Ooh, it plays MP3s. It must be an iPod ripoff!
Ooh, it's an All-In-One computer with an LCD screen built in, instead of a CRT. It must be an iMac ripoff!
Ooh, it's a white laptop. It must be an iBook ripoff!
Ooh, it's a laptop made out of an exotic metal with a wide screen. It must be a TiBook ripoff!
Ooh, it's another AIO with an LCD. It's not only an iMac ripoff, it's also an iMac killer! It kills iMacs!
Ooh, look, it's a tower that isn't ugly. It must be a PowerMac ripoff!
Strangely enough, the only thing I mentioned here that didn't actually have a thread/uproar associated with it was the last one, about the tower. But people are crazy here... they see something that is a somewhat related concept to an Apple product, but with a different execution. Immediately they're up in arms about how they're ripping us off and how Apple Legal should go sue them.
Let me see if I can remember which each of these were... there are numerous "iPod ripoffs" meaning basically any rectangular, pocket-sized, high capacity MP3 player. One was by Toshiba, and there was another but I don't remember who made it.
One of the LCD AIOs said to be an iMac ripoff was one by a company starting with an I. I think it was like "Integra" something. It doesn't look anything like an iMac, more like a pyramid sliced in half vertically. The other LCD AIO is, of course, the Gateway Profile 4, which really caused a stir because it mentioned the iMac in an unfavorable light in a TV ad!
The white laptop declared an iBook ripoff was an X-Technology, I think.
The "TiBook Ripoff" was a magnesium VPR Matrix laptop, with the same screen as the TiBook (15.2" 1280x854).
Personally, I think a few of those Coolermaster cases look better than PowerMacs. My friend has one, it's pretty sweet. Too bad it runs Windows...
