Apple Patents Illuminated Hardware Cases

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Geez people...use your heads! This isn't about blinky HDD or power lights!

Looking at the diagram, the intent appears to be a system to create different effects based on information sent by the CPU i.e. coordination of WHAT the processor is doing with regards to the context of what information is being processed. They are trying to patent a hardware system that will/can utilize programming instruction to create and control lighting effects within the case of a PC.

This is actually a clever idea, having your case change colors/illumination based on the context of what program you are running. Think about playing a game where your case actually provides you with in-game information, changing color to indicate certain events or as a warning system. It might be pretty neat!

But it also might be dumb, and just a patent move. Still, remember to keep an open mind!
 
[citation][nom]stryk55[/nom]Geez people...use your heads! This isn't about blinky HDD or power lights!Looking at the diagram, the intent appears to be a system to create different effects based on information sent by the CPU i.e. coordination of WHAT the processor is doing with regards to the context of what information is being processed. They are trying to patent a hardware system that will/can utilize programming instruction to create and control lighting effects within the case of a PC.This is actually a clever idea, having your case change colors/illumination based on the context of what program you are running. Think about playing a game where your case actually provides you with in-game information, changing color to indicate certain events or as a warning system. It might be pretty neat!But it also might be dumb, and just a patent move. Still, remember to keep an open mind![/citation]

Being realistic isn't as much fun. OK to the game idea. Your monitor's bezel is illuminated with a low intensity white or blue color. As you lose health it changes to red and the lower the health gets the more intense or bright the light becomes.

That's a novel idea. However, as a gamer, I'd much rather see the bezel disappear completely. Why can't Apple patent that? I might actually buy an Apple branded monitor if it had no bezel as opposed to a light show.

Now as far as the color telling me that I'm watching a blu-ray or dvd movie? I think I would have figured that out by the time I pressed "play".
 
I have been doing this well before 1998. Its as simple as taping into a power source on a device and routing it through and LED and some plexiglass. You can even write a simple program to activate specific USB pins when an application is detected.
 
Why don't they try to patent the mouse clicking with the finger?
Or the keyboard typing....
I wounder how they didn't already patent the white color...
 
[citation][nom]clonazepam[/nom]Being realistic isn't as much fun. OK to the game idea. Your monitor's bezel is illuminated with a low intensity white or blue color. As you lose health it changes to red and the lower the health gets the more intense or bright the light becomes. That's a novel idea. However, as a gamer, I'd much rather see the bezel disappear completely. Why can't Apple patent that? I might actually buy an Apple branded monitor if it had no bezel as opposed to a light show.Now as far as the color telling me that I'm watching a blu-ray or dvd movie? I think I would have figured that out by the time I pressed "play".[/citation]


Yeah, I completely agree with you on that one. And your right...it isn't as much fun to take it seriously 😛
 
can we stop kicking the patent system, it has worked pretty good for a long while, its greatest failure was patents covering software and innovation (recent developments) which allow for the patenting of vague concepts and often ill defined ideas. This was an innovation patent.

we do not need the patent system to be torn down, just reformation of these two (failing) areas

i never seen someone rebuild a car from the ground up cause a flat tire.....
 
One question, it is only the owner of the patent who can denounce an infringement ? may any citizen who witness the patent infringement denounce (as a citizen you are supposed to denounce any crime you witness). Because I think that this is the simple solution to all of this patent crap. Just go and denounce every patent infringement you witness...
 
[citation][nom]jacekring[/nom]sigh...Apple's at it again, patenting the stupidest most common feature in the world. Every computer in the world, no matter the manufacturer has some form of LED lights. Even desktop computers have a yellow light by the power button to indicate it's on, computer monitors also have a light to indicate it's on or on standby.[/citation]
Another case of someone not reading the article before commenting.

"Apple's idea comes down to the thought that the illumination of a computer housing can serve as an additional information source next to the display screen itself. For example, it would provide a different illumination when playing a DVD than when you are playing a video game."

Can't really blame you though, because the article's teaser is disingenuous.
 
OH NO I HAVE A LIGHT THAT BLINKS WHEN MY HARD DRIVE IS ACCESSED AM I GOING TO GET SUED
 
[citation][nom]jacekring[/nom]sigh...Apple's at it again, patenting the stupidest most common feature in the world. Every computer in the world, no matter the manufacturer has some form of LED lights. Even desktop computers have a yellow light by the power button to indicate it's on, computer monitors also have a light to indicate it's on or on standby.[/citation]


You my friend are just looking for something to troll on without understanding what they are actually talking about. They are not patenting had power status light, led or anything like that. What they are talking about is similar to an integrated AMBX system. Very different and much more complex than what you are talking about.

The light does not indicate weather a movie is playing or not but rather the light changes based on content showing at a given time. Although this is not new (Philips did this with speakers, fans and a rumble pad in the AMBX system) It does add to the immersion. If they can figure out a way to have it without it being a distraction or hurting your eyes that would be fantastic.
 


Nah, I've read it. The thing must be connected directly to the CPU. However, the point is thati f they can patent a generalized concept like that, they can patent anything. Backlit case included.

P.S. Since when can Macs play video games? :lol:
 
[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]Nah, I've read it. The thing must be connected directly to the CPU. However, the point is thati f they can patent a generalized concept like that, they can patent anything. Backlit case included.P.S. Since when can Macs play video games?[/citation]
It's a legitimate patent because no one's ever done it or patented it before. It's not general, it has a specific use and purpose described in the article.

You and I agree that Macs do not have the number of titles or many of the best ones, but they do play games.
 
[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]Nah, I've read it. The thing must be connected directly to the CPU. However, the point is thati f they can patent a generalized concept like that, they can patent anything. Backlit case included.P.S. Since when can Macs play video games?[/citation]

Since whenever they could run Windows. ...been at least a few years now. :)
 
[citation][nom]bv90andy[/nom]I've decided. I'm going to patent a computer with a CPU inside, one with a Motherboard inside, and maybe one with DDR SDRAM inside.[/citation]

We have all decided that it would make better use of all that patent lawyer money you have to throw away to give that to us so we can build, use and enjoy the prototypes you think you may be able to patent. ;-)
 
[citation][nom]halcyon[/nom]The Patent office should only allow Apple a small number of patents a year. ...then maybe they'd say, "Is this dumb idea really worth...oh...nevermind."[/citation]
We geeks on this site might deride their ideas, but they are certainly not "dumb." They end up setting the trend in a lot of cases.
 
I cannot think of any device that makes the case glows to give information about what the device is doing. All the example that have been given previously are for LED indicators, which is NOT being patented.
Can anyone give a specific example of where this patent is already used?
 


Oh, I bet Apple has a lot of [strike]dumb[/strike] interesting ideas that don't set any desirable trends. The ideas that aren't actually introduced that we don't know anything about like, "Hey, let's make the phone thinner by putting a metal antennae on the outside so that when you hold the phone you have a better chance of negatively affecting the transmission." Its a good thing an engineer caught that one before they introduced it.

I like my iPhone 4. :kaola:
 
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