03 September 2012

Apple v Samsung - a rant (sorry)


Do you remember the stunning "1984" advert Apple ran to promote the Mac against the then-ubiquitous IBM PC?

Well, now that Apple is the biggest company in the world, and has the biggest market share in tablets and smartphones, it seems it won't stop until it owns the WHOLE market for tablets and smartphones. Sounds like IBM used to act.

Surely, Mr Cook, you can leave some space for other manufacturers? We customers do like a little choice, and I don't mean how much memory our iPad has. Patenting absolutely everything AND THEN REFUSING REASONABLE LICENCING TERMS doesn't make sense.

Nokia earns over $500 million a year for licensing patents to companies like Apple. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/may/14/nokia-falls-back-on-patents)

Nokia won against Apple in court over licencing and Apple agreed terms. So Apple is prepared to come to agreements over licencing patents. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13759612

It is rumoured that Nokia now makes more profit when Apple sells an iPhone than it does from selling one of its own phones. If Apple agreed reasonable terms with companies like Samsung, say $5 per device to cover all patents, it would be very lucrative for Apple too. 

The whole patent litigation action in the IT world is making ordinary users very fed up. It is just a serious waste of money and a distraction for these manufacturers who should be spending their time and money on innovation and bringing new products to market.

21 March 2012

My job, a poem

I work as a temp in IT.
(That doesn't spell 'it' but 'eye tea'.)
That's computers and stuff
And it can be quite tough
To get home on time. Dearie me!