Some of the biggest complaints about the new Google phone is its lack of multi-t0uch interface. You can thank Apple for that.
Palm is trying now to figure out how to not have the bejezus sued out of itself for having multi-touch capabilities on their soon-to-be-shipped Pre phone. You can also thank Apple for that.
It all stems from Patent No. 7,479,949 (originally filed in September 2007) that covers the multi-touch interface and all its gestures (swipe, pinch, rotation, etc.) that are used on the iPhone.
How heavily is Apple going to protect this new patent? The day after the patent was awarded, Apple COO Tim Cook warned any potential iPhone competitors about Apple's stance: "...[Apple] will not stand for having our (intellectual property) ripped off, and we'll use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal."
Whoa, Tim - don't blow a gasket, man! We know you guys came up with the multi-touch interface and that it's THE competitive advantage that sets the iPhone apart from all the other handset makers. Relax!
Yes, we all know Steve is on leave, and you don't want anyone to accuse you of sinking the ship while he's gone - but dude, take a chill.
There's this really cool thing - it's called "licensing." See, here's how it works: you retain ownership of the intellectual property and then you "license" it to other people so they can use it in their handsets as well. This way you make an absolute boatload of money, and the general consumer wins by getting a device that's really useful.... oh. Wait. Now I get it.
You figure that since every other handset maker on EARTH can come up with a much more feature-laden handset at a much lower price... that if you license the multi-touch stuff to them - then no one will ever buy another iPhone again?
Yeah, you got me there.
The good news is that your stock would be able to break 100 and you would have "recurring revenue" (that's where you make money over time rather than on one-off purchases). Hmmmm.... but what about the fact that you're now using that multi-touch stuff in your trackpads on your laptops as well?
This whole "licensing" thing might mean that other companies might come out with a device that would clean your clock, right? Something... oh I don't know... like a netbook with a 10.5 inch screen that would operate as a laptop, phone, tablet, music player, etc.?
Yeah, you got me again.
So, hats off to the foresight to Mr. Jobs again - it looks like it will be a Small Apple World after all.
2 comments:
Why would Apple want to change their ways this late in the game? I say dance w/ the guy you came with and let ingenuity figure out a way to produce as good / better end user experience in a different way. Like Microsoft's Surface - clearly pre-dates Apples' patent and used cameras to produce multi-point touch capabilities. Things could get interesting if Apple fights the Gorilla on larger format LCD platforms.
Why would Apple want to change their ways this late in the game? I say dance w/ the guy you came with and let ingenuity figure out a way to produce as good / better end user experience in a different way. Like Microsoft's Surface - clearly pre-dates Apples' patent and used cameras to produce multi-point touch capabilities. Things could get interesting if Apple fights the Gorilla on larger format LCD platforms.
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