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Incredible how bad a loser Apple is. If you're ordered to do something like this make it plain that you got the message. So: Above the fold, in a font no light

by tisme 14y ago

Incredible how bad a loser Apple is. If you're ordered to do something like this make it plain that you got the message. So: Above the fold, in a font no lighter or smaller than the rest of the page. No tricks or gimmicks (resizing the ipad mini image? Popup links??) to hide the text. All they're doing is to risk yet another do-over which will hit them in the middle of Christmas shopping.

mtgx 14y ago
They even made the iPad mini bigger, so people can't notice the statement at the bottom of the page: http://i.imgur.com/MRmAx.jpg http://i.imgur.com/MRmAx.jpg
- iamben 14y ago
  As noted below, the iPad resizes so it's always off the screen...
- michaelfeathers 14y ago
  Another difference. Before the statement link was only on the UK site.
- dsirijus 14y ago
  Thank you for the illustration, it makes it pretty obvious.
- kzrdude 14y ago
  Hitting fullscreen in firefox is hilarious, watch the IPad grow to cover it up. :-)
- 6ren 14y ago
  It dynamically enlarges, so the statement is always below the fold, no matter your screen size. That's why it aligns so nicely. To be fair, maybe they did they before too. But if they changed it just to hide this clear statement they've been ordered to make... BTW: The statement text is verbatim what the court suggested in http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html (para 87) The judgement says it's a final determination which I assume means it can't be appealed. But I don't get that impression from the statement, I guess because I'm not familiar with the appeals hierarchy of the EU. It seems the UK Court of Appeal superior to German courts.
  - michaelhoffman 14y ago
    When a court says something is "final" that means that it will not be revisited at that level. It does not mean you can't appeal. However, you can only appeal to the UK Supreme Court if you get permission from the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court, and I doubt this is the sort of thing where such permission will be forthcoming. The EU is not one country and does not have a unified judicial system like in the U.S. The decisions of the Court of Appeals of England and Wales (not the UK) have little precedential value in Germany and vice versa.
- Zoophy 14y ago
  They even added a new Javascript file for that. Responsive webdesign, right?! http://images.apple.com/v/home/n/scripts/hero_resize.js http://images.apple.com/v/home/n/scripts/hero_resize.js
  - anatoli 14y ago
    The file was modified Oct 21st, which was right before the iPad Mini was announced. As has already been pointed out it's on every other international site too.
- AYBABTME 14y ago
  I was curious about this and verified all the other national versions. Across all the versions displaying the iPad on their front page, the US version is the ONLY version I have found that doesn't scale the iPad automatically.
shinratdr 14y ago
> All they're doing is to risk yet another do-over which will hit them in the middle of Christmas shopping. That implies that anyone normal doing Christmas shopping on Apple.com cares about this even slightly, which IMO is quite a stretch. People can speculate endlessly about how bad this will make Apple look, but I can tell you right now this isn't the patent judgement. This story hasn't really broken into mainstream. The only people who noticed this are tech news readers, and they also won't be swayed by something like this. I agree that Apple's being fairly petty about this, but I don't agree that it will affect them negatively in any quantifiable way. I can't picture the person who would know and care about this, and have it affect their purchasing decision.
- tisme 14y ago
  > I can't picture the person who would know and care about this, and have it affect their purchasing decision. It affects mine. That's only one data point and I'm sure there are millions who it won't affect.
  - shinratdr 14y ago
    I don't buy that for a second. You weren't about to purchase an Apple product and then decided not to because of this. There is no need to be so two-faced.
    - tisme 14y ago
      (1) you don't know me (2) I actually was, but decided not to, what you believe is not in any way material to that. This is a first for HN actually, someone telling me they know me better than I know myself. Incredible.
      - shinratdr 14y ago
        > This is a first for HN actually, someone telling me they know me better than I know myself. I don't know you better than you know yourself. You know you're lying for sure, I'm just assuming so based off of overwhelming evidence.
0xABADC0DA 14y ago
The only actual proper thing in this whole affair was Apple's lawsuit. As Samsung was copying them right down to the shape of the charger Apple felt they had a real case. They lost, but disputes are supposed to be settled in court when the parties can't come to an understanding. - Samsung slavishly copying Apple's designs - The Judge issuing a order designed to embarrass Apple - Apple posting a snarky letter of the law notice - Hacker News posters like in this thread ...these things are childish and immature. Grow up.
- sbuk 14y ago
  This is arguably the most sensible post I have read in this whole sorry debacle. Well said.

by tisme 14y ago

mtgx 14y ago

They even made the iPad mini bigger, so people can't notice the statement at the bottom of the page: http://i.imgur.com/MRmAx.jpg http://i.imgur.com/MRmAx.jpg

iamben 14y ago
As noted below, the iPad resizes so it's always off the screen...
michaelfeathers 14y ago
Another difference. Before the statement link was only on the UK site.
dsirijus 14y ago
Thank you for the illustration, it makes it pretty obvious.
kzrdude 14y ago
Hitting fullscreen in firefox is hilarious, watch the IPad grow to cover it up. :-)
6ren 14y ago
It dynamically enlarges, so the statement is always below the fold, no matter your screen size. That's why it aligns so nicely. To be fair, maybe they did they before too. But if they changed it just to hide this clear statement they've been ordered to make... BTW: The statement text is verbatim what the court suggested in http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html (para 87) The judgement says it's a final determination which I assume means it can't be appealed. But I don't get that impression from the statement, I guess because I'm not familiar with the appeals hierarchy of the EU. It seems the UK Court of Appeal superior to German courts.
- michaelhoffman 14y ago
  When a court says something is "final" that means that it will not be revisited at that level. It does not mean you can't appeal. However, you can only appeal to the UK Supreme Court if you get permission from the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court, and I doubt this is the sort of thing where such permission will be forthcoming. The EU is not one country and does not have a unified judicial system like in the U.S. The decisions of the Court of Appeals of England and Wales (not the UK) have little precedential value in Germany and vice versa.
Zoophy 14y ago
They even added a new Javascript file for that. Responsive webdesign, right?! http://images.apple.com/v/home/n/scripts/hero_resize.js http://images.apple.com/v/home/n/scripts/hero_resize.js
- anatoli 14y ago
  The file was modified Oct 21st, which was right before the iPad Mini was announced. As has already been pointed out it's on every other international site too.
AYBABTME 14y ago
I was curious about this and verified all the other national versions. Across all the versions displaying the iPad on their front page, the US version is the ONLY version I have found that doesn't scale the iPad automatically.

shinratdr 14y ago

> All they're doing is to risk yet another do-over which will hit them in the middle of Christmas shopping. That implies that anyone normal doing Christmas shopping on Apple.com cares about this even slightly, which IMO is quite a stretch. People can speculate endlessly about how bad this will make Apple look, but I can tell you right now this isn't the patent judgement. This story hasn't really broken into mainstream. The only people who noticed this are tech news readers, and they also won't be swayed by something like this. I agree that Apple's being fairly petty about this, but I don't agree that it will affect them negatively in any quantifiable way. I can't picture the person who would know and care about this, and have it affect their purchasing decision.

tisme 14y ago
> I can't picture the person who would know and care about this, and have it affect their purchasing decision. It affects mine. That's only one data point and I'm sure there are millions who it won't affect.
- shinratdr 14y ago
  I don't buy that for a second. You weren't about to purchase an Apple product and then decided not to because of this. There is no need to be so two-faced.
  - tisme 14y ago
    (1) you don't know me (2) I actually was, but decided not to, what you believe is not in any way material to that. This is a first for HN actually, someone telling me they know me better than I know myself. Incredible.
    - shinratdr 14y ago
      > This is a first for HN actually, someone telling me they know me better than I know myself. I don't know you better than you know yourself. You know you're lying for sure, I'm just assuming so based off of overwhelming evidence.

0xABADC0DA 14y ago

The only actual proper thing in this whole affair was Apple's lawsuit. As Samsung was copying them right down to the shape of the charger Apple felt they had a real case. They lost, but disputes are supposed to be settled in court when the parties can't come to an understanding. - Samsung slavishly copying Apple's designs - The Judge issuing a order designed to embarrass Apple - Apple posting a snarky letter of the law notice - Hacker News posters like in this thread ...these things are childish and immature. Grow up.

sbuk 14y ago
This is arguably the most sensible post I have read in this whole sorry debacle. Well said.