would Digg be THEN! Huh? What then!? - dungbeetle, on 10/09/2008, -8/+14Apple didn't create it so they have no right to the patent. They stole it and now have a patent to a dreadfully obvious piece of software they didn't create (not that software even deserves a patent).
- atgmac, on 10/09/2008, -1/+7It's just so somebody else can't get a patent first and sue Apple. It's a defensive measure.
- inactive, on 10/09/2008, -0/+5I'd argue that point. Something with a remotely similar purpose existed in RISC OS, but understand that RISC OS 2.0 (the first with something with a similar purpose to a dock) came out in 1989---three weeks before the release of the first NeXT machine running NeXT Step--which also had a dock--except something much more like the dock you think of today.
This is generally called "parallel innovation" when the inventions are similar enough. But here, since they're not, it's called "you're splitting hairs and should probably go have a nice sandwich under a tree". - inactive, on 10/09/2008, -0/+5If you can edit a comment you can delete it too :P
The red link on the opposite side of "Save Changes" - inactive, on 10/09/2008, -2/+7It actually doesn't matter at all, and your months are a little messed up. Docks were seen in NeXT Step's first beta at both Carnegie Mellon and U of Chicago just three weeks after the release of RISC OS 2.0.
That's how it's misleading. These were clearly parallel innovations, as *everyone* involved with both projects will (and have) attest(ed). - sjmulder, on 10/09/2008, -2/+7"that is now"
You've got it right there. They applied for the patent in 1999, long before the launch of OS X. Apple can't be blamed here. -
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