Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!ccut!wnoc-tyo-news!dclsic!sjc!leia!harkcom From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Apple's FCC request Message-ID: Date: 23 Apr 91 01:29:27 GMT References: <41134@cup.portal.com> <1991Apr13.031151.18659@vpnet.chi.il.us> <1991Apr15.023121.24595@alphalpha.com> <1991Apr16.234220.23155@vpnet.chi.il.us> Sender: news@leia.pa.yokogawa.co.jp Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Lines: 35 In-reply-to: lear@turbo.bio.net's message of 18 Apr 91 17:19:39 GMT In article lear@turbo.bio.net (Eliot) writes: =}The REAL question is this: is what Apple is doing REALLY =}stifling innovation? It is debatable, at best (I believe Apple is a =}little far over, but not as much as you might think!). I disagree. Apple is trying to lead the computer industry to where most other US industry has gone: beyond the gates which upon is writ "Abandon hope, all ye who enter"... They get rid of those interested in making advances and bring in a bunch of suits to make sure nobody else can get a piece of the pie (or even make one of their own)... Can you imagine the past (technological) if Apple were around... "Your honor, we feel that company Z's use of a CRT to display information violates our companies rights as protected under xxxxxxx. We know there are priors which make our claim shaky your honor, but in the computer field it is different. The method of displaying the information makes or breaks a system and ours should be the only one which is allowed to use the system which we used first. No, your honor, there are other ways of displaying information. For example, one could use a hardcopy device such as a line printer. Yes your honor we did stop other companies from using it for the past n years, but now that it is not important to our company, we feel we can share the use of such with our competitors... Thank you your honor. May we present you with one of our doohickeys which honor the 500th anniversary of these wonderful United States of America? No, your honor, we are not trying to influence your decision in tomorrows trial concerning the use of the phrase "the Boston Tea Party" by that group of historians..." We're just lucky that Apple didn't have all of those lawyers or that greedy ****** when it started out... We might still be waiting to use our mouses for such things as clicking on icons... Al