IPod inventor and other losers
Inventor-loser. This type is often found in books and movies. Embittered at all, the unrecognized genius looks comical or pathetic. Throughout history, he either remains a clown, or, thanks to his beloved friends, overcomes himself and succeeds. The story of the Englishman Kane Cramer is not yet complete. At its end, he may be lucky, or remain a failure. But in any case, he does not look embittered, miserable or ridiculous, despite the fact that recently he had to close his own factory for the production of designer furniture, sell the house and move with his family into rented housing. This is despite the fact that Kane Kramer de facto invented the iPod, bringing Apple 90 billion pounds.
This is not a hoax, man!
In 2005, Apple received a claim from Burst.com. The document contained a requirement to pay royalties on patents allegedly used by Yabloko to create an iPod. In particular, it was a question of some principles of the organization of catalogs, navigation and management. Steve Jobs and company gave Burst.com off the gate turn. Then they went to court, demanding as much as 60 million dollars.
Apple's lawyers were given the task of looking and not passing. And they found. Kane Cramer.
Here's how he told his Daily Mail about his first conversation with Jobs’s lawyers: “I sat and drew when the bell rang. The first thought was - it's a practical joke. But then I was invited to California to testify and had to believe. "
How I became a loser
In 1979, the 23-year-old Kane Kramer invented the first digital player, although only the first development on CDs was then going on, and nobody even thought about mp3. His device was a small box with a small screen and navigation buttons. The idea was embodied in plastic. A prototype called IXI could lose only 3.5 minutes of music - that is how much fit in his memory. But at the same time he was a real, one might even say, modern, player.
Kramer received a patent for the invention, which was valid in 120 countries. But in order to extend it in 1988, he needed 60 thousand pounds. The inventor did not have such a sum and his intellectual property became public domain.
Cramer’s testimony was needed by Apple to prove that Burst.com’s patents weren’t so unique as to pay money for them. The inventor appeared in court, where his interrogation lasted 10 hours. However, according to him, this was a pleasant procedure. Finally, the world acknowledged that the mp3 player - a device that changed the music industry - is his brainchild.
Regarding compensation, Kramer was paid a reward for the consultation and presented with an iPod, which he safely lost after a few months. It seems that the inventor is negotiating with Apple to receive some kind of reward, but this will be exceptional charity from the American company. After all, the inventor has lost all rights.
Meanwhile, Apple has sold about 160 million iPods since its first release in 2001. Find Kramer 60,000 pounds in 1988, today he would become a billionaire. In a lawsuit against Burst.com, Apple managed to drop 14 points of charge. As a result, the defendant was sentenced to pay $ 10 million, 4.6 of which went to pay legal costs.
The best reward for a loser is death
By the way, the recording industry is a real storehouse of losers. Just like Cramer was unlucky with Charles Cro. It happened at the dawn of recording. Three months before Edison patented the phonograph, Croe submitted his work, The Process of Recording and Reproduction of Phenomena Perceived by Hearing, to the French Academy of Sciences. It described the process of fixing sound waves on rollers and discs. The latter, incidentally, belongs to the mind of Berliner, the inventor of the gramophone, after whose appearance, as you know, Edison’s phonographic business was burnt out. Cro's application was not enthusiastic. She lay pending until the end of the year. When the news of Edison's invention boomed, Charles also did not receive any appropriations for the development. This time because it was already too late. Only the descendants recognized Cro's merits, naming the French Recording Academy in his honor. But Cro and Cramer, by the way, have something in common, even in their names, can thank fate. Yes, they are little known, yes they are not rich, but at least they did not suffer from their offspring.
William Bullock also revolutionized. Only not in sound recordings, but in print. In 1863, he invented the rotary printing press. Served by just three workers, it could print 10,000 pages per hour. The invention brought Bullock fame and money. However, four years later, while setting up the machine at the Philadelphia Public Ledger, the inventor's foot was pulled between the shafts. He received multiple fractures. Two days later, gangrene began, and after nine William Bullock died during amputation.
This is not a hoax, man!
In 2005, Apple received a claim from Burst.com. The document contained a requirement to pay royalties on patents allegedly used by Yabloko to create an iPod. In particular, it was a question of some principles of the organization of catalogs, navigation and management. Steve Jobs and company gave Burst.com off the gate turn. Then they went to court, demanding as much as 60 million dollars.
Apple's lawyers were given the task of looking and not passing. And they found. Kane Cramer.
Here's how he told his Daily Mail about his first conversation with Jobs’s lawyers: “I sat and drew when the bell rang. The first thought was - it's a practical joke. But then I was invited to California to testify and had to believe. "
How I became a loser
In 1979, the 23-year-old Kane Kramer invented the first digital player, although only the first development on CDs was then going on, and nobody even thought about mp3. His device was a small box with a small screen and navigation buttons. The idea was embodied in plastic. A prototype called IXI could lose only 3.5 minutes of music - that is how much fit in his memory. But at the same time he was a real, one might even say, modern, player.
Kramer received a patent for the invention, which was valid in 120 countries. But in order to extend it in 1988, he needed 60 thousand pounds. The inventor did not have such a sum and his intellectual property became public domain.
Cramer’s testimony was needed by Apple to prove that Burst.com’s patents weren’t so unique as to pay money for them. The inventor appeared in court, where his interrogation lasted 10 hours. However, according to him, this was a pleasant procedure. Finally, the world acknowledged that the mp3 player - a device that changed the music industry - is his brainchild.
Regarding compensation, Kramer was paid a reward for the consultation and presented with an iPod, which he safely lost after a few months. It seems that the inventor is negotiating with Apple to receive some kind of reward, but this will be exceptional charity from the American company. After all, the inventor has lost all rights.
Meanwhile, Apple has sold about 160 million iPods since its first release in 2001. Find Kramer 60,000 pounds in 1988, today he would become a billionaire. In a lawsuit against Burst.com, Apple managed to drop 14 points of charge. As a result, the defendant was sentenced to pay $ 10 million, 4.6 of which went to pay legal costs.
The best reward for a loser is death
By the way, the recording industry is a real storehouse of losers. Just like Cramer was unlucky with Charles Cro. It happened at the dawn of recording. Three months before Edison patented the phonograph, Croe submitted his work, The Process of Recording and Reproduction of Phenomena Perceived by Hearing, to the French Academy of Sciences. It described the process of fixing sound waves on rollers and discs. The latter, incidentally, belongs to the mind of Berliner, the inventor of the gramophone, after whose appearance, as you know, Edison’s phonographic business was burnt out. Cro's application was not enthusiastic. She lay pending until the end of the year. When the news of Edison's invention boomed, Charles also did not receive any appropriations for the development. This time because it was already too late. Only the descendants recognized Cro's merits, naming the French Recording Academy in his honor. But Cro and Cramer, by the way, have something in common, even in their names, can thank fate. Yes, they are little known, yes they are not rich, but at least they did not suffer from their offspring.
William Bullock also revolutionized. Only not in sound recordings, but in print. In 1863, he invented the rotary printing press. Served by just three workers, it could print 10,000 pages per hour. The invention brought Bullock fame and money. However, four years later, while setting up the machine at the Philadelphia Public Ledger, the inventor's foot was pulled between the shafts. He received multiple fractures. Two days later, gangrene began, and after nine William Bullock died during amputation.