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It's easy for competitors to get 10 steps ahead when all they have to do is wait to see what Apple does, implement the same features, add a few of their own.

Thats all apple did, Windows CE phones were there before apples iPhone, the iPhone was just a logical next step, other phones were already heading that way, albeit crippled by the OS choices of Windows CE or Symbian for most smartphones, All apple did was produce a phone that was coming anyway, and put their own OS on it, its the OS that was revolutionary, not the hardware itself (Microsoft for some bizarre reason thought that making windows 95 on a phone was a good idea 0.o)

So now apple is this generations Nokia, soon Samsung or someone else will knock them off this slot, because Apple are now too big, and too scared to make a break into something new, i don't envy them, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't, people will shout and complain no mater what they do.

Saying that, i like my iPhone, and my iPad mini, and my iMac and my Macbook, but i like them for the OS, not the hardware, id much rather have a samsung Galaxy Note 2 , if it ran iOS, or a Nexus 7 if it ran iOS, but im restricted on my hardware choice by the OS i want to use, my next PC will be a hackintosh and ill use my iMac as a monitor, because the iMac is non-upgradable and their is still no sign of a mac-pro

Right now everyone thinks everyone else is copying apple, but before that apple copied someone else, rubber banding for instance ive seen in Amiga applications, many many years ago. Its not new, its just apple in their quest to patent everything put it forward as THIERS... like trying to patent the shape of a tablet PC, or the shape of the Mac Book Air, thats just frivolous patent and copyright TROLLING IMO.
 
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How does any Nexus products have an industrial design?

The Google Chromebook Pixel looks and feels a lot like the MacBook Pro, down to the trackpad (it's one of the few non-Apple trackpads that is actually usable).

Anyway, people forget that it was Apple who decided to use a capacitive touchscreen. Before 2007, touchscreens were mostly resistive. Nokia had concluded that mobile phones didn't need touchscreens (having actually introduced the first touchscreen phone a few years earlier).

"Innovating" isn't just being the first with new features. By that measure, Nokia was the most "innovative" phone maker until 2011. They introduced the first touchscreen phone, the first cameraphone, the first phone with a GPS, the 5MP cameraphone, the 8MP cameraphone (even a 41MP cameraphone), one of the first OLED phones. Yet their products from 2007-2012 were downright bland.

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Errr

That would depend on what the use case is. Is thinner better always? No. Not at the expense of longer battery life. Not necc. at the expense of having better imaging hardware that might require greater depth.

And smaller is almost always better is also based on use case. If smaller was almost always better - big screen phones/phablets wouldn't be as popular as they are right now.

All else equal, thinner is better. Technology gets smaller over time.

"Phablets" seem to be a fad. I think it's an example of "convergence" gone awry. In some respects, it's part of the trend toward miniaturization. People view a 5" phone as being a substitute for both a phone and a tablet. However, it winds up being bulky for a phone and too small for a tablet. Whether it's the smartwatch, Google Glass, or something else, I see a new form factor coming within the next 3-5 years that will end the "phablet" craze.

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Are you kidding. I wish the USPO would toss out MORE software patents. For the most part they are never "inventions" it just style and "look".

Apple needs to create new stuff. It used to be they did that all the time. Now it's just changing the the screen size or making the camera have more pixels. Nothing really new.

What did they release between 2002-2007? A bunch of different iPods in many shapes and sizes. They all played music, and not much else. Nothing really new.
 
I think the volatility in Apple's stock price has little to do with a $1 billion judgment or lack thereof. It was irrationally priced at $700. If it didn't make a meteoric rise and fall but instead rose steadily from $300 3 years ago to $430 now people wouldn't be so worried about the company. People forget it was 6 years between the iPod and iPhone.

Jony Ive is a big part of Apple's success. I like his industrial design, and it is trend setting. Even Google is copying the overall look and feel. And thinner is better. The future is mobile, and smaller is almost always better.

I don't want Apple producing products that do nothing but check off boxes on spec sheets. Design is as much about what you leave out as what you put in.

Spec i don't really care about anymore myself, its why i own an iMac, the ability to replace components that wear out, i do care about which is why i bought a 2011 iMac when i heard about the new 2012 sealed units , apple keep getting these "green" credentials for their equipment when its basically disposable, rather than repairable, i like to have my equipment for years, to pass it down and re-purpose it, apple however want me to bin it after three years and buy a new one.. or if a HDD fails outside of applecare, then its usually not far off cheaper to buy a new machine than get it repaired, im not asking for a high spec, im asking that the Memory, and the HDD be easy to access, and user replaceable in this day and age.

This is worse on the new all SSD models because those SSD chips are going to fail after a few cycles, and i cant even just pop in an off the shelf SSD as a replacement, my only option is going to end up being an expensive Thunderbolt SSD caddy hanging off the back off my iMac, so much the clean lines and nice look Sir Ive !

Thinner is NOT better, not at the expensive of usability by lack of battery life.

http://gizmodo.com/5992917/battery-life-is-the-only-spec-that-matters
 
Plus there's a point when thinner and lighter becomes less a feature and more a waste of time. I think the iPhone 5 is skirting the edge of that. Sure, it could be thinner, and it could be lighter, but assuming there wouldn't be any sacrifices in doing so, what would be the reason for it? I can't think of any advantages it'd bring.

...other than me forgetting it's in my pants, and I end up losing it in the wash.

I used to think that the original iPod was the "perfect" size. Now it looks and feels like a brick. Remember, when the first Motorola "flip phones" seemed so tiny?

I think that the iPhone can get a lot thinner and still be useful. The key will be flexibility. What's getting in the way of usability now is the rigidity. Once flexible screens (and flexible internals) are technologically feasible, we'll see a lot more innovative designs from everyone else.

Anyway, if thinness weren't such a big deal, why is everyone else jumping on board? Even the 5" behemoth phones are getting thinner.
 
Man, slowly, but surely I really would love a "law/patent section" separated from the main page like somebody else in another thread suggested...

I second or third that. Fourth, oh what ever.
 
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Spec i don't really care about anymore myself, its why i own an iMac, the ability to replace components that wear out, i do care about which is why i bought a 2011 iMac when i heard about the new 2012 sealed units , apple keep getting these "green" credentials for their equipment when its basically disposable, rather than repairable, i like to have my equipment for years, to pass it down and re-purpose it, apple however want me to bin it after three years and buy a new one.. or if a HDD fails outside of applecare, then its usually not far off cheaper to buy a new machine than get it repaired, im not asking for a high spec, im asking that the Memory, and the HDD be easy to access, and user replaceable in this day and age.

This is worse on the new all SSD models because those SSD chips are going to fail after a few cycles, and i cant even just pop in an off the shelf SSD as a replacement, my only option is going to end up being an expensive Thunderbolt SSD caddy hanging off the back off my iMac, so much the clean lines and nice look Sir Ive !

Thinner is NOT better, not at the expensive of usability by lack of battery life.

http://gizmodo.com/5992917/battery-life-is-the-only-spec-that-matters

It takes 1000-3000 full cycles for an SSD to become unwriteable. That's a lot more than a "few" and is generally measured in years for a consumer user. How often do you write 256GB of data to your SSD?

As for battery life, if it were truly the only spec that mattered, then why aren't we using 1" thick phones? Wouldn't they get even better battery life, measured in weeks?

PCs are becoming appliances, even more so than they have been for the past 10 years or so. Microsoft knows it. How upgradable is the Surface Pro? Google knows it. How upgradable is any Google Chromebook, even the $1499 ChromeBook Pixel? How upgradable is a Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook (or any Ultrabook, for that matter)?

When's the last time you've upgraded your TV, or refrigerator, or microwave? That's where the PC market is headed.
 
But so far that hasn't happened. Apple has made the phone thinner while improving the battery life.

It's just anecdotal probably, but both my iPhone and my co-workers have markedly worse battery life than our 4S' (regardless if LTE is on/off).
 
The Google Chromebook Pixel looks and feels a lot like the MacBook Pro, down to the trackpad (it's one of the few non-Apple trackpads that is actually usable).

Anyway, people forget that it was Apple who decided to use a capacitive touchscreen. Before 2007, touchscreens were mostly resistive. Nokia had concluded that mobile phones didn't need touchscreens (having actually introduced the first touchscreen phone a few years earlier).

"Innovating" isn't just being the first with new features. By that measure, Nokia was the most "innovative" phone maker until 2011. They introduced the first touchscreen phone, the first cameraphone, the first phone with a GPS, the 5MP cameraphone, the 8MP cameraphone (even a 41MP cameraphone), one of the first OLED phones. Yet their products from 2007-2012 were downright bland..


Yes you are right, the Chromebook borrows a lot from Macbooks but with his tapered edges, it still managed to get a very unique look praised by reviewers.

Most of the things about Nokia you mentioned is just plain wrong thought. IBM had the first touchscreen phone(Simon), Sharp and Kyocera had the first camera phones, the Benefon was the first phone with GPS and Samsung had a 10mpx camera in 2006
 
Thats all apple did, Windows CE phones were there before apples iPhone, the iPhone was just a logical next step, other phones were already heading that way, albeit crippled by the OS choices of Windows CE or Symbian for most smartphones, All apple did was produce a phone that was coming anyway, and put their own OS on it, its the OS that was revolutionary, not the hardware itself (Microsoft for some bizarre reason thought that making windows 95 on a phone was a good idea 0.o)

So now apple is this generations Nokia, soon Samsung or someone else will knock them off this slot, because Apple are now too big, and too scared to make a break into something new, i don't envy them, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't, people will shout and complain no mater what they do.

Saying that, i like my iPhone, and my iPad mini, and my iMac and my Macbook, but i like them for the OS, not the hardware, id much rather have a samsung Galaxy Note 2 , if it ran iOS, or a Nexus 7 if it ran iOS, but im restricted on my hardware choice by the OS i want to use, my next PC will be a hackintosh and ill use my iMac as a monitor, because the iMac is non-upgradable and their is still no sign of a mac-pro

Right now everyone thinks everyone else is copying apple, but before that apple copied someone else, rubber banding for instance ive seen in Amiga applications, many many years ago. Its not new, its just apple in their quest to patent everything put it forward as THIERS... like trying to patent the shape of a tablet PC, or the shape of the Mac Book Air, thats just frivolous patent and copyright TROLLING IMO.

Reading your post, is there ANYTHING you like about Apple? Is there anything original made by Apple?
 
Now where are those armchair patent lawyers who will argue how nobody else on the planet can sue Apple with THEIR patents yet Apple can sue whoever they want with their baseless patents??

Apple doesn't really help itself when it send to the patent office some website links to it's public website to backup it's iPad Mini patent claim! Send an actual product of what you want to patent? Hell No.... :rolleyes:

Anyway it's obvious Apple is in trouble with this rubber band patent otherwise their wouldn't be any issue with it. No smoke without fire. And IMO it should also mean the entire Samsung case is quashed and sent for retrial seeing as this patent was an integral part of Apple's case.

Also interesting how Goldman Sachs also thinks Apple isn't the same recently:

Mr. Shope of Goldman Sachs is also feeling less upbeat about Apple Inc. these days, concerned that the iPhone maker could miss analysts’ expectations for both its March and June quarters. He downgraded the stock to a plain old “buy” from “conviction buy” – its highest rating.

Mr. Shope noted that the most recent products from Apple did not drive the kind of market share and new user growth as prior launches had. Meanwhile, there continues to be a lot of uncertainty related to the timing and impact of Apple’s upcoming products.

“Until this uncertainty is resolved, the stock’s upside potential should be more limited than we previously anticipated,” he said.

But he also thinks downside is limited, too, especially given his belief that the company will soon boost its dividend or make share repurchases thanks to its huge cash reserves.

Target: Mr. Shope cut his price target to $575 from $660 (U.S.). The average target on the Street is $598.71.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...graded-apple-hewlett-packard/article10681903/
 
Mr. Shope of Goldman Sachs is also feeling less upbeat about Apple Inc. these days, concerned that the iPhone maker could miss analysts’ expectations for both its March and June quarters. He downgraded the stock to a plain old “buy” from “conviction buy” – its highest rating.

As much as I like making fun of people who baselessly defend Apple no matter the situation, I also find myself wanting to make fun of the doom and gloom crowd for equal good reasons (not that I'm saying you're one of them, but you're working as a good launchpad right now).

...or the "Oh no! Apple has gone from stupendous to merely excellent. It's all downhill from here folks. I predict Cook, Ives, and Co. will be out on the streets within 2 years" crowd.

No. What we're seeing here is the market correcting itself. You can probably go back to when Apple was trading at $700 a share, and I said it wouldn't last long, to not buy, because it all would eventually drop a bit and balance out. Kinda like what happened to MS during the dot com bubble. Think a few people called me an Apple Hater and a Fandroid for that one...

...BUT LOOK WHO'S LAUGHING NOW! Me! Cuz I didn't buy Apple shares for 700 bucks expecting it to go to $2000 in a couple months.
 
As much as I like making fun of people who baselessly defend Apple no matter the situation, I also find myself wanting to make fun of the doom and gloom crowd for equal good reasons (not that I'm saying you're one of them, but you're working as a good launchpad right now).

...or the "Oh no! Apple has gone from stupendous to merely excellent. It's all downhill from here folks. I predict Cook, Ives, and Co. will be out on the streets within 2 years" crowd.

No. What we're seeing here is the market correcting itself. You can probably go back to when Apple was trading at $700 a share, and I said it wouldn't last long, to not buy, because it all would eventually drop a bit and balance out. Kinda like what happened to MS during the dot com bubble. Think a few people called me an Apple Hater and a Fandroid for that one...

...BUT LOOK WHO'S LAUGHING NOW! Me! Cuz I didn't buy Apple shares for 700 bucks expecting it to go to $2000 in a couple months.

I think Apple is a 400 to 500 dollar company, think 575 is still overpriced, but it's interesting how people proclaim Apple are perfectly fine because of the huge cash pile they have, yet investors will tell you if you want a company with that invest in a bank and not an electronics company!
Yeah, it's funny for those that brought shares at the 700 price, loosing 200 a share is gonna hurt and especially as for the foreseeable future Apple won't reach that level again. I think it is telling that they have noted it is difficult to predict Apple's release schedule now. But with all these warranty issues Apple is having, I wonder if they will be downgraded again yet?
 
oh... jury error...... reboot's their laptops.

This is what happens when you have patents..... companies who constantly fight over each other, and a court who makes mistakes. Of course, these things are difficult, but we made them that way..

Most of the $$$ is spent taken up by patents, so why not let it all go open ? We're just gonna take it anyway, and result in "inconsistent arguments in court" that would have otherwise not have been needed.

This is why i like open source :) nothing to complain about.
 
I think Apple is a 400 to 500 dollar company, think 575 is still overpriced, but it's interesting how people proclaim Apple are perfectly fine because of the huge cash pile they have, yet investors will tell you if you want a company with that invest in a bank and not an electronics company!

The way I figured it, I thought they'd bottom out at $350-400 a share, then maintain that for a decade or more, barring the occasional peaks and valleys.

And no, you never want to put all your eggs in the basket of a consumer electronics company. Even Apple isn't immune to the next-biggest-thing-switch-yesterdays-fad cycle they all seem to go through. It's one of the major reasons why I thought their stocks would eventually start dropping. No one company can be an innovation factory forever, producing heretofore unseen game changing products that capture everyone's imagination year after year after year. Apple deserves props for holding onto that title as long as they have, but eventually even they have to settle into a comfortable product cycle after awhile. And when they do, their big wave stock prices are gonna drop down to just another successful company levels.

They'll eventually turn into what MS became after 2001. A nice, steady long term investment that won't make you rich overnight.

Yeah, it's funny for those that brought shares at the 700 price, loosing 200 a share is gonna hurt and especially as for the foreseeable future Apple won't reach that level again. I think it is telling that they have noted it is difficult to predict Apple's release schedule now. But with all these warranty issues Apple is having, I wonder if they will be downgraded again yet?

They'll see another dip, I'm sure, but it won't be so bad that it'll downgrade their stocks. They're still far too successful and big for something relatively minor like that to hurt them much.
 
Yeah, it's funny for those that brought shares at the 700 price, loosing 200 a share is gonna hurt and especially as for the foreseeable future Apple won't reach that level again.

Nice thought, but shouldn't you mention that Apple's lost $277 per share, not $200?
 
Rubber banding was done on AOL and Amiga Computers.

Those manufacturers already had touch screen phones on their roadmap. Apple was one of the first and had a great UI despite the phone lacking in several other areas.

Most of the things you credit Apple for, Apple stood on the hard work of the industry. You want to thank Apple for it? Ok - But in the very same sentence and breath - thank the Samsungs, Motorolas, Nokias, Palms, etc for all of their $$, R&D, patents, etc which made the iPhone possible.

The iPhone wasn't created out of thin air and without using technologies that weren't already established. Companies that spent years taking risks, invested, collaborated, etc.

You'd think some forum members were born in 2007.

You think people don't know those companies have been doing cell phones for years before Apple? However, those were the same companies who have been stagnating for years. RIM and Motorola almost went bankruptcy after the iPhone and Nokia was losing millions and market share. The only company (Samsung) able to keep up was by copying some things.

People always say previous smartphone had more features than the iPhone. Seriously show me anyone who would go back Window Mobile or Symbian.
 
People always say previous smartphone had more features than the iPhone. Seriously show me anyone who would go back Window Mobile or Symbian.

You're making the assumption that we've left. ;)

Some people buy telephones to make telephone calls - as unbelievable as that may sound.

And Iphones were horrible telephones from the beginning - and only the recent Verizon Iphones have been decent telephones.
 
It was unique, in good ways and bad ways. It was the first smartphone with very responsive capacitative touch screen.

But it was also probably the only smartphone that could not send or receive MMS :p

The LG KE850 (Prada) was the first phone with a capacitive touch screen. It was rubbish but it was the first.

Edit: I know it's already been mentioned but it needs repeating so that those who believe the iPhone was actually something unique when it came out eventually get it into their heads that it wasn't.

It was the best execution of the idea but in no way unique.

People also need to remember that the first couple of generations of iPhone were waaaaaay behind the curve in terms of specs. 3G was everywhere when the iPhone came out but Apple went with EDGE. The camera was also extremely poor compared to other phones around at the time...and not to mention the fact it took them so long to implement as basic features as SMS forwarding and MMS. How long had THEY been around before Apple implemented them.

I liked the original iPhone bit it had plenty of failings.
 
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Come on. Even if you love Apple, you gotta agree that $1 billion is a ridiculous amount for Apple to get. A vast majority of successful tech companies aren't even worth that. Its essentially saying that a small insignificant piece of Apple's intellectual property is worth $1 billion. So a few good ideas from them is worth that much? There are billions of people in this world. Lets say a small amount of them, lets say 1 percent of 1 percent, are blessed to be really smart. Thats a whole lot of smart people coming up with great ideas. Makes you appreciate that ideas are really a dime a dozen. But Apple's ideas are special.:rolleyes:
 
Out of all these patents rubber banding is most apple and is the one that should be plenty patentable!

Everyone moans about apple not innovating but the truth is they have never been more copied than they are now. iOS is stalled because they are only going to have all the ideas assimilated again and sued by someone who claims apple infringed on their patent. Apple hasn't actually won any cases in real terms yet apple is seen as the bad guys.
 
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