Will Apple be the next SCO or the next Microsoft?

Once again, the ugly realm of patents rears its ugly head, threatening to stiffle or slow down competition…and innovation too. Is Apple right to sue HTC? Take a peek at this hotly commented ZD Net blog post and try to determine who’s in the wrong.

Here’s my take. I actually left the following comment over there:

If it’s true that no one else had these new iPhone-like ideas before it hit the market, then Apple should have the right to defend its patents. Did HTC coincidentally have the same idea for the touch screen? We’ll never know.
How does HTC prove this in a court of law. Very tricky. But what makes Apple “think” that a company like HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Google, Sony et al would not have invented the idea for a touch screen — sooner rather later? Again, very tricky stuff.
Patents suck in the scenario where 2 companies are developing similar technologies but 1 company applies for the patent before the other. That would be a bitter pill to swallow for the other company out in the cold. Wouldn’t it? {source}

Speaking of Microsoft, lawsuits like this reminds me of Microsoft’s legal department insinuating that the free open source Linux operating system has infringed on its numerous intellectual patents. In this situation, I think they’re just worried about free viable alternatives (Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Mandriva, Linux Mint, Fedora et al) eating away at their Windows monopoly and putting the brakes on their multi-billion dollar profiteering.

Heck, I ditched Windows last year — for Linux — so maybe they have reason to be skeered too.

It’s the little things…
Why did I break up with Windows? Well, she just didn’t pay any attention to me. For instance, I’m tired of catching all of her STDs (System Transmitted Diseases) when we’re together. Also, she has this insecure desire to be continually updated with the latest (bug) fixes in order to make me (and her) feel safe and secure about our “relationship.” There are times we’d be “together” and then she’d flip out on me, and get all blue in the face. Sometimes I’d insert my stick (USB) when we go on dates at the cyber cafe, and she’d give me a damn virus even though she’s supposed to have protection – considering she’s been around the block (Windows 95/98/ME/SE/XP) for so long now. You call that love?

In short, she was just a fussy gal that everybody wanted to take for a ride simply because she’s good at “playing games” and performing other unique hard/soft-ware tricks that no one else had an answer for. Plus, she was much cheaper to take home on dates compared to that red hot Apple gal. But I’ve learnt my lesson: You get what you pay for.

Viruses be gone…
All joking aside, I just can’t overemphasize to you all how “LIBERATING” (in more ways than one) it feels to go to a cyber cafe, connect my iBook to the network and not have to bloody worry about viruses. Heck, I’ve always been nervous as hell whenever I insert my USB stick into one of those sleazy Windows PCs at the cyber cafe, and then take it home to my “innocent” desktop PC. I’ve lost count of how many times that damn autorun file has started up upon connecting my USB stick to the home PC. Then, it proceeds to load a nasty virus, worm or trojan horse on my machine. You can see it just by hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL and peeking your process list.

Remember those annoying AdobeR.exe entries? Well, no more worries folks! What’s good about OS X is the fact that it’s based on the rock-solid BSD Unix architecture that goes waaaay back to the 1970s at that great American institution of higher learning: The University of California – Berkeley. Oh, BSD stands for Berkeley Software Distribution.

Mac die hards, reveal yourselves…
Ya know, I’ve read a lot of reviews on a wide range of topics since I became an Internet whore around 1993. Never in this period have I read a review that’s as moving as this one. This dude’s passionate beliefs about Mac computing is truly moving. He’s sold me. See for yourself!

It took awhile for me to understand this article…then it hit me. You can’t write an article about why Vista is better than Mac without your tongue planted firmly in your cheek! Congratulations – you had me going for a bit

The essence of the article is that Microsoft makes broken software intentionally – a blatantly ludicrous concept. It is broken, that is for sure. It is broken because they don’t know how to do it right, don’t want to take the time to do it right, have such powerful marketing that they don’t need to bother…but certainly not because it is better that way. Nobody is customizing Windows XP or vista because it is easier with all the broken parts. They customize it in a huge, costly and never ending effort to compensate for it’s flaws – not to celebrate them. In the Windows World, the word “customize” is a euphemism for “fix.” They do it because they have to.

With the Mac, which just works right out of the box perfectly, there is nothing you need to fix, or “customize” for most people (some gamers and scientific apps aside). Anything you can do on XP/Vista to actually customize usability you can not only do easier on a Mac, but now you can do almost identically with VIsta, because they knock off the Mac OS. But why even bother – the Mac works just fine as is for most people and is easy to learn.

Microsoft has been knocking off the Mac’s usability features for years, and never more “transparently” so than now with the coming of Vista. The real customizations users need aren’t in the user interface anyway – they’re in the hardware – more memory, bigger hard disk,faster graphics – and these days the Mac can keep up with anyone there. A Mac APPEARS less customizable to XP/Vista users only because it doesn’t need to be fixed or customized, but they need a justification to “believe” in. Like many mindless fanatics, so called “believers,” it is a blind act of faith not founded in facts.

That also applies to the more software argument. Other than some very technical, scientific or business apps or some games, most users will never need anything that is not available, and working better, on the Mac. You don’t even need Parallels to switch to Windows, unless it just makes you feel better or saves you the cost of replacing some software you already have. I do audio & video editing, photography and retouching, Powerpoint, flow charts, web development, office apps, you name it – all on the Mac. And there are some things I do now on a Mac and never could do on a PC.

And then there is the experience of FREEDOM the Mac gives you, freedom to get your work done without worrying, freedom from hours every day fighting off viruses and malware, freedom to just love and enjoy your computing experience. There is no price for that, it is quite literally invaluable. So there goes your cheaper PC argument. If you value your time, your “cheap” PC is far more expensive than the highest priced Mac, far too expensive to even be in the running. At minimum wage, a PC user is probably spending over $1,000 a year as a premium or service charge – for the time they spend servicing their own PC. Bill Gates made his billions stepping over the dead bodies of million sof Windows users. Businesses that bought PC’s because they seemed cheaper have been spending untold billions on computer support, repair and maintenance. In terms of total cost of ownership, productivity, reliability and every other measure, Microsoft has stifled industry, crippled innovation and reduced productivity. In the long run, there is never anything really gained by using something cheap and low quality to substitute for a quality, well made and effective product. The short term gains are illusions.

Since its inception, Apple has been reinventing every market paradigm it touched, inspiring innovation and creating new opportunities. The Apple II virtually invented the modern personal computer. The Mac, inspired perhaps by Xerox, reinvented computing. The Laserwriter reinvented publishing and typesetting, with help from Pagemaker. The Newton, though not successful at the time, was a vision of the future of PDA’s and smart phones ultimately leading to the iPhone, which successful or not will reinvent the cell phone for everyone. The iPod reinvented the MP3 player and turned the music industry on its ear. The Intel Mac is just such an opportunity.

What has Microsoft given us – incremental improvements in an operating system that was and still is a bad knock off of the Mac/Xerox concept? Crushing innovation and competition to the point they were investigated by the Justice Dept.? An OS so full of holes that it can never be secure (perhaps intentionally- ever wonder what happened to the vigorous pursuit of MS by the Justice Dept., and why they suddenly didn’t feel a need to keep pushing the industry for a “back door” into all computers in the name of national security?). Office apps that basically just copied, bought out or scavenged, and destroyed other existing products that were actually less bloated and better in some ways? The Xbox? Well, ok, I’ll give them that one.

I have a Powerbook G5, which I will keep another few years since I have learned to love life without anything from Microsoft (I love using open source software). I wouldn’t exchange even this slightly older Mac for the latest high-end Vista notebook … though I would consider donations of a new MacBook

What about you? Are you now convinced that Mac computing is the greatest thing since sliced bread, Barrack Obama, Bal en Blanc, The Winter Music Conference, The World Electronic Music Festival, and House Music? I knew you’d see things my way.

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Related links:

• Review: Mac OS X Shines In Comparison With Windows Vista
• Vista vs. OS X? We want to hear from readers
• Apples Tiger vs. Windows Vista: Who Comes Out Ahead?
• Windows Vista Beta: A lot like Mac OS X
• CrunchGear.com – Apple vs. The World: OS X or Vista?