Since Samsung supply a lot of the physical hardware to Apple, most of the award will be recovered in other ways. The broader problem is more one for consumers though, since the verdict will have a chilling effect on the market place. In time other companies will develop extensive patent portfolios in the phone business too, and Apple itself is going to find it increasingly difficult to move forward if those companies get too pissed off.
When competitors sue each other it usually has nothing to do with innovation and everything to do with removing competition. Apple might say that they are the great innovators, and if you say something often enough people come to believe it, but the truth is all they do is copy and repackage other people's ideas, then call them their own. If you look at smart phones, most of the actual cutting edge technology is on the Andriod phones, not iPhones, they are the ones driving advance and innovation. And they are doing it through competition, which Apple wants to suppress because they know that is a losing game for them.
The effect of eliminating competition in the market place is to dramatically cut the rate at which new technology appears and to increase prices.
IMO the patent system as it stands has a stiffling effect. I think it should be in place for actual physical inventions, because those take real significant resources to develop. But when it comes to appearance, ways of doing things or software, those sorts of patents, if they are admitted at all, need to be extremely narrow.
We as consumers have been the big winners of this competition. Irrespective of whether you are iPhone, Android or Windows phone fans you have gained better machines from the Apple/Android battle. This verdict is a huge loss to the consumers, and we are all going to pay for it.
When competitors sue each other it usually has nothing to do with innovation and everything to do with removing competition. Apple might say that they are the great innovators, and if you say something often enough people come to believe it, but the truth is all they do is copy and repackage other people's ideas, then call them their own. If you look at smart phones, most of the actual cutting edge technology is on the Andriod phones, not iPhones, they are the ones driving advance and innovation. And they are doing it through competition, which Apple wants to suppress because they know that is a losing game for them.
The effect of eliminating competition in the market place is to dramatically cut the rate at which new technology appears and to increase prices.
IMO the patent system as it stands has a stiffling effect. I think it should be in place for actual physical inventions, because those take real significant resources to develop. But when it comes to appearance, ways of doing things or software, those sorts of patents, if they are admitted at all, need to be extremely narrow.
We as consumers have been the big winners of this competition. Irrespective of whether you are iPhone, Android or Windows phone fans you have gained better machines from the Apple/Android battle. This verdict is a huge loss to the consumers, and we are all going to pay for it.
