Microsoft Applies For Page-Turn Animation Patent 293
eldavojohn writes "Ever seeking to out innovate their competition, Microsoft has applied for a patent on animating page flips in devices like the Nook or Kindle. The application summary reads, 'One or more pages are displayed on a touch display. A page-turning gesture directed to a displayed page is recognized. Responsive to such recognition, a virtual page turn is displayed on the touch display. The virtual page turn actively follows the page-turning gesture. The virtual page turn curls a lifted portion of the page to progressively reveal a back side of the page while progressively revealing a front side of a subsequent page. A lifted portion of the page is given an increased transparency that allows the back side of the page to be viewed through the front side of the page. A page-flipping gesture quickly flips two or more pages.' Maybe you've seen this before?"
doesn't matter (Score:4, Insightful)
Doesn't matter if it's been seen before, if you have a boatload of cash you need a boatload of defensive patents to keep the parasites who don't produce a thing off your back. Maybe companies like MS, that actually make stuff (whether you think their stuff is good or bad) and contribute, should just be auto-granted immunity from all that bullshit. As it is right now they have to think of and officially enumerate everything they don't want some worthless sleazeball non-company looking for a quick buck coming after them for.
rather it is an example of (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Prior art? (Score:2, Insightful)
Um. It's iBooks on the iPad. Has pretty much exactly that feature. Word for word.
It's good to see Microsoft unseating Apple as the evil empire by deliberately forcing them into prior art litigation. Ugh.
Re:Maybe you should ask the right question: (Score:3, Insightful)
If you put it on a device that doesn't use a touch screen, but a mouse instead, you've (theoretically) circumvented the patent.
As a side effect, you've also explored a new avenue of input devices that you wouldn't have before.
Yes... (Score:1, Insightful)
... in the original Myst.
Prior Art (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Maybe you should ask the right question: (Score:5, Insightful)
Have all the knowledgeable people left Microsoft? (Score:1, Insightful)
One indication that the smart people have left is when a company brings out a new version of software, and the big change is in the menus. Menu changes are something people who don't care about technology can do.
There have been a lot [techrights.org] of technological embarrassments [time.com] at Microsoft in recent years. An obvious patent is just one of them.
(The Microsoft Vista operating system [time.com] was, it is said, not a failure, but an intentional method of getting people to pay for two operating systems, by deliberately [pcmag.com] releasing an unfinished one.)
Re:Prior art? (Score:5, Insightful)
I've seen that on a tactile touch display that even varies in thickness as a number of pages are turned and it is powered by the kinetic energy of the gesture.
Its called a god damn book.
Old patent application... (Score:3, Insightful)
This was requested back during the Courier development years, and filed in January of 2009. So no, there was no prior application or device on the market that did this. And it damn sure isn't a copy of the iPad. This headline is sensationalism at it's best.
Re:Maybe you should ask the right question: (Score:4, Insightful)
They didn't patent the implementation (which is unpatentable, even if it's a lot of work), they patented the look and feel. And the look and feel of this feature has been around for many years, implemented by other people who had to work a lot harder on ancient 3D hardware to make this look good.
This patent is theft and fraud, pure and simple.
when are you starting the revolt, America? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Yeah, That's New (Score:2, Insightful)
Companies like Microsoft hogging the patent means there's little chance the someone will slip up and fail to renew or take people to court over "small" offenses. A small company would hardly have the resources to find AND sue me for having a 10-year-old transition animation on a personal webpage, for instance.
It bothers me that smaller companies almost never pull this kind of anti-prior-art stunts, dealing a blow to the bigger, noisier fish who would be suing us in their sleep for stuff like the above. Maybe it's the difference in headcount-to-lawyer# ratios.
Re:Maybe you should ask the right question: (Score:3, Insightful)
Please explain to me how implementing that is obvious.
Implementing what? The page turn animation that's been around for years?
Or the "WITH TOUCH!!!!!" part of the patent, which is the default for any touchscreen that works as a mouse, where your finger clicks and drags the page just like a mouse would have.
If I run a 10 year old program that used the mouse to drag the page on my computer and plug in the 10 year old serial-port-mouse touchscreen monitor overlay, do I infringe the patent right away, or only when I drag my finger on the screen to turn a page?
Of course, Microsoft's version is pretty specific on the application side (I'd have to find a buggy app that shows the next page through the current one as soon as I start turning it) but frankly, any patent claiming to have invented the default mode of operation of hardware a decade old should be invalid.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:when are you starting the revolt, America? (Score:1, Insightful)
Because it's no longer about our rights, we just can't afford to buy the guns they make without the paychecks they sign.
Re:Spot the prior art (Score:3, Insightful)
A certain Uncle Fester Ballmer is desperately trying to retain his position, hence any patent imaginable will be claimed and a hyper inflated book valued placed against it in, to up the companies book value, in order to try to pump up the share price and thus protect Ballmer's position. The more desperate Ballmer becomes to maintain his position the more clumsy and self destructive will the "Beast of Redmond" become (all really rather lame and pitiful).
Re:Have all the knowledgeable people left Microsof (Score:3, Insightful)
1) It took years for the hardware companies to stop making so many drivers that bluescreen XP or cause other problems (heck some still do), so it's no surprise if Vista gets crappy drivers. If Microsoft or anybody was expecting otherwise, they're stupid.
2) While Windows NT/2K/XP allowed users to not be administrator (and I've set up many machines that way, for myself and others), Windows XP in the installation process tended to make the first user an admin and not make it easy for "newbies" to set up something like the OSX/Ubuntu/Win7 model.
Lastly, there has really been very little UI improvement from the OSS world (wobbly windows don't make you more productive) or Microsoft.
I do like the application grouping thing in Windows 7 (but I'd prefer if you could adjust the task button positions within an app group).
Other than that, Windows 7 sucks. Using the start menu (or the start menu search) is slower than my current XP config at home (classic mode with custom menus so I can use winkey, <number>, <number> to launch my commonly used stuff very quickly).
The search sucks. The network configuration screen is overly complex and cluttered.
FWIW, I'm the sort who likes stuff like Tree Style Tabs for Mozilla, the type of person who has lots of tabs and windows open, and has written a program to allow a user to quickly set up hotkeys to switch amongst tasks/windows. I don't care about those stupid animations. If I want a window, I want it NOW, not after some fancy song and dance.
Don't get me wrong, I can see why others like those animations (they're like fancy cutscenes in games), but the UI designers should also cater for those who want to use their precious UI to actually get work done faster (so that we can waste more time on other stuff e.g Slashdot
Comment removed (Score:2, Insightful)
Prior Art is a load of crap in the US. (Score:3, Insightful)
On slashdot, we see many of these bogus patent articles as well as several patent troll litigation articles. On everyone we see the same tired arguments, hey, this was done since the 80's or that company implemented it long long before that! Sometimes we even hear, hey this company just bought the unused patent from a dead guy and doesn't even make a product, which invalidates the patent.
Well, non of that crap matters in the US. Seriously, how often do these patent trolls win? Almost always. That patent / legal system is so fucked up that actual law matters very little anymore.
This is one big reason that companies continue to pull out of the US.
Just do a quick Google search for "broken patent system" or "out of control patent system" and you will see this has been going on for years. Hell, back in 2000 folks were sure any time now there would be patent reform, yet the we are no closer to it.
It's time for you to get involved people. It's time to write to your representatives to demand reform. The US patent system is a drain on our economy and seriously hampers proper innovation. Something must be done soon, time is running out for the US. Well..at least IMO.
Re:Hurry up and someone patent.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Hurry up and someone patent.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Neither did Apple. I have old 80s-era games that use the same page-curl and flip animation to tell a story. It's prior art and can not be patented.
This reminds me of the story where some company tried to patent multiple screens/resolutions on a single desktop. A classic Commodore Amiga user drug his old 1985 machine into the courtroom and demonstrated that the idea existed as prior art, and therefore can not be patented.