Oh, so close…
John recently wrote a column in PC Magazine about the iPad 3, indicating that he isn’t sure what, other than a faster processor, could be in an iPad 4 and beyond. The next version of Mac OS X (called Mountain Lion) will drop Mac from the name and have features from iOS added to it. More iOS devices (iPads and iPhones) were sold last year than all Macs ever sold. All of this, someone suggested (argh! Can’t find the article right now), means that Apple will eventually drop the Mac altogether. Someone pointed out this is silly because despite all that, Macs comprise a smaller, but still significant percentage of revenue.
While desktop Macs should be around for a looong time (multiple monitors, anyone?), what about the Macbooks? There is still a need for many for a real keyboard which the iPad lacks without an external keyboard. And what about those needing multiple programs running at once on the screen in multiple windows? You need a notebook for that. Unless…
Take a future gen iPad with a quad-core processor. Then, as a separately purchased add-on for those who want it, Apple introduces a snap-on panel (the iPanel?) that has a keyboard plus USB and DisplayPort ports. Without the iPanel, the iPad works like a regular iPad. If the iPanel is attached, it works like a Macbook. Two current-day devices in one that makes the regular Macbook redundant. Sounds like a winner to me.
So Apple, when you come out with the iPanel, you know where to send the royalty checks! What? You’ve already patented this? Argh!
Common words cannot be trademarked.
Actually, they can as long as they don’t have anything to do with what the represent . . . and haven’t been in use for over 12 months.
I’ve done it a few times already.
I thought Windows settled with the Lindows people (a trademark case against them) because they were afraid their trademark stood a high chance of being invalidated, and Microsoft didn’t want that.
Microsoft paid them off and they discontinued using the name.
I’m not aware of the specifics, sorry.
I just know what I’ve done and what the uspto has told me and actually done for me.
For instead, you can call a program Bread and trademark that because Bread has nothing to do with software. However, trying to trademark Bread when it refers to a bakery item is right out.
You can even have same names referring to two completely different products and as long as the industry codes are not similar, it will fly.
Before someone says it, the original name of the company was “Apple Computer” and the logo was the trademark.
Didn’t they sue Orange Computers out of business as the name Orange infringed somehow on Apple?
No clue.
Is that an admission or an accusation???
Apple devices are a lot like the Kardashians – pretty to look at and fun to fondle, but after a while, not very useful.
Amabo: Expensive to buy accessories for, too.
The idea of a docking station isn’t new. In fact, I would go one step further. Where we are going is phones is to have phones with equivalent power to modern (as in like what I can buy today: eight cores, 32-64 GB of ram, super powerful GPUs etc.) desktop computers. Create a docking station where I can drop in such a phone and get my own OS, tools, and applications and you are talking about the ability to carry your computer wherever you go (a real computer, not stripped down one like on modern phones). Thus, the next iPad should simply be a large docking screen for your iPhone. When you go to use your iPad, you would simply plugin in your iPhone and away you go. The screen would detect the phone but perhaps go into a mode more suitable for iPad-like use. A mode that could be switched out to your full desktop setup. The next step after that is ever smaller phones which are wearable (and have equivalent desktop power) but can be plugged into displays and docking stations. In this last case, display is an issue unless you can use projection onto a surface or have a heads-up display on a pair of glasses.