November 18, 2000
5:23 PM   Subscribe

When asked, Apple said "Of course we're going to sue them, what sort of silly question is that?"
posted by baylink (19 comments total)
 
Sheesh. There's design influence and then there's outright duplication.

Which reminds me -- I don't understand why people say Apple ripped off the Cobat Qube. It's obviously the same shape, but the "marketplace confusion" argument just isn't as strong as here and in the iMac clone lawsuits.
posted by jragon at 5:41 PM on November 18, 2000


Er, Cobalt.
posted by jragon at 5:41 PM on November 18, 2000


Wait 'till the Borg find out Apple ripped them off. Man, they're gonna be pissed.
posted by shylock at 9:22 PM on November 18, 2000


The moment I realized that the cube looks like doorstop from" Logan's Run," I suddenly didn't want one.
posted by lileks at 10:10 PM on November 18, 2000


I think it says something about Apple's computers that they think they have to aggressively defend the design of the case.

It seems like the only way Apple can distinguish themselves anymore is with pretty plastic, since they've fallen badly behind in performance, and have been stagnating for nearly a year.

posted by Steven Den Beste at 10:56 PM on November 18, 2000


Oh, here we go.

I'll let someone else battle for the better platform this time around. I'm a bit busy with a Flash project.
posted by jragon at 11:10 PM on November 18, 2000


I encourage the inevitability of this thread to deteriorate into a Mac vs PC war of words that resolves nothing. I find such travesties of justice to this grand forum to be amusing. Besides you're all wrong. The abacus still beats both of them fair and square.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:56 AM on November 19, 2000


Two words: Trade dress. You betcha that if, say, Gateway had come up with the Cube, they'd be suing the ass off of Komodo too. Ain't a platform issue. So, can we have a meaningless discussion of how copyright law is an outmoded relic of the past instead?
posted by darukaru at 9:10 AM on November 19, 2000


Well, then I can sue Apple and Komodo too, because I drew up pictures of a cube computer about 5 years ago. I have dated sketches, and they can be verified by at least two people.

What Apple needs to do is make their mark in other areas. I mean, heck, TVs all look alike by design, and you don't see TV manufacturers suing each other. "Sharp Sues Sony for New TV Design" would be nuts.

Should there be an exception because the Apple Cube is new? No. People can tell the difference. Sheesh.
posted by hijinx at 11:47 AM on November 19, 2000


Oh, darukaru, I don't know. Maybe we should have a meaningless discussion of how trademark law is outmoded instead.
posted by dhartung at 12:21 PM on November 19, 2000


dhartung wins! Sorry, I had a brainfart. But all intellectual property law is outmoded anyway, so. ;)

hijinx: did you put your cube design into production? As far as I can tell, trade dress protection only extends to actual products.
posted by darukaru at 12:37 PM on November 19, 2000


You're right, all TVs look the same. So do PC towers. However, when you have a product that's absolutely brand new and innovative, you often get a lot of money off of it. It's hard to make an argument that the iMac would have been so wildly successful if it looked just like a beige PC.

Other companies should look to this kind of daring new design and be inspired to work on their own great new designs. It pushes everyone to a higher level, and ultimately the customers benefit from it.

On the other hand, duplicating a design outright is theft. The shape of a cube is nothing new, but the appearance of the G4 Cube, like platinum encased in ice, is. It deserves to be protected.
posted by jragon at 1:04 PM on November 19, 2000


haha shylock.....

It still boggles my mind of why other companies would want to copy the design of something from Apple. Then it looks like they too must rely on pretty boxes in order to compensate for sucky systems in general....something Apple has become known for.
posted by grank at 2:39 PM on November 19, 2000


Yep, its a box, alright. No doubt about it.

posted by lagado at 5:12 PM on November 19, 2000


darukaru - I also drew a big fab, does that count?

In seriousness, though, the internal architecture of "my" cube was substantially different than Apple's. I wonder, similarly, if Komodo's is substantially different from Apple's.

jragon, you bring up valid points. Instead of trying to duplicate the cube and iMac, companies should try to surpass it. We're now mired in a world with colored translucent things. My answering machine is blue, phone covers are flourescent, I can see through some watches. (Not because I have x-ray vision.) Time to move on.
posted by hijinx at 6:23 PM on November 19, 2000


Intel has a few concept PC's they're working on.
posted by Cavatica at 4:34 AM on November 20, 2000


I thought the cube was designed so that it doesn't need a fan. Doesn't the architecture of the cube control the air flow so that it doesn't overheat? If that's the case, is that part of the design patented by Apple? If it isn't patented, then isn't this like having another company create another plane -- with a cylindrical shape and wings, but with a different skin and engine?
posted by aprilgem at 11:11 AM on November 20, 2000


A cylindrical shape, with wings, with a different engine....are we talking about planes or computers?
posted by grank at 12:43 PM on November 20, 2000


uhh wait.....nm I'm retarded. I totally misread what you said :P
posted by grank at 1:12 PM on November 20, 2000


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