Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!vx2!spector
From: spector@vx2.GBA.NYU.EDU (David HM Spector)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Apple Challenges HP New Wave, MS-Windows, Potentially OS/2 PM
Message-ID: <650015@vx2.GBA.NYU.EDU>
Date: 21 Mar 88 20:04:00 GMT
References: <5480@well.UUCP>
Organization: New York University
Lines: 44

I hate to beat a dead horse, but since its gonna happen _anyway_:

1. The user interfaces of Xerox workstations and Macintoshes (and Lisa's) are
completely different.  If you have used either of them there is no way you
could confuse them  (I've used a bunch of Stars running various
incarnations of ViewPoint and I have had every Macintosh that's ever been,
with every released version of the Finder [Macintosh128-->MacintoshII]...).

2. Xerox did not invent the ___MACINTOSH___ user interface.  Apple invented
the ___MACINTOSH___ user interface.  

3. Apple did not steal anything from Xerox.  Apple took inspiration from
work done at PARC and enhnaced it to the point where it was ready for market.
It has been pointed out before, that Apple had/has an agreement with Xerox 
regarding Xerox technologies/designs, and that Xerox is a minority share-holder
in Apple.  So, lets put this "stealing" stuff to bed.  Apple stole NOTHING
from Xerox.
Parenthetically:
The closest you can get to the "stealing" concept  would be calling the 
Macintosh user interface a derived work, but then again, see Point #1 above.  
Not really a derived work (unless a 50% grey desktop pattern is 
copyrightable :-).

4. Apple is suing protect their 400 man-years of research in the Macintosh
interface and the human-engineering behind it.  They have every right to do
this, if I had invented something as useful as the Macintosh desktop
interface, I sue people silly if they tried to ride my coat-tails too!

The real quetions is not if Apple is "right" in doing this, but whether or 
not they'll settle out of court, or if they really want to taste blood...


		_DHMS



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David HM Spector				New York University
Senior Systems Programmer			Graduate School of Business
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