News Teenage Engineering's Computer-1 Flat-Pack PC Case Is Orange and Very Pricey

[Admin]

Teenage Engineering's computer-1 PC case is one you put together yourself, but it costs $195.

Teenage Engineering's Computer-1 Flat-Pack PC Case Is Orange and Very Pricey : Read more

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Can't wait for Apple, the same company who even tried to sue a company with a non apple fruit in its logo, to sue these guys claiming trademark infringement of its cheese grater...

 

[PapaCrazy]

Can't wait for Apple, the same company who even tried to sue a company with a non apple fruit in its logo, to sue these guys claiming trademark infringement of its cheese grater...

Lian Li produced a case called the PC-V1000, which took more than a bit of inspiration from the cheese grater Mac Pro. Thankfully, they were never sued. Perhaps because Apple themselves took more than a bit of inspiration from Dieter Rams radios, which inspired both the iPod, as well as the cheese grater Mac Pro.

Apple promotes itself as being a great innovator of industrial design, giving birth to their designs in a social vacuum. But the truth is much more complex, and Apple's narrative tends to undermine the true contributions and historical progress made by others.

A Dieter Rams radio (produced by Braun in 1958):

 

[deesider]

You know you're too cool when you have a 4:3 monitor on your desk. Although rotated to be 3:4 I guess.

 

[kookykrazee]

You know you're too cool when you have a 4:3 monitor on your desk. Although rotated to be 3:4 I guess.

I noticed that and at first was like wtf? Then I was like well, I wouldn't do that, but like whatever, right?

 

[GenericUser]

You know you're too cool when you have a 4:3 monitor on your desk. Although rotated to be 3:4 I guess.

I feel like there's some sort of hipster joke somewhere in here.

 

[cuvtixo]

...Perhaps because Apple themselves took more than a bit of inspiration from Dieter Rams radios, which inspired both the iPod, as well as the cheese grater Mac Pro.

Apple promotes itself as being a great innovator of industrial design, giving birth to their designs in a social vacuum. But the truth is much more complex, and Apple's narrative tends to undermine the true contributions and historical progress made by others.

A Dieter Rams radio (produced by Braun in 1958):

While your point about Apple's "innovator" propaganda is well taken, that radio is just a square plastic box! You can certainly argue their iPods looked like old portable transistor radios, but that's kind of a matter of form matching function. There were literally hundreds of plastic transistor radios. You might as well have put a picture of a real cheese grater.

Apple's been on the other end of copyright struggles, too. In the beginning, Apple got legal permission from Apple Records (started by the Beatles), who agreed not to bring legal action as long as Apple Inc. never went into the music business. lol About 25 years afterwards Apple started "iTunes". They had to make serious concessions to the aging Apple Records label.

I don't think Apple is particularly litigious in the present era of copyright law. The laws and the economic environment basically requires companies to actively "protect" their IP. And Apple's not desperate, like when Toys 'R Us started threatening lawsuits to any business with "'R Us" in the name. At the time, my local hometown store Camera 'R Us changed their name in response. But that was when the toy store was in financial trouble and looking for money anyway they could.

And I'm not even sure what fruit-logo company you're talking about. Raspberry Pi still proudly displays raspberries. Even the Orange Pi: if they had legal trouble with Apple, they certainly resolved it.

Apple does plenty of underhanded and immoral things, but picking on them for navigating the awful international copyright systems that already exist... well that's comparing Apples to oranges!

 

[PapaCrazy]

While your point about Apple's "innovator" propaganda is well taken, that radio is just a square plastic box! You can certainly argue their iPods looked like old portable transistor radios, but that's kind of a matter of form matching function. There were literally hundreds of plastic transistor radios. You might as well have put a picture of a real cheese grater.

There's subjectivity to design, and that's one of the reasons I enjoy it. But Jonathon Ive is on record speaking glowing comments about designer Dieter Rams. To repudiate Rams as a source of inspiration for Apple's industrial design is simply a denial of reality.

History aside, if it doesn't look like an iPod to you, or the front of a Mac Pro... well, no sense arguing the results of a Rorschach test. As said, there is subjectivity to design.

There's a lot of truth to the comment I was responding to, but I didn't personally mention the fruit stuff and candidly have very little interest in the legal side. My comment was more focused on historical design influences.

If you need help finding the story though, here it is...

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/apple-said-to-thwart-other-fruit-logos-even-far-from-its-tree

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/354644

https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/09/apple-and-prepear-reach-an-agreement-on-pear-shaped-logo-trademark/#:~:text=Apple decided to take legal,nothing to do with technology.