LASP

Zen and the apple

If initial reports coming out are correct, Creative Technologies is stepping up its fight against Apple in relation to the navigation system on Apple's I-Pod (which Creative claims infringes its navigation system first showcased on its "Zen" player). They are asking for an injunction and unspecified damages in the US courts (no surprise - read 'Europe' also if we adopt the farce that is software patents). This is a text book case of software patent litigation. This is not about innovation. The I-Pod's success has probably very little to do with it's navigation system and more to do with clever marketing, styling and packaging (including the I-Tunes concept). Creative has simply failed to market a product as 'attractive' to consumers as the I-Pod and, "if you can't beat them, sue them" seems to be appropriate here. Here we have what is really nothing more than a mental flow chart for navigation applied by way of a computer program rather than on paper.