For sake of clarity, both bothers me, but it's the fact that a trivial UI implementation detail can be patented and monopolized I consider fundamentally wrong.
That someone can build a 1 billion dollar beast on top of that, what any decent software engineer can do in a matter of days, just makes it so much worse.
Some people have a rather mellow attitude to it all and simply say "Don't hate the player, hate the game". I proclaim the right to hate the game and anyone who plays it. Apple should have some pride and a sense of dignity. Apple should be better than this.
Firstly there is nothing trivial about it. The concept never existed before the iPhone and it is absolutely not intuitive that it is how list scrolling is supposed to work. It's unquestionably distinctive to the iPhone.
Secondly what a software engineer can do in a matter of days is a ridiculous and pointless measure of anything. I could build Google's original search engine once I knew exactly how it worked. It's the "how it works" part that is novel.
Thirdly you completely fail at understanding the maths here. The only reason it is a billion dollar idea is because Samsung sells so many devices.
"In a non-final Office action the USPTO has declared all 20 claims of Apple's rubber-banding patent (U.S. Patent No, 7,469,381 invalid [for prior art and obviousness]... A finding of anticipation is a determination that there was no inventive step at all."
That someone can build a 1 billion dollar beast on top of that, what any decent software engineer can do in a matter of days, just makes it so much worse.
Some people have a rather mellow attitude to it all and simply say "Don't hate the player, hate the game". I proclaim the right to hate the game and anyone who plays it. Apple should have some pride and a sense of dignity. Apple should be better than this.
Clearly they are not.