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Yeah he's trolling hard. In the UK flaunting wealth is frowned upon, even borderline offensive. Trying to look wealthy is something that low income workers with inferiority complexes do and it makes you look like a ****.

Linking well to those reports that Apple consumers had less money than users of other OS's i guess.. Assuming they were indeed legit when posted.

Regardless, Apple has "cool". However, "cool" isnt something that typically last forever, and pressure to keep blasting everything away is ever increasing. If (more, when) Apple loses its cool* i wouldnt be surprised if we saw the same kind of flock-mentality behavior geared towards a different company - whos products become the "must have of the time". "Cool" is a very powerful thing to have.

* ironically the mere fact that "everyone has an iphone", can be what makes the iphone lose its cool. this explains why to remain "cool" you need to seriously outperform yourself and everyone else. Fragile mojo cool is!
 
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I am just saying how things come across my side of the pond, in America things might be different attitudes but in the UK people like to show off and flaunt what they have and status and being assumed of as wealthy is a massive reason why people buy Apple products in the UK.

In the UK if you shop at certain stores you are sneered at, buy your food from Aldi, Netto, Lidl or Asda you will be thought of as a chav/pikey (trailer trash in your country) but buy at Waitrose you will be thought of as wealthy which is why Waitrose profits are at an all time record high, go to Poundland you will be thought of as a benefit claimant, shop at Primark you will be laughed at and shame cast upon you so people like to make big fashion statements and wealth statements by buying Apple phones and tablet computers so they are considered wealthy by people in the streets.

There is an extreme hate in the UK for the poor and the jobless, people like to look wealthy which is one of the big reasons Apple does so well

Don't know where in the UK you live, but where I am in Essex this just isn't true. Those people that I know who like to flaunt their wealth are generally those who don't have any. Its a result of our "want it all now" culture and is no indication of true wealth/status. Those who have true wealth generally don't flaunt it (with some exceptions).

And sneering at people who use certain supermarkets? I'm guessing your young (sub-30) as making a judgement on someone dependent on where they shop seems pretty immature. I'm middle class and use most of the shops you mentioned, would you view me as a chav if you saw me coming out of one?
 
Don't know where in the UK you live, but where I am in Essex this just isn't true. Those people that I know who like to flaunt their wealth are generally those who don't have any. Its a result of our "want it all now" culture and is no indication of true wealth/status. Those who have true wealth generally don't flaunt it (with some exceptions).

And sneering at people who use certain supermarkets? I'm guessing your young (sub-30) as making a judgement on someone dependent on where they shop seems pretty immature. I'm middle class and use most of the shops you mentioned, would you view me as a chav if you saw me coming out of one?

I live in a place where there is a university (Kingston) and you always see the uni students swaggering about the High St with iPhone's and iPad's on full display for everyone to see in a "look at me" fashion, that is why I mentioned up to age 24 as that is age a lot tend to leave uni at, Kingston is not the most prestige university so the fact a lot of students are flash with their Apple gear makes me think they are trying to give an impression of being wealthy

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And sneering at people who use certain supermarkets? I'm guessing your young (sub-30) as making a judgement on someone dependent on where they shop seems pretty immature. I'm middle class and use most of the shops you mentioned, would you view me as a chav if you saw me coming out of one?

I don't personally but all you have to do is read Digital Spy forums (500,000 UK users) and the Daily Mail comments sections and you willl see there is incredible snobbery towards types of supermarkets people shop in
 
@CWT1965

I usually don't post much but man the stuff you post is just amazing. I'm giving you the thumbs up for useless replies.
 
That is the kind of defense that Samsung really, really shouldn't use. First, because Apple can point them to plenty of tablets that do _not_ copy the iPad. Second, because it would take Jon Ives three days to come up with three different tablet designs that don't look like an iPad.

Maybe, but I just gave a couple of examples of tablets that look like the iPad ......that PREDATED the iPad !

You can't ignore the facts.

Look and feel my ass Apple !
 
I always lol at those ppl that leave their apple products out in the open for every one to see. So many ppl walk out of the appl store without a bag so every one can see what amazing expensive thing they bought. I tried it with my iPad once. It really works, so many ppl r looking after u on the tram etc lol
 
I always lol at those ppl that leave their apple products out in the open for every one to see. So many ppl walk out of the appl store without a bag so every one can see what amazing expensive thing they bought. I tried it with my iPad once. It really works, so many ppl r looking after u on the tram etc lol

Same, they deserve to be mugged if they flash it about in public trying to impress people
 
Maybe, but I just gave a couple of examples of tablets that look like the iPad ......that PREDATED the iPad !

You can't ignore the facts.

Except the Community Design registration that Apple is suing over in Germany dates back to 2004. Any prior art needs not just pre-date the iPad, but needs to pre-date that paper.
 
Except the Community Design registration that Apple is suing over in Germany dates back to 2004. Any prior art needs not just pre-date the iPad, but needs to pre-date that paper.

Like the Knight Ridder and the Compaq used by the dutch judge to dismiss Apple filing
 
Even the HP Touchpad infringes on this. It's surprising that Apple is only going after Samsung though.

Not surprising as "the other Steve" showed this Prototype on CES 2010 a couple of weeks before the iPad was even announced:
01-06BallmerCES_lg.jpg


In the end this whole case will go away simply because the "Geschmacksmuster" (sort of a Patent on design) will be voided because of too much prior art. (This type of design Patent is granted in the EU without a check for prior Art, but will only be voided if someone challenges it, which I'm pretty sure a lot of Manufacturers are willing to do, just to be safe to still sell their Monitors, E-Frames etc...)

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Except the Community Design registration that Apple is suing over in Germany dates back to 2004. Any prior art needs not just pre-date the iPad, but needs to pre-date that paper.

Well, not completely correct. As this type of IP-protection is granted without a thourough revision it only is enforceable from the time the one who was awarded the "patent" has made the design public in the form of a prototype, a final product or a broad publication. In short the informed Public has to be aware of the design.

This time Apple's secrecy may hurt them bigtime.
 
Not surprising as "the other Steve" showed this Prototype on CES 2010 a couple of weeks before the iPad was even announced:
Image

In the end this whole case will go away simply because the "Geschmacksmuster" (sort of a Patent on design) will be voided because of too much prior art. (This type of design Patent is granted in the EU without a check for prior Art, but will only be voided if someone challenges it, which I'm pretty sure a lot of Manufacturers are willing to do, just to be safe to still sell their Monitors, E-Frames etc...)

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Well, not completely correct. As this type of IP-protection is granted without a thourough revision it only is enforceable from the time the one who was awarded the "patent" has made the design public in the form of a prototype, a final product or a broad publication. In short the informed Public has to be aware of the design.

This time Apple's secrecy may hurt them bigtime.

last part is indeed very interesting, if true. would make sense though.
 
Not surprising as "the other Steve" showed this Prototype on CES 2010 a couple of weeks before the iPad was even announced:
Image

That's the HP Slate, not the HP TouchPad. Different products. They did market and sell the HP Slate shown here with Windows late last year.

In fact, it's still listed on their site for a whopping 799$ :

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/e...267-3955550-4332585.html?jumpid=in_r602_slate

As for your comment about prior art on the Community Design registration, I'll have to take your word for it. I'm neither European nor a lawyer.
 
Don't know where in the UK you live, but where I am in Essex this just isn't true. Those people that I know who like to flaunt their wealth are generally those who don't have any. Its a result of our "want it all now" culture and is no indication of true wealth/status. Those who have true wealth generally don't flaunt it (with some exceptions).

And sneering at people who use certain supermarkets? I'm guessing your young (sub-30) as making a judgement on someone dependent on where they shop seems pretty immature. I'm middle class and use most of the shops you mentioned, would you view me as a chav if you saw me coming out of one?

From my little experience with european culture (Portugal, Italy), I tend to agree with you. Europeans appear to be more conservative in their buying habits. Having only one tv, not-too-brand-new computers, no DSLR cameras or smartphones... I haven't seen as many shopping centers as I can find here. I thought I would find a lot of "gadget stores" but actually I found people living pretty well with their outdated gadgets and brandless clothes. Looks like at least italians and portugueses prefer to spend their time on travels, gastronomy and having a good time in Cafés, pubs, public spaces and so on than investing in the latest iPad.
 
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agree,,,,

... Looks like at least italians and portugueses prefer to spend their time on travels, gastronomy and having a good time in Cafés, pubs, public spaces and so on than investing in the latest iPad.

Wow - "investing in an Itoy"???? What an absurd line! ;)

I agree with your assessment of European preferences, however. I lived in Europe for 8 years, and definitely saw that family/social life was most important. (And "social" meant talking to people face-to-face, not twitting or facebook or SMS.)
 
At first I thought it was just a joke, but now I realize some people truly believe they are buying a luxury item when they buy an iphone or any Apple device. I can honestly say, I feel bad for you.
An iPhone considered to be a status symbol? Really? You have kids in elementary school with iphones and ipods. The thing looks like a kids toy. How can one honestly believe this small, cheap looking, made in China device to be a symbol of status? You have hand held gaming devices like the PSVita that cost more. An iphone4 is only $100 on contract and the SGS2 is $170 on the same contract. And the 3Gs is $0. Wake up, and start living in the real world people. Anyone who cares to have an iphone can and will have one. Your average Joe can easily have one. What a joke.
 
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At first I thought it was just a joke, but now I realize some people truly believe they are buying a luxury item when they buy an iphone or any Apple device. I can honestly say, I feel bad for you.
An iPhone considered to be a status symbol? Really? You have kids in elementary school with iphones and ipods. The thing looks like a kids toy. How can one honestly believe this small, cheap looking, made in China device to be a symbol of status? You have hand held gaming devices like the PSVita that cost more. An iphone4 is only $100 on contract and the SGS2 is $170 on the same contract. And the 3Gs is $0. Wake up, and start living in the real world people. Anyone who cares to have an iphone can and will have one. Your average Joe can easily have one. What a joke.

Europeans, bar Brits perhaps, are not as credit-trigger-happy (in some countries i'd say that even having credit is frowned upon). Further, tech in general costs 50% more in Europe compared to the states. Unlike others, i'd like to say that we also have a tendency to look past advertisements and think about the total cost of ownership... that last part may not hold true anymore though.

TL;DR: Europeans are less inclined to live over their expenses, unlike Americans (and to an extent, Brits) who (perhaps due to their system) seem quite happy to over-consume.

Disclaimer: Ok, i know that Europe is way to culturally heterogeneous to broadly generalize it like above, but i still think the post holds some truth - especially so for its northern parts (which culture i am the most familiar with).
 
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