The thing is, the technique for making that slide down keyboard work as long as the ones being done will, is innovative- and is patented.Eolair said:IMO, you shouldn't be able to patent the general idea of a sliding keyboard, only a specific mechanism to one. Because someone else might come up with another solution to a sliding keyboard and get another patent for that invention. That's how patents should work; to protect inventions, but not hinder new ones.
Chip said:We've gone over this before, so I'm not going to re-explain why a sliding keyboard is not worth the trouble. Just trust me that it isn't.
Unfortunately, Chip, we're probably going to keep fielding these threads for some time to come. People aren't cognizant of the way things are and have been for some time now. They only care for "shiny" and they go, "Oooh...shiny", never once realizing that there's always a price for some of this stuff.
Apt. Just apt... Moreover, the people backing this little gem we're all watching the making of don't want to step on any of those mines either...Sphinxter said:The patent works much like a minefield.
Exactly!Gruso said:^ Right on. My Pandora will spend a lot of time on the bench, sitting open like a laptop. Not leaning up against something, or screaming for a $100+ cradle.
/me sighs...Browncoat Forever Voyaging said:Can't help but wonder if the Amiga 1000's (the original model) keyboard "garage" could be used as "prior art" to bust the "sliding/hidden keyboard" patent. I know it's different, but if the patent is written around the idea of hiding the keyboard until it's needed then I'd hope it could be invalidated.
Yeah, yeah, I know it's not worth the cost to pursue, but I can dream...
Simply because large hands bring the possibility (read: probability) of palms hitting the keys during heavy game play. On such a small device , this doesn't seem like an unimportant consideration to me. Putting my thumbs on the analog pads seems almost certain to cause this issue to arise.Svartalf said:Why even go there? Because it "looks cool"? It's less useful than one would think. The N810 is a good litmus test for it's usefulness. It's only marginally better than the tap interface that's available on OS2007.
It's not an issue.Browncoat Forever Voyaging said:Simply because large hands bring the possibility (read: probability) of palms hitting the keys during heavy game play. On such a small device , this doesn't seem like an unimportant consideration to me. Putting my thumbs on the analog pads seems almost certain to cause this issue to arise.
There are dozens of patents for sliding, folding, rotating, and "hiding" keypads on electronic handheld devices. You could come up with something that would technically skirt around them or you could try to invalidate one with prior art, but you're still talking about a multi-million dollar court battle either way. Please go back up a couple posts and read the thread I linked to (particularly my post) - It's still true.Browncoat Forever Voyaging said:Now. Back to my initial question - just for the sake of curiosity, mind you - does anyone think the Amiga's "keyboard garage" can be applied to invalidate the "hidden keyboard" patent?