Apple Executive Says Samsung Copied the iPhone and Simply 'Put a Bigger Screen Around It'

[mpavilion]

And the myth lives on…

Did Steve Jobs steal everything from Xerox PARC? - Mac History

It is claimed again and again that in the course of the Macintosh’s development, Apple just resorted to the ideas the research laboratory Xerox PARC had hatched before. Fact or Fiction? The myth entwines about a late 1979 visit to Xerox PARC by a group of Apple engineers and executives led by...

www.mac-history.net

That’s an interesting link – but to be fair, the article concludes with an Andy Hertzfeld interview validating the quote:

AH: Oh there was nothing like that; Steve Jobs has a good quote. It’s actually a Picasso quote that he often cites; he cited it at one of our retreats which was sort of good artists copy; great artists steal. And what that means is that when you’re passionate about what you’re doing you’ll take ideas from anywhere and with no guilt. You want to make the best possible thing and that was our mentality.

 

[Kuroko]

As a customer, I am happy they did, competition is good for me.

*for those whore disliking my comment, please tell me how competition is bad for you unless you’re an Apple shareholder. And by the way, almost every gadget, machine, and accessory I use is made by or related to Apple but the PS5.

I didn’t dislike your comment, but I disagree with your statement about “competition is good for me.” I don’t think Samsung was “competing” with Apple in the same sense that competition helps consumers, generally speaking. I also don’t think Samsung copying the iPhone is the same as Apple copying the Xerox GUI. Apple used the Xerox GUI idea, but took it and ran further with it than Xerox had (by bringing it to market, making a full computer and OS around it, etc.)
Samsung, when the initially copied the iPhone, literally just copied it. The court documents showed they didn’t try to take what Apple had done and improve upon it. They just copied it wholesale. (That being said, I agree that their move to a larger screen is a good example of building on something and making it better.)

I also fully disagree in Samsung’s claim that they have to copy, because there’s no other way to make a smartphone. That’s only true because no one has yet. Prior to the iPhone, companies would fight over screen and button designs, because THOSE designs were regarded as the “only design for a phone.”

IMO, if Samsung wanted to innovate, they would have come up with a novel design. If they wanted to truly compete, they would have taken the design and gone beyond it. Instead, they just copied it. And while that helps us (consumers) from a price standpoint, it doesn’t from an experience of function stand point. AND it muddies the waters regarding IP, which can further stifle innovation. I think Samsung is doing interesting stuff now, and that is contributing to some good competitive advancements for us. But back then, I think we could have benefitted more, had Samsung dig a little deeper and tried to one-up Apple.

 

[CarAnalogy]

iPads did exist at the time, of course. It wasn't the only way to experience their processor and software, the iPad screen was 9.7-inches in size. I know you're talking about phones, but if we're gonna be accurate, let's be accurate, it wasn't the only way to experience it.

The first few ipads weren’t exactly powerhouses.

The specific incident I’m referring to was I believe the 5S launch, when they were talking up how amazing the processor is, etc. The screen was high quality but at that particular moment in history, it was also tiny.

 

[svish]

Happy to see larger screen iPhones of today! Good to see Samsung as a competitor.

 

[DanVM]

You obviously haven’t used a Surface as a tablet… If Apple had copied the Surface experience than the iPad would have pretty quickly ceased to exist… 🙄

The Surface tablet experience in the 2015 Surface Pro 4 had multitasking in the touch UI, the Pen, Windows Hello and keyboard with touchpads. Since then, Apple have been catching up with these features (multitasking, Pencil, Face ID, Magic Keyboard). Definitely Apple have been copying the Surface tablet experience. IMO, as today, Apple has a better tablet, but the Surface is a better device as soon as you connect a keyboard.

 

[nwcs]

That’s an interesting link – but to be fair, the article concludes with an Andy Hertzfeld interview validating the quote:

The quote is absolutely legitimate. It’s the idea that Apple stole everything from Xerox that I was pointing out.

 

[pdoherty]

Everyone knew what was happening. It wasn't really hidden. But I will say Samsung/Android didn't just rip off the iPhone and put a bigger screen around it they also took the stance of utilizing gimmicky features as sell points and rushing features to production before perfecting them. I'm not saying that in a bad way, but it's what they did in order to get sales and it really worked well for them. Apple continues to be slower to market with a lot of features, but many, not all, work exponentially better than features on other phones. There isn't a right or wrong in which route a consumer goes, it's merely a preference.

One feature Apple still doesn’t have right, that Android has had right for years, is the dictionary of words used when SWYPing text input. On an Android, if it gives you an odd word for a given SWYPE and you’d prefer not to see that word used for auto-replacement anymore you can type part of the offending word (letter-by-letter) and when you see the suggestion of that word, press and hold and choose to delete it from the word library/dictionary. Apple doesn’t do this and continually replaces standard words with dumb ones (completely ignoring context). Like I could be typing a text and saying ”How about we go to the mall and then to dinner?” and the word ‘and’ is replaced with ‘Andy’.

 

[pdoherty]

And then Apple copied Microsoft to turn the iPad into a Surface-clone.

Everybody copies everybody.

Agreed. And the idea that the external appearance of a rectangular slab of plastic with a screen is somehow innovative is a bit silly.

 

[pdoherty]

Didn't Jobs copy a lot from Xerox ? LOL ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal.’

Yep. The idea of a graphic interface and mousing came from their PARC labs. Apple was barely first in that regard, anyway, with their rudimentary black and white screen and basic OS affair. The Amiga came out in 1985 with 4,096 color display, GUI and syntactical interface, and pre-emptive multitasking.

 

[pdoherty]

it is like saying all cars have 4 wheels, so Tesla is same as hind civic all have 4 wheels.

If Honda sued Tesla for making a car with wheels like they had invented the idea of wheels, the analogy of Apple suing Samsung because their phone looked similar would be complete.

 

[maxoakland]

Didn't Jobs copy a lot from Xerox ? LOL ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal.’

Apple paid Xerox a licensing fee for their technology so it’s not the same

I still think overall it was probably better for everyone that Samsung copied Apple. It’s not like Apple is hurting

 

[ponzicoinbro]

Apple and Samsung both made each other better

Technically they all copied Palm which copied Newton which copied…something something and we keep going back hundreds of years until we get clay tablets 😂. It all began here.

 

[M3dad]

Honestly IMO I'm happy that Samsung copied Apple as it helped evolve iPhones to the current design with unique features. I'm using iPhone 13 Pro as My Main Device and use Samsung S22 Ultra for Work and watching Movies so I enjoy both of them

 

[planteater]

That’s exactly what kept me away from iPhone for so long. The tiny little piss ant screens they had back then.

 

[daveathall]

There's too much "Apple perfects tech or functions before it releases them" sentiment, Apple is either slow or holding back to maximise profit, how hard was it to make a larger screen and what needed perfecting? Here is the thing, a phone makes phone calls, it has programmes (apps) and the most ergonomic shape to fit a hand is a rectangular device, one could claim that anything that is similar in shape and function is a copy. Good job wrist watches are not argued about the form and function in the same way, a round mechanical device that tells the time just seems the right way to do things, who copied who?

Just for context, I am typing this on a MBP, my wife is browsing our iPad, both our iPhones are in the same room (mine is charging on its Apple wireless charger) and my air pod pro's are in my sports bag in the hall way. I originally got my iPhone because it works well with my hearing aids, my next phone will probably be a Samsung (I have had them before) because Apple has stood still (again) in development of the iPhone. I enjoy tech and try and buy the best, atm, the iPhone isn't in the "best" category, in my opinion. Cue all those that have never had an Android phone with "yeh but there's lag" and quality issues, hate to burst bubbles, but there just isn't.

 

[laptech]

Maybe Sony could say the same thing about Apple with regards to Sony's Walkman range of MP3/Video/Camera mobile phones that came out years before Apple's iphone in that 'Apple copied the Walkman and simply but a better lcd touch screen on it'.

 

[koruki]

Copied yes, but Apple crippled their first large screen iPhone by using the same amount of RAM (1GB) for what was the third year in a row, since they knew they would still sell incredibly well.

The 6s then turned out to be a much better phone. I don’t recall Samsung crippling their devices in that manner. Plus, thanks to them, we have larger screens.

thats cause Samsung's phone would be unusable with that little RAM since they have no idea how to optmise the OS