Tim Cook would rather settle litigation, but will defend Apple IP
Cook admitted that he would "highly prefer" to find some sort of amicable agreement for the numerous patent lawsuit battles being waged with Samsung, Motorola and others, though the Apple chief notes that companies need to "invent their own stuff."
"I've always hated litigation, and I continue to hate it," Cook said. He went on to say of a guarantee against future patent infringement, "if we could get to some kind of arrangement where we could be assured that that's the case, I highly prefer to settle versus battle."
This is not to say the CEO is backing down from the fight, as he reiterated more than once that other companies need to be responsible for creating their own intellectual property.
The stance is somewhat of a departure from the tack taken by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who was famously quoted as saying that he was willing to go "thermonuclear war" against Android, a product he felt was a direct copy of iOS.
A sign of Cook's strategy could be the recent meeting between Apple and Samsung in which both parties reportedly discussed possibilities of reaching some sort of settlement. No agreements have been officially announced and the patent litigations continue.
"The key thing is that Apple not become the developer for the world, we need people to invent their own stuff," Cook said.
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"The key thing is that Apple not become the developer for the world, we need people to invent their own stuff," Cook said.
That should be an easy enough goal to reach!
"The key thing is that Apple not become the developer for the world, we need people to invent their own stuff," Cook said.
That quote is bound to create controversy.
Let's get 'er started!
The problem is that Apple has become the R&D center for everyone else. This is the reality regardless of what the iHaters say. Blatant copiers like Samsung will tweak their products just so much that they can just litigate it in court for years until the next product that Apple produces can be copied, then it's rinse and repeat. Apple will come out with the next revolution, and then the Same-sung folks will then claim it was just the "natural progression" of technology so it's okay to copy it.
I think Apple has really showed the competition how pathetic their ability to innovate on their own has become. Sure, Apple did not invent the phone, computer, GUI, etc... but they sure as hell packaged it, polished it, and marketed it in ways no one else ever do. Google copies iOS, Samsung copies the iPhone, and even with that they both still have a crappy product.
Such a shame that true R&D no longer exists except for maybe Microsoft and their Windows8 product. At least I give them kudos for at least doing their own thing.
That quote is bound to create controversy.
Let's get 'er started!
People are like sheep and those sheep work for companies, so it's only natural that they'd try to directly copy successful Apple products.
Originally said by Tim:
The contrast between these two statements struck me.