Samsung VS Apple Article Response

Myles Penniman

9/20/12

After reading the article "The Way Forward for Samsung, and Innovation" by Sohrab Vossoughi, in the Harvard Business Review, I thought it was very one sided. The author tends to lean towards Apple's favor a little more. For example the author writes "The act of performing a task with an iPhone is fulfilling, delightful, and trustworthy, and Samsung gets this." After I read this quote I thought, wow thats a little much. Everyone is not in love with using an iphone like this guy seems to be.

The last line of the article reads, "The real impact of the Apple verdict is to make it clear to the whole world what forward-looking innovators have known for some time: that following is no longer the safest bet in consumer goods." I fully understand the authors main point, which is that in order to be successful you must come up with your own ideas and products. Essentially he is saying you can not steal from other innovators. The author is all for apple, but the late Steve Jobs even said it himself  “Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal” Steve Jobs did not play by the rules in life or in business! It is important to innovate by yourself but it is also important learn from other people. You do not have to completely copy them, but you should look at there ideas and inventions and see what you can learn from them. 

I do not think Samsung should have been accussed of anything. The author brings up a quote from an expert that reads "devices using a different navigation mode would be like "cars with square or triangular steering wheels." The analogy reveals more than the expert intended. Circular steering wheels are standard on cars because steering requires rotating something in a circular path. It's the most effective geometry, not because of human perception, but the unchanging reality of rotational motion." This is a great point the expert brings up. To say that another phone company copied something that is so general, like pitching to zoom on a phone is absurd. 

Overall I disagree with the jury's decision and the author of this article. The idea of pitch to zoom is to general of an idea to copy. I think this quote explains it better than I can: "devices using a different navigation mode would be like "cars with square or triangular steering wheels."

Below is a picture of Apples "trademark" idea "pitch to zoom"

Below is a nice display of what Apple is suing Samsung over.

Here is a little bit better explanation of what happened during the trail.

Sources 

iphone vs Samsung phone picture

http://1.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/apple-samsung-patent-claims.jpg

Apples pitch to zoom picture

http://www.technocrates.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ipad-auto-pinch.jpg

"Samsung ordered to pay Apple $1bn" video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cZudrPG_1I

Article I am responding to

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/09/the_way_forward_for_samsung_an.html