Did Apple Steal The iPod?

[JustLikeU]

Apple has admitted it did not invent the iPod. It was in fact the brainchild of a British man who patented his prototype 30 years ago.

The inventor, 52-year-old Mr Kane Kramer, took out a worldwide patent in 1979 for a media player that looked similar to the iPod but could store only 3.5 minutes of music. He named the devide the "IXI" and was hoping to expand its capacity as the available technology advanced.

Unfortunately, Mr Kramer ran out of funds in 1988, and was unable to put come up with the £60,000 needed to renew the patent. That meant his idea fell into the public domain, and Mr Kramer was therefore not entitled to receive any money or recognition from those who used his design.

[CLICK FOR THE FULL STORY, PICS OF ORIGINAL DRAWINGS AND THE LEGAL BATTLE OUTCOME]

 

[Aussie Pete]

Apple has admitted it did not invent the iPod. It was in fact the brainchild of a British man who patented his prototype 30 years ago.

The inventor, 52-year-old Mr Kane Kramer, took out a worldwide patent in 1979 for a media player that looked similar to the iPod but could store only 3.5 minutes of music. He named the devide the "IXI" and was hoping to expand its capacity as the available technology advanced.

Unfortunately, Mr Kramer ran out of funds in 1988, and was unable to put come up with the £60,000 needed to renew the patent. That meant his idea fell into the public domain, and Mr Kramer was therefore not entitled to receive any money or recognition from those who used his design.

[CLICK FOR THE FULL STORY, PICS OF ORIGINAL DRAWINGS AND THE LEGAL BATTLE OUTCOME]

Cannot really say it was stolen, coz the patent was expired. I think Kane Kramer would be very sad now given how many millions he could've made. Will be interesting to see what Apple is offering him now, considering they probably don't legally owe him anything.

 

[johnny333]

Didn't Apple pay Creative in an out of court settlement?

You mean Creative stole the idea & Apple paid the wrong party

 

[Aussie Pete]

Didn't Apple pay Creative in an out of court settlement?

You mean Creative stole the idea & Apple paid the wrong party

Yeh, they did pay an out of court settlement, now they've agreed to pay Kane Kramer compensation for use of his drawings... he's a pretty poor guy, so it'll be interesting to see what they offer (maybe we'll never know) :p

 

[johnny333]

Yeh, they did pay an out of court settlement, now they've agreed to pay Kane Kramer compensation for use of his drawings... he's a pretty poor guy, so it'll be interesting to see what they offer (maybe we'll never know) :p

If Apple is paying what about Creative?

 

[Aussie Pete]

If Apple is paying what about Creative?

Dunno. Guess not their problem now.

 

[fallen_angel]

where was it mentioned as "Burst" over there, whereas its mentioned as "Creative" here??

 

[tonychat]

If Apple is paying what about Creative?

You expect a sinkie to perform first world actions like being honorable and unselfish? Fat hope.

 

[silverspoon]

creative is not doing very well....has not been posting profile for the last few quarters......

i wonder if they go down...will government step in and help?

 

[po2wq]

... The inventor, 52-year-old Mr Kane Kramer, took out a worldwide patent in 1979 ...

Unfortunately, Mr Kramer ran out of funds in 1988, and was unable to put come up with the £60,000 needed to renew the patent ...

really xpensive 2 maintain a patent ...

 

[BlueCat]

feel so sorry for him.
if he can maintain the patent,he would have being a very rich man by now.

 

[zack123]

Apple has always been associated with the "in" and creative crowd. Somehow stealing a patented product because the owner could not afford to renew his patent is a real low blow and does not reflect well on the company's ethics. If the matter had not been brought up, Apple would have been quietly laughing all the way to the bank.

I believe that it is time that we start to boycott Apple as they have made a real mockery of what it was suppose to represent - creativity and originality.

 

[tonychat]

creative is not doing very well....has not been posting profile for the last few quarters......

i wonder if they go down...will government step in and help?

When a company is so petty in using law to bully others to get money instead of being creative, that is what happen in the end.

 

[Microsoft]

1979... MP3 does not exist... Oni the concept of masking codec... MP3 music oni appear in 1995... and portable MP3 player ain't available until 1998... If it's is 1979, he mus either design it for vioce oni or jus based on imagination, designed something n patent it in advance??

1978/79 is the yr where Sony launched their cassette Walkman...


World 1st commercial MP3 player... 1998

 

[johnny333]

You expect a sinkie to perform first world actions like being honorable and unselfish? Fat hope.

Creative expected Apple to pay them which Apple did.

Now its their turn to pay up what. They may not want to pay up but there is the image of the company to maintain.

 

[ThePlen]

moral of the story is, no point in being the first.