Happy Apple shareholders!

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Something happened with the Apple shares today. Suddenly the price started to climb up again. When I write this blogpost it’s about ten dollars increase since yesterday and if you look back one year it’s not such a big event – but if you look back to one week ago, it’s something in the economic debate climate that has changed.

Today people laugh at Samsung. Poor Samsung who just launched their new Big Galaxy S 4 and guess what, after a years complaining about Apple not being innovative enough, it’s Samsung’s time to get the complaints. It seems Samsung tries to do what tech people always have done before Apple entered the scene: they invent technical features that the average customer or user doesn’t really care about. They do it just to be able to add another feature to the list, not to make life better for the user.

This is what I read in today’s reviews, so I haven’t tried out a Samsung Big Galaxy S 4 myself.

Still, it’s kind of funny that this should be enough to get the Apple share price increase. I guess we are a lot of people who has waited for the day to come when Apple starts to climb up again and we can’t yet be sure that this is the turning point, but let’s hope so.

I read one interesting comment on Seeking Alpha, by ”scott trader”:

”maybe just maybe samclone doesn’t know where the puck is heading because of aapl using other new suppliers….”

Actually this is exactly what is bound to happen at some point. It’s obvious that Samsung has not only been one of Apple’s suppliers, but also a shameless copycat and since Apple has started to buy their parts from other suppliers, Samsung can’t get their usual sneak peek and inspiration from Apple’s innovation before the products have been launched. Now they have to stand in line and wait for Apple to launch their products like the rest of the world…

If that’s the reason to why Samsung Big Galaxy S 4 disappointed the market, then I think Samsung has yet a lot of disappointments to come. Because, Apple creates products that are grounded in humans, not in tech. Apple is about design and function built to make a difference. Samsung can’t copy that.

And, by the way, it seems like Samsung shares dropped today…

It’s not about “just the rounded corners”

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I read this article written by Mr Roger Key and I think he makes some clever assumptions, but there are two things that makes me puzzled:

The use of the words ”passionate” and ”emotional”:

There are questions about whether Jobs was alone in his passionate Google-hate and whether Tim Cook is prepared to carry on the battle in Jobs’s name. Some people think that Cook is less emotional and might seek an accommodation, but so far there’s no evidence of that. It’s likely that Jobs wasn’t the only one who felt the way he did and that some of his team still want the heart of Google’s city burnt to the ground.

I agree that Steve Jobs probably was very engaged in this matter and I would probably also be able to use the words passionate and emotional to describe it, but in this context it’s used like if the opinions about Google was ”just a passionate and emotional thing”, which therefor not should be counted on as a real matter. Real as in ”real business”. I think that’s a misunderstanding about business. Business is not cool and rational, business is about passion, emotions and to get the right feeling. That doesn’t mean you can’t still have knowledge and experience. Quite the opposite actually.

The more you know about a subject, the bigger engagement, the more emotions.

The next thing that makes me puzzled is:

Apple can’t claim to have invented “roundness” or “black.”

No, they can’t and even if that’s what it might look like in the juridical texts, I’m sure it’s about how you combine all this design elements and technical features to create a wholeness. It’s not about ”round corners generally on everything in the world”. It’s about how it’s used on the icons on the iPhone’s screen. Design and layout is about how you combine and it’s even about how you use the empty space in a layout. These things matters when you create a graphic och digital ”personality”.

The value of design

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Every day we are surrounded by a lot of items that someone has deigned. Some people notice the design, see how smart the designer has been with the pedagogic or function so that it gets easier to use the item. This is also valid for digital design.

Others don’t seem to care about this at all. Maybe they see that something looks better than something else and believes that design is a question of looking good. Others don’t even see if something looks good, they think anything can do… Often it’s very hard for people like us that works with designing print and websites, to understand that so many people doesn’t seem to care a bit about if it’s possible to read information, if it makes sense, if it’s possible to find what you look for and if it feels nice and interesting to read. Design takes part in every part. Design supports function.

The old wailing about Apple was built upon the idea that the devices looked good, but didn’t work so much better than a PC – well, the PC-people did of course believe that PC was a lot better because of a lot of technical functions that they were babbling about frenetic. Then it all changed. Apple is the most valuable company in the world. That’s because they work in a holistic way so that technology and design walks hand in hand to give the customers a good user experience. You can’t just go for technology and neglect the design. Over and over again Apple has showed that they care deeply about design. And it pays off.

It’s interesting to see that the PC and Android people don’t seem to have understood the meaning of how technology and design leads to success – working together!

Friday’s verdict when the Californian court made it clear that Samsung has copied Apple in several ways shows it so well. Some of it is namely about the design, for example the shape of a square icon with rounded corners. I think that the Samsung people better understands that the part of their copying that consists of more technology would be important, but that they haven’t thought about design as ”really important”. I think that they put a lot of effort in solving a lot of technical issues and then the design has just been like a little cherry on the top, something you just add in the end. Nothing important. ”Just do something that looks good! Apple seems to have a good sense for design – try to make it similar!” Just like that. And it got even funnier when they copied Apple’s boxes, but without thinking about if they would be easy to open…

I wonder if they now have understand how it all goes together? Or do they only think that it’s unfair?

The verdict was in Apple’s favor. Of course.

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Since I like Apple I am aware of that there are a lot of lawsuits about patent infringements, but at the same time I haven’t got enough technical knowledge to understand the details. The largest lawsuit of them all, with Apple versus Samsung and also Samsung versus Apple is however of another dimension. Thanks God the jury made the verdict that Samsung has copied Apple’s iPhone on purpose. By some reason the verdict was not the same for the iPad?

I have written about Apple and the copycat Samsung before in my blog.

To me it’s obvious that Samsung has copied Apple in a way that seriously damages their rights as innovators and originators. How hard can it be? You can chose to develop your own products with a sovereign ”personality” made out of technical features, design and choice of materials and then you make sure that you stay outside the greyzone where doubtfulness about copying may occur. Or you do like Samsung, analyze which smartphone is the best on the market and then make sure to copy it, piece by piece – which obviously is what they have done. The goofs even emailed about this so that anyone can read about how their ”development process” was performed.

There will always be an amount of ”inspiration copying” in the overall development. But then it’s in a sound way. One sees how someone has solved a problem, sees how someone else has solved a similar problem and you melt it together to something new. That’s a common way to define creativity. If you follow the development och tech stuff from the beginning then you will naturally see that at certain type of solutions follow each other during the years. But when it’s done in a sound way, everyone makes their own interpretation, so to speak.

My first question is how Samsung could be as bold as they have been? My next question is how Samsung could be as stupid as they have been? I think they have burnt their candle in both ends. A lot of their products will get banned in US which is a considerable part of their market, they will have to pay more than $1 billion to Apple and they have nurtured a lot of developers who have been forced to specialize in copying in stead of innovation and at the same time they have became enemies with one of their biggest (if not THE biggest?) customer for electronical parts… Do you fancy buying a Samsung share? Well, I would not think so…

I wonder how many of Samsung’s devices that will get banned from the US market? How did they dare to take that risk? And yet you hear the choir of complainers go on about the verdict being a lose for the american people, it will reduce their options and the verdict will make it difficult for the developers. Oh, wow… Of course it should be difficult for the developers! Isn’t that part of the job as well as coming up with good solutions? What kind of lazy persons have done this ”copy-developing”? If they really want to make a difference then they should all be happy now when the border for what is allowed has found a perfectly clear contour which means they are forced to think in new ways. Think outside the box. In fact we can all cheer upon the fact that the world now can look forward to another type of development that might give bigger opportunities for developers to test real innovations so that we all can gain from the new ideas instead of the lame copying that used Apple as the motor.

Furthermore, Samsung is not the only one that is occupied with copying among the Android developers. Google has just been too tame by giving access to Android development. The believers have talked warmly about how fantastic and open and optional the Android world is compared to Apple. Of course it is when they can ran around like maniacs without showing any consideration to others… Add the fact that not even developers like to develop for Android because the android users don’t real like to pay for apps – they expect everything to be free. Iphone users however, like to pay. Apparently they appreciate the work that is behind the apps.

I expect Microsoft and Windows 8 to gain from this verdict. They have tried to develop a operating system with a sovereign ”personality”. Cred to Microsoft! Unfortunately it seems that Windows 8 is not so warmly welcomed, but I keep my fingers crossed to make sure they go on and make it better.

Because, I don’t think that the world gets any better if Apple are the only ones being innovative. Apple could also become lazy. To see other’s good solutions gives you energy to perform better. I am glad that the verdict made the rules clear. Let’s all be happy!