“There was a lot of noise made last week about Apple’s Chameleon patent, so I thought I’d actually read the document myself. I was a little surprised at how little of the patent the other sites actually reported on. If you’re like me, the blinking lights angle everyone else seemed to take didn’t help me connect with what Apple may be actually trying to accomplish with this patent. So with a little perspective and imagination, I thought it deserved a second look.” Check the article at Apple-X.
Apple’s Illuminating Future: Chameleon
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Sounds like a very cool patent, and quite an “illuminating” article (forgive the pun please.)
Even if the article is completely off mark, I am sure the patent is the basis of a very promising future. It’s just a too cool a patent not to yield something amazing!
Imagine if they used this magical housing display on the iPod.
One could potentially display the album artwork on the back of the iPod while the song is playing…but than again, you wouldn’t have that cool makeup mirror…
In case you haven’t figured out yet, there’s a reason that there is no signature functionality of OSNEWS.
Sounds cool……..leave it up to Apple to change the industry design again.
I fail to understand why these patents are t3h ub3r omg!!! It sounds like they could be used in some mundane applications like status indicators, and it may be an improvement in some areas, but this hardly seems earth shattering. Maybe someone could shed some light on the subject.
Thanks
I’m pretty sure thats exactly what the article was for.
Why would you want to display the album artwork on the case of your iPod? That’s stupid.
Quote:”Why would you want to display the album artwork on the case of your iPod? That’s stupid.”
Just because he’s gonna be able to.
Your comment was stupid.
Cheers
“It’s just a too cool a patent not to yield something amazing!”
A patents does not mean it will get here any faster. Quite the opposite. Especially for ideas with little inventive step such as this, however neat it might be. It might create a nice little temporary monopoly for Apple, if the patent stands, but it sure won’t make -more- cool gadgets appear on the market -faster- than it would have without Apple filing the patent. It’s primarily a wrench in the wheel of the competition. (25 years is a long time.)
A lot of what’s in the patent (from what I could skim through in the patent text) is already here and more is probably on the way.
The concept of patents is, roughly, that an Entity X, who applies for a patent, has to fully disclose how to solve a problem, build a device, etc — something nobody has ever done before, there can be no “prior art” — and **in return** is awarded with a temporary monopoly on the use of the patented technology.
It may be that I didn’t read the patent carefully enough, but a few LEDs in a computer case isn’t exactly innovation.
BTW, FWIW, I love Apple’s industrial design, with the exception of the bug-like first generation iMacs.
Glowing shells, LED-lit case displays, etc, could be nice and useful. It shouldn’t have been granted a patent though, IMO.
sorry this amy sound like a complete troll.
but anyone who thinks this is a good unique well deserved patent, try this:
ignore that Apple is the one that came up with it.
now pretend for a second Dell or HP is the company that holds this patent.
now tell me, honestly if you would not be upset for them getting a ridiculous patent.
the nonstop apple love is reaching the boiling point.
is it just a “rooting for the underdog” syndrome?
i admit they make some very fine products, but come on, the way people adore apple, it is as if Steve Jobs can walk on water.
The reason its intersting is that in the hands of apple this patent may be USED. Dell or HP may just leave it in a drawer….
and about Steve walking on water, he may be able to.. have you every seen him swim? :-p
Yeah Jesus walked on water, why can Steve! Seriously I think its cool, like why have a see-through case with lights in it…….well it looks cool and someone will like it, maybe not you.
it may be cool.
i dont doubt that.
but it certainly doesnt deserve a PATENT.
The only capable judge of a patent’s merit is…the patent office!
If a patent isn’t “important” enough, or “silly” to you well, your opinion doesn’t matter. A patent just means you own the IP exclusively for a period of time. There’s no judgement on the content of the patent.
I am glad you do not think it deserves a patent… makes it all the more easier for Apple to out-think and out-innovate the rest of the industry when other companies are full of people that think just like you.
Is that you “SHIVALVA”? TheSeeker? I see we are now posting from public places, :-]
I guess these days it doesn’t hurt to patend drinking water, so i guess more power to them! It would be kinda cool to see the little apple on the monitor turn colors or be a hologram of some sort.
Look this : http://80.48.65.2/black.jpeg
Well if this isn’t patent worthy, then show me one other company doing something like it.
It may very well be used for something totally new. For example, the new iPods, along with the mini’s, have the capability to decode and display video. But Apple has said many times, and I must agree, that portable video devices don’t work because no one wants to watch movies on a tiny screen while they are jogging. It’s not a passive activity. But now lets say you store a movie on your iPod, and with a new device, say something that connect to the iPods dock connector, you display your video onto a wall like a project, only with the new patented technology it doesn’t get overheated, or run the battery down too much. That’s just one possibility.