Has Apple Really Ever Invented Anything?
 

Who is this guy?

Put horns on him and give him a red complexion, LOL.

Wonderful and informative video.

Around 17:00, he talks about Apple harassing other companies with their patent battles and goes on to say Samsung, Intel doesn't do stuff like this. Wow, what a noob. The tech industry didn't just begin in 2010 when the current generation of smart phones caught your attention, Mr. johnny-come-lately gadget loser. The playbook for IP infringement suits had been written long before this iteration of battles.

Going back in time, I think this reflects why Samsung made $5.9 Bees last quarter as opposed to the other companies who were too busy joking around at the time.

IPhone created

lets make something like the iphone

fixes issue by using android software.

I know what Apple invented... the ipod, ipad, macbook, imac, mac pro...etc.

Apple actually invented a lot of things, and to say that they didn't is a lie.



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Robert Kearns: Look. I got a dictionary here. I haven't checked, but I would guess that every word that's in this book can be found in this dictionary.

PhD guy:Well, I suspect that's probably true.

RK: Okay, so then you agree that there's not, probably a single new word in this book.

PhD Guy:Well, I don't know, but that's probably true.

RK:All Charles Dickens did was arrange them into a new pattern, isn't that right?

PhD:Well, I admit I haven't, thought about it in that way.

RK:But Dickens did create something new, didn't he? By using words. The only tools that were available to him. Just as almost all inventors in history have had to use the tools that were available to them. Telephones, space satellites all of these were made from parts that already existed, correct, Professor? Parts that you might buy out of a catalog.

PhD: Technically that's true, yes, but that does...

RK: No further questions.

I will first state that I did not watch the video as I am sure it will be a biased point of view anyway from someone who does not actually know the phone market.

I will state second that I am not a huge fan of Apple products going back to the days in elementary school when I had to learn on those crap computers....I do get why we learned on them as they were 'more simple'...but still hated them.

In my mind Apple has never really invented anything other than one of the best marketing strategies ever created. The Ipod which is essentially just a way better MP3 player is not an invention, it was an improvement on something already on the market...they were just able to 'invent' desire for it better and enhance better features.

The same thing can be said for their imac/macbooks/ect....THEY ARE JUST LAPTOPS!!! However they created a desire to want to be seen with them as they function no different then something half their price.

For their Ipads....they were able to make something sleeker then what was previously on the market...I have had an Acer table since 2005 and that thing is big and bulky BUT with a windows OS and it essentailly does the same thing...so an invention? no not really....but was it massive improvement on something on the market? Yes it was.

Now for their Iphone...The only reason why the Iphone IMO is so successful is the fact that North Americans were deprived of quality phones compared to Asia and Europe and Apple saw an opportunity to be first in the market with a far "superior" phone in comparison to what was on the market already. Once again not an invention, just an improvement on something already on the market.

Apple was able to invent though a better App market and a marketing strategy that no other company has been able to do and that is what sets them apart from their competitors.

That guy used to be the pitchman for TigerDirect.

totally agree that Apple has the best marketing out there

but thats the problem, people aren't buying their product mainly for what it can do, they're buying because Apple is marketing as a trend

and because other companies are producing better products now, the only thing they can do to slow them down is to take them to court

Use the correct terminology.

There is a huge difference in the word "invent" vs. "innovate" and "create".

I wouldn't say invent as in make something out of the blue because every inventions is an improvement of something else.
I would say Apple is often one of the first to utilize current technology and put it into consumer goods. Of course, their product coupled with a great marketing and legal patent team makes them look like they invented everything.

Here are some stuff that Apple is first in a high production / demand consumer product:
iPod: High capacity HDD (at that time) and arguably the first successful online music store
iOS: Multi-touch, slide-to-unlock, rubberband effect when scrolling, App store
Mac OS: mouse and mouse pointer, GUI (late 80s / early 90s)
Laptop line up: Unibody construction (somewhat marketing but other companies followed after it), Magnetic charging port
iPad: tablet that runs on a finger based software vs. pointer based software found in competitor tablets.

What Apple do best is to drop current technology and push for change. They dropped:
- 8" Floppy for smaller sized floppy
- Floppy disk for CD/DVD
- Now they are in transition to drop CD/DVD for digital cloud

enjoyed this video, thanks op.

not anything surprising to me. most of this, the majority knows. i've always viewed apple sort of like ikea, all aesthetics. i'll give apple credit for knowing how to sell the fuck out of a product.

I don't have 20 minutes to spare...what's the basis of the argument because patents say otherwise. It doesn't matter who actually invented anything. Patent = everything.

If they mean Apple didn't invent the cell phone, then that's totally true but Apple made the first real smartphone in the iPhone. I owned tons of supposed "smartphones" before the iPhone. I remember dropping $1200 on a Sony P800 in case you think iPhones and Nexus whatevers are expensive. Not a single one came close to that level of usability and interface cleanliness.

Call it marketing all you want but there's a reason everyone copies Apple. Look at ultraportable laptops before the MacBook Air. Look at MP3 players before the iPod. Best example...tablets before the iPad. Tablets sure as hell existed before but they were all 100% awful before the iPad created an entire new market.

they break down more or less everything apple has claimed to invent.

tablets, phones, laptops etc. which company designed it first and which companies help apple produce/invent it. essentially they expose what apple "stole". they never really came up with anything on their own post steve wozniak era. apple just takes existing things and repackages them, kind of like carlos mencia.

^(Ronin:) You've contradicted yourself. Smartphones prior to the iPhone were designed for users with an above-average tech knowledge. It wasn't easy to use for your mom/dad/grandma. It was still in the infancy stage in terms of adaptation and development. The price of entry reflects this.

Apple's iOS made the interface somewhat easier to use. How the f*ck does that equate making the first real smart phone because the common hordes cannot understand how to operate in Palm OS/Sybian (sp?)/ whatever was on the SE P800?

Heres my input,

Before you turn the hate on, I don't like Apple, and I refuse to use any of their products.

Apple never invented anything, they revolutionized a few market such as the laptops, MP3 players, phones, as well as believe it or not, the tablets.

They themselves revived the tablet market just a few years ago, when it was thought to be dead.

They proved every reviewer wrong when the Iphone became a world wide hit, it took a step in the awkward direction and came out as the top competitior.

The MBP is a stable choice thanks to its minimalistic design, superb aluminium unibody design, and is a top pick for a lot of UNI/College students, or in BCRDuke's eyes, hipsters.

The iPod was a shock to the MP3 market when it came out with one of the first HDD MP3 players, allowing more then a measly 128MB.

Apple isn't innovative, they are revolutionary.

This is evident by the now abundant amount of minimalistic designs cloned from the Macbook Pro's, Ipad, Ipod, and Iphone.

Examples are the HP Envy, Galaxy S1/2, Android tablets, and of course the "Ipod style" MP3 players.

Now, this isn't to say they are doing well, as they can't keep up with the competition any more (Galaxy S3, Android tablets, and the rapid price drop of laptops). The problem right now is Apple does not want an open community source, they want control and an eye on everything restricting user innovation as well as increasing dev time.

You can only go so far once you revolutionize, but they are restricting themselves on the innovation part, where all the companies are already a few miles ahead.

I think many people here are forgetting what this thread is about. Has apple invented anything?
I'm not an Apple lover, but I don't hate them, either. There's no doubt that Apple has been successful. They pushed the concept of a smartphone, tablet, and even computers to a whole different level. They did not invent any of the components they use in their products, but the definition of "invent" can be debatable.

Look at it this way- Apple makes innovative pies. Yes, they did not create the ingredients themselves(flour, sugar, a pan), but they took those ingredients and made some damn good apple pie. In comparison, Apple is the inventor of new ideas and concepts (as retarded as that sounds). Yes, smartphones have been around for quite some time (the Symbian, BB and Palm were all before the Apple iPhone), but Apple was the only company to catch the eyes of consumers, and come up with the concept of a revolutionary phone.

So, no, Apple hasn't invented anything themselves, but from other inventions and their own creativity, they put together some great products.

Because iOS is better than those operating systems. Sure, smartphones were for a more knowledgable crowd back then. I could use the P800 just fine because I know what I'm doing but that doesn't make it "good". User experience prior to the iPhone was shit regardless.

I see it like this...the Model T is recognized as the first car (it isn't but that's beside the point) but driving one of those things was like rubbing your stomach and patting your head. It wasn't until someone put the standard configuration of two or three pedals to control speed that the car was truly usable in the way it was intended.

Same deal with smartphones before the iPhone, which, I think was because they were the first smartphone to SUCCESSFULLY use a finger as the primary method of input. Styluses were ridiculous for typing, physical keyboards were and are terrible for anything that isn't e-mail and no one could figure out how to navigate webpages on a tiny screen.

I don't know if any of that constitutes "inventing" anything. I don't think Apple "invented" the smartphone, exactly but they definitely made it better and they made it the standard that everyone follows.

I don't necessarily agree that Apple should be suing everyone in sight since I think that's bad for innovation but at the same time, they are well within their right. The more I read about the Samsung/Apple case, the more I'm convinced Samsung is going to lose...because they copied the iPhone.

Other than IP and lawsuits I really don't see the point of being first. For a customer who is buying this stuff does it matter if they were first or not? Google wasn't the first search engine and Apple didn't make the first mp3 player. Even if you never buy an Apple product it's nice that they're making their competitors better. If Apple wasn't around, Windows 7 wouldn't be as good, Android wouldn't be as good and Samsung Galaxy Tabs won't be as good.

I think the video was mainly about how they are sueing other companies and how it is wrong in many ways.

Those aren't exactly "invention"...
Do you ever hear people say BMW "invented" E46, E90, M3...etc?

They are just models / designs of a particular subject (In the case of BMW - cars. In the case of Apple - music player (ipod), tablet computer (ipad), notebook (macbook), all-in-one desktop (imac), etc)

Apple is revolutionary, there is no doubt about that, but its tough to say they invented things. Apple is throwing lawsuits left and right is simply because they are very strict with their image as APPLE. Its part of the BRAND itself. Big corporations are anal about Brand Image because it represents the company as a whole and if Apple feels like it needs to have control of EVERYTHING it possibly can, it will. Their way of controlling and "forcing the innovation" onto the hands of the consumer is a big part of success.

Heres a very interesting read on innovation vs wireless providers that touch base on some keypoints about Apple and other device manufactures.

Five years after the iPhone, carriers are the biggest threat to innovation | The Verge

im not going to quote the article, its quite a read, but I urge some people to read it.

Good piece on why apple is successful

ipads, apple wasnt the first company to invent a tablet device...
iphones, apple wasnt the first to invent a smart phone...
ipods, apple wasnt the first to invent mp3 players...


Apple just marketed it better then other companies and polished it.