Where did I say people shouldn't have to innovate? My main gripe is with broad patents on software metaphors. You certainly have a point that Apple has every right to bear the fruits of their years of research and hard work. But what do you know, they already are because they redefined the smartphone market and are leagues ahead of the competition. Their mastery of intuitive and elegant interface design just can't be copied. Copycats can only do so much by emulating functionality. I find Android severely lacking and love my iPhone but shutting them out with patent suits isn't going to give them an an economic advantage beyond what they have for creating a fundamentally better product and it's going to be bad for consumers if we have to wait for these patents to run out before we can see competitive devices or buy devices that are perennially more expensive and inferior due to licensing fees.
I just find the legal framework in place for copyright and software patents out of touch with reality and far from ideal. It just seems that with the way the system currently works, science fiction writers should have a mountain of patents covering the next hundred years if only they would do the paperwork and pay the legal fees. We'd still be stuck in a pre-industrial society if we had current patent laws in the 18th century.
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Where did I say people shouldn't have to innovate? My main gripe is with broad patents on software metaphors. You certainly have a point that Apple has every right to bear the fruits of their years of research and hard work. But what do you know, they already are because they redefined the smartphone market and are leagues ahead of the competition. Their mastery of intuitive and elegant interface design just can't be copied. Copycats can only do so much by emulating functionality. I find Android severely lacking and love my iPhone but shutting them out with patent suits isn't going to give them an an economic advantage beyond what they have for creating a fundamentally better product and it's going to be bad for consumers if we have to wait for these patents to run out before we can see competitive devices or buy devices that are perennially more expensive and inferior due to licensing fees.
I just find the legal framework in place for copyright and software patents out of touch with reality and far from ideal. It just seems that with the way the system currently works, science fiction writers should have a mountain of patents covering the next hundred years if only they would do the paperwork and pay the legal fees. We'd still be stuck in a pre-industrial society if we had current patent laws in the 18th century.