HP taken to task for releasing iMac clone

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  • Reply 161 of 178
    Might I ask the release date of that 2007 model?

    earliest review I can find based on a reverse image search is in April of 2007

    note: the side view of this unit is vastly different to either the HP Spectre or the iMac but then again the Spectre and the iMac have differing side views as well.
  • Reply 162 of 178
    hmm wrote: »

    I gave up on this long ago. Most of the people on here primarily pay attention to Apple. If they remember something, they remember what Apple did, and that becomes the point of reference. No matter what another company produced in the past, it will be labeled as copying now as these threads are based on anecdotes and lack of research.

    indeed.

    What's worse though is other sites are reporting it as a copy as well...if I were HP I'd engage in a rather aggressive PR campaign to do my best to dispel these claims.
  • Reply 163 of 178


    That HP "Spectre" (stupid name too!) looks like they tried to copy iMac and then tried to make it ugly, probably thinking no one would notice with windows running on it. 


    I notice that with both that one and the Vizio mentioned in this thread, both articles mention that neither one includes touchscreen support. Is this really an issue? Are computer makers really scrambling to bring touchscreens to their desktop computers? Is this something people really want? I don't want to touch my computer screen. I don't even sit close enough to it to touch it. Am I just really that old? 

  • Reply 164 of 178

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    I could agree with that if price was weighed in as a factor. I don't recall the prices of the Vizio but I do seem to recall them not being bad for the money.

    What we really should be asking ourselves is why in a world that vastly moved from desktops to notebooks for traditional PCs, and a world where the traditional PC sale is dwindling are companies now seemingly making a lot more AIOs when that was previously just a stupid Apple thing? From a personal standpoint the iPad and iPhone have made want a desktop again, but one that doesn't have all the wires of a traditional setup.


    I think the answer is the same as why laptops became very, very popular.  The old tech didn't have the lithium-ion battery life, nor did it have the processing power of today's machines.  The same to be said for the mac-mini designs, all laptop hardware based.  The G4 was a slug, although great at the time for dorms and apartment dwellers who only needed to write papers and email.  Gaming on a G4 mini was laughable.  Not the situation anymore with the advances in technology.


     


    The capability of today's machines allow for such designs to exist, in other words.  AIO's are coming around to the forefront because they are taking up the top of a small desk, rather than a huge desk with a "cubby" for a separate tower.  The graphics cards in the AIO's coupled with the decrease in heat from the CPUs allow them to be just as capable as the old tower design.  In short, you can have both processing power and excellent gaming experience on a much less intrusive footprint now, whereas 5 years ago this wasn't possible.

  • Reply 165 of 178


    Too late buddy, they already do sue over tire design. Including trade dress. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/81960702/Maine-Industrial-Tire-v-Solid-Source-Tire-_-Wheel-et-al


     


    It appears that historically companies (and individuals) and states used to just rip each other off, and the current system is in part a reflection of the magnitude of that prior theft. If you like ironic twists look into how own part of the revolution industrial revolution received a not insignificant boost from ignoring British patents and replicating them wholesale, yet now we face our own copycats overseas.


     


    Now granted, I'm not an expert, and this is all opinion and a quick bit of web research to find bits of info I vaguely remember. Take with multiple grains of salt. Maybe some pepper. Mostly I'm just amused at how ardent and militant folks are about their opinions, which carry little weight and almost less factual information. Kinda like mine. ; )

  • Reply 166 of 178
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    And eMachines' eOne, whose settlement drove them to be purchased by Gateway (purchased by Acer).

    Apple needs to come down hard.
    How inspired is too inspired?
    700
    700
    400400400

    Sorry, but I'm not seeing it.

    While it's entirely possible that HP's computer is inspired by the iMac, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't see it as a slavish copy in the sense that the Samsung Tab copied the iPad. In particular, look at the front view. The iMac screen goes to the edge on the top and sides and has silver along the bottom. HP's is a black border all the way around. Similarly, you can't confuse the back or sides of the computers.

    Besides, I'm not sure how protectable this particular design is. There is prior art and I'm not sure that Apple has design patents covering the design. If they do, then it comes down to the specific claims of the patent.
  • Reply 167 of 178


    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post

    Sorry, but I'm not seeing it.

    While it's entirely possible that HP's computer is inspired by the iMac, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't see it as a slavish copy…


     


    Wait, how? You don't see the copying in the foot design, much less the overall shape and hardware combination?

  • Reply 168 of 178
    Wait, how? You don't see the copying in the foot design, much less the overall shape and hardware combination?

    It's not a copy. It's quite hideous and has plenty of different features and aesthetics. There will be no lawsuit from Apple on their design.
  • Reply 169 of 178


    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

    It's not a copy. It's quite hideous and has plenty of different features and aesthetics. There will be no lawsuit from Apple on their design.


     


    I guess I don't see how that isn't a copy and this is:


     



     


    Particularly given these patents.

  • Reply 170 of 178


    Vorsos View Post


    False equivalency. Apple used inspiration from Braun devices to make gadgets of an entirely different category. Goodyear will not sue me for making donuts with black frosting and knobby edges, because no consumer will confuse donuts with tires.





    freeassociate View Post


    Too late buddy, they already do sue over tire design. Including trade dress. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/81960702/Maine-Industrial-Tire-v-Solid-Source-Tire-_-Wheel-et-al


    [...]


    Now granted, I'm not an expert, and this is all opinion and a quick bit of web research to find bits of info I vaguely remember. Take with multiple grains of salt. Maybe some pepper. Mostly I'm just amused at how ardent and militant folks are about their opinions, which carry little weight and almost less factual information. Kinda like mine. ; )



     


    Well now. With your link to a tire company suing another tire company, I stand thoroughly corrected on my assertion that "no consumer will confuse donuts and tires."

  • Reply 171 of 178
    I guess I don't see how that isn't a copy and this is:

    LL

    Particularly given these patents.

    That pic has many elements that aren't natural to a physical object. You can clearly make an argument that they looked at Apple's design and made as exact as possible while trying to spend money on more complex features of the casing. What those elements with the HP? From the front? From the side? It's aluminum? It has a monitor? It ha a stand? Engineering-wise that new HP AIO is quite unique. It's ugly, but it's their own design. At most you can say inspired by Apple but it really looks like they wanted to get in on the AIO market. What other options could they have used for an AIO with an adjustable display? They put the computer parts in the stand, which is different. You can't expect them to have the base of the stand be smaller tha n the top of the stand. You can't expect them to put the articulation somewhere other the center without some severe engineering costs.
  • Reply 172 of 178


    Overall it's just a bad copy


     


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  • Reply 173 of 178
    joshajosha Posts: 901member
    What will the anti Apple critize now ?
    Windows PC users buying products that physically clone the designs they like to put down !

    I'll bet HP would like to go the whole way and install MacOS X.
  • Reply 174 of 178


    Originally Posted by JoshA View Post

    I'll bet HP would like to go the whole way and install MacOS X.


     


    They've been shipping their computers with a fake "Dock" for years now. I think they'd absolutely just up and do it if it weren't for the fact that it WOULD bankrupt the company when Apple sued over it.

  • Reply 175 of 178


    They didn't invent the rectangle, true. But the PC makers tried making all in ones and failed in their earlier tries. Now that the iMac has been around for a while is seems only natural that the Windows guys try again. And why not make it look a little like an iMac? The design works. Nobody really owns a design. Someone always sees something they remembered and starts drawing and there you have it. They perfect it, clean it up and there you go. I'm curious as to how the new iMacs will look. Can't believe Apple will change it too much.

  • Reply 176 of 178


    It tapers to 7" wide at the front. 

  • Reply 177 of 178
    sr2012sr2012 Posts: 896member
    Holy shit the stand on that HP all-in-one is absolutely disgusting.
  • Reply 178 of 178
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    jragosta wrote: »
    Sorry, but I'm not seeing it.
    While it's entirely possible that HP's computer is inspired by the iMac, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't see it as a slavish copy in the sense that the Samsung Tab copied the iPad. In particular, look at the front view. The iMac screen goes to the edge on the top and sides and has silver along the bottom. HP's is a black border all the way around. Similarly, you can't confuse the back or sides of the computers.
    Besides, I'm not sure how protectable this particular design is. There is prior art and I'm not sure that Apple has design patents covering the design. If they do, then it comes down to the specific claims of the patent.

    I don't think it's about slavishly copying on the computer itself, but the keyboard, trackpad and mouse look incredibly similar to Apple's. The "head" is pretty similar, sans the "chin". The stands are considerably different.

    In response to some comments by others:
    But the main appearance distinction between the iMac and HP & Vizio is in the stand, the "head" looks needlessly similar.

    The fact that the actual brains might be in places other than behind the monitor doesn't look that important. When in conjunction with all the input devices, the differences relative to the whole package decrease.
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