Apple is one of the largest companies in the world today. It is certainly the most popular company ever, maybe even the most successful tech ever. But, it keeps slugging out lawsuits at everyone.
Why is that? How does it help? What’s the point really?
Well, let met me play it to you and answer all your queries.
Rewind back to Circa 1998. There is Windows and Microsoft that are the only ones that matter. Google is still making its standing albeit just as a search engine. And Apple is down shit creek literally without any paddle until Steve Jobs comes along. Riding upon the success of his company, Pixar, Jobs is back at the helm and bringing Apple up. He takes the help of someone no one had anticipated about – Microsoft. Apple starts standing up on its feet.
Time moves on. Developments happen. Jobs has one superior talent – he could get the best of people working on his own projects. He gets the best team at Apple and resources from everyone, even competitors like Samsung and LG to work on its products.
Next, Apple tastes sweet success with its products. Demands begin to grow. The iPod is the first success. Then comes the iPhone and finally the iPad. Jobs’ arrogance grows. He thinks he owns the tablet market as he launched the first tablet. Samsung says no. Stops supplying parts.
Next, Jobs fights with Google over Android and swears to destroy them. He furthers eters into squabbles with other companies. Lawsuits rain like anything. Apple starts slugging it out to everyone. Every lawsuit is Jobs’ vendetta over people. Mind you most of these when viewed together depict a trend and show that they have a personal intent.
Finally, October 5, 2011. Jobs’dies. A lot of lawsuits remain in the legacy. The major ones go as follow:
Samsung Galaxy Tab vs. the iPad: Apple tries to get the Galaxy Tab banned in many countries. The lawsuit wages on. Samsung decides to launch its Galaxy Tab in India due to shortage of destinations. Gradually, the haze clears up. Most countries settle lawsuits allowing release. The whole premise seems deluded to delay Galaxy Tab’s release.
Android vs. iOS: Slugging it out at Google, Apple is stuck with vengeance. It has been fighting aggressively over the years. It seems winning right now but who knows if this lawsuit doesn’t go the way others did.
Apple vs. Kodak: Apple doesn’t even have consideration for now bankrupt Kodak. The court has reprimanded Apple in this case.
Apple vs. U.S. Court: Apple seems to have joined forces with various publishing houses to determine the over all price of eBooks. U.S. Court has caught the whiff of it and threatens to sue Apple unless it stops from this unfair trade practice. Here’s what they say – “Traditionally, publishers sold books to retailers for roughly half of the recommended cover price. Under that “wholesale model,” booksellers were then free to offer those books to customers for less than the cover price if they wished. Most physical books are sold using this model.
As Apple prepared to introduce its first iPad, the late Steve Jobs, then its chief executive, suggested moving to an “agency model,” under which the publishers would set the price of the book and Apple would take a 30% cut. Apple also stipulated that publishers couldn’t let rival retailers sell the same book at a lower price.
The publishers were then able to impose the same model across the industry.”
As you can see, Apple can pose lawsuits all over the world, but it can’t even take care of what is happening in its own backyard. We hope now that it is under Tim Cook, who seems a more reasonable man than Jobs’ in this regard. Apple will move on to better times. Rather than spending millions of dollars on lawsuits, we hope it will either give better services or even better, spend it on creating affordable products for us.