Looking at pictures of the new iMac it appears that you could remove the LCD panel. If so, why couldn't someone (FORMAC?) make a 17inch or 19inch display to upgrade your iMac? Would Apple patents on the design of the mechanics preclude this?
Patents wouldn't prevent this, but trademarks probably would.
Formac or any other company willing to try this would probably stop after realizing that Apple had a lot more money to throw at a legal battle than them.
To justify battling it out the company would have to calculate the likelyhood of winning and the total profit they might make and compare that to the legal expenses.
Since Apple could come out with a larger monitor whenever they want, the maker of the hacked screen would also have very uncertain profits.
<strong>Patents wouldn't prevent this, but trademarks probably would.
(snip)
pi</strong><hr></blockquote>
I was just thinking that if Apple had patented some special connections regarding the mechanics of the screen that could preclude a third party from stepping in. However, now that I think of it more a clever engineer could get around that.
The next step down is to wonder if users could hack their own display upgrades. If I remember I'll ask around at MWT. There are some companies here in Japan that do substantial customization of Macs.
Comments
Formac or any other company willing to try this would probably stop after realizing that Apple had a lot more money to throw at a legal battle than them.
To justify battling it out the company would have to calculate the likelyhood of winning and the total profit they might make and compare that to the legal expenses.
Since Apple could come out with a larger monitor whenever they want, the maker of the hacked screen would also have very uncertain profits.
pi
<strong>Patents wouldn't prevent this, but trademarks probably would.
(snip)
pi</strong><hr></blockquote>
I was just thinking that if Apple had patented some special connections regarding the mechanics of the screen that could preclude a third party from stepping in. However, now that I think of it more a clever engineer could get around that.
The next step down is to wonder if users could hack their own display upgrades. If I remember I'll ask around at MWT. There are some companies here in Japan that do substantial customization of Macs.