Jesus H, only on slashdot. Yes, if by "piss off" you mean "google attempting to add value to their business to protect future revenues". They are not trying to act out some nerds fantasy battle.

Yep, because that's the story here, right?

My stance is anti bigotry, not pro Christianity. But that would be lost on cowards such as yourself.

It's ironic that you have to make slashdots equivalent of the sign of the cross so that you aren't modded down as a heretic for your subsequent words. Slashdot canon if you will.

We are all members of one cult or another as we can't escape indoctrination - except maybe for those dumped in a forest at the age of four and raised by wolves. I know this because most of us slip into the cogs of western society like those that went before us. There is a place in the machine for everyone.

That you proclaim yourself as rational makes me skeptical of you but I could be wrong, maybe I should have taken a chance and read the rest of your post, but I couldn't get past slashdots bigoted received wisdom on this occasion.

But why should slashdot move on from these submissions when members such as yourself keep swallowing the click bait? If you look at these Apple vs Samsung/google submissions they regularly attract posts in their hundreds.

I often hear Android fans say that they refuse to buy Apple as a sign of disapproval, so how about not clicking on these stories for the same reason?

I love how some slash dotters are so on edge that they end up in comic book guy sarcastic battle mode when answering a simple comment. Anyway I didn't consider your scenario so I guess I do have somewhat of a simple gadget based life. Kids aren't generally allowed to take their gadgets out of the house except on special occasions, wife doesn't work etc. I'm kinda hoping in a few years time when kids are older that induction charging mats will be common place, but whatever, a single standard would be good.

Ok, but why be obtuse about it, it's well documented that Apple have accused Samsung of copying isn't it? So of course that's the weapon I'm talking about. I'm not saying that Apples accusations have any merit because I've not seen any Samsung products to comment, but that would be the "first strike" from _Apples_ point of view. Don't confuse my analysis of what Apple may be thinking with my own personal opinion of the rights and wrongs of it all.

Besides that wasn't event the point I was making: which is that it's just possible that Samsung's invocation of the law has no element of retribution to it, i.e. its just yet more dickish behavior from another mega-cap. I'm making that point because there is a lot of cheerleading of Samsung on slashdot over this action (because it's directed at Apple) when maybe we should be condemning them for going down the same path as Apple.

Just wondered if gadgets mostly come with chargers anyway, in which case how would making them standard help? My last few gadgets purchased have been an iPhone 4s, iPhone 4, iPad, nintendo 3ds, nintendo ds lite and some anonymous Nokia feature phone. Every one has shipped with a charger, so standard or no, I'd still have the same mountain of chargers in my possession. The only possible benefit of having a standard is if one day in the future gadgets started shipping sans charger so that you would have to buy one separately.

Although the other side to that argument is that according to Apple, Samsung has been constantly at their throats only with a different weapon than the courts. And as an Apple fan I would like a bit of convincing that that this latest act of aggression from Samsung is merely retaliation for earlier acts of aggression from Apple - that's if you aren't just preaching to the choir. Citing some timeline of legal action where Apple is plotted first isn't evidence.

You see another theory would be that Samsung are just acting dickishly in the name of their own shareholders regardless of earlier dickish behavior from Apple.

The language used by the AC reply to your post was a little bit blunt, but the point is valid - in Apples opinion Samsung was the party that struck first by their unfair actions and therefore Apple would consider that they are acting in their own defence. What you are implying is that any party that seeks redress via the courts must always be the aggressor.

Maybe you have some argument as to why Apple _should_ be seen as the aggressor, but if so you haven't presented it here, you've merely asserted that it's the case. Then again why should you go to the trouble of presenting an argument, after all there isn't a great deal of that around here :-)

You say playing nice, but I prefer to use the word colluding. The status quo always used to be that the previous incumbents would royally shaft their cash cow customers, by contrast we have a lot more choice today. Whether that is due to Android or Apple I don't particularly care, all I know is that it has changed.

The solution isn't to perpetuate the patent system any further with these anti competitive FRAND sticking plasters, it's to put pressure on reforming the whole patent system, getting rid of software patents entirely. The entry fee into any expanded club FRAND will be exorbitant enough so that those big players who are already members can keep new starters out. Only companies that aren't doing very well today would want that.

Or as my dad used to say: "what's yours is mine and what's mine's me own".

I see a lot of these verbose types of argument that fails to get to the point. Yes Apple patents a lot of stuff that shouldn't be patentable. So does google by the way and so does Microsoft and everyone else. A lot of those inventions don't even originate in house either, just look at googles buyout of Swallow for example. However given these shitty rules that they play by are the same for all of them.

All you have done is go off on a hateful rant with nothing to back up those rantings, you have to explain why one company should have to forced to share it's own shitty patents with everybody else. What you've done is made an attack at the patent system and tried to attach Apples name to this uniquely, your words could apply equally to any of the major players. For example does google share its search patents with everybody? I don't know the answer to that but I don't see anybody looking into it round here either.

Does anybody else find it weird when supposedly intelligent people don't even _try_ to see all companies in the same light? That sort of blinkered view must spill out into other areas of thinking, in a way that must hurt reasoning skills.

Don't have a go at the story it was exactly the right thing to post - 500 comments and counting, including yours, prove it. The best way to bury a story is for people to ignore it, but some people just can't get their head around that simple fact.

You may have a point. Regarding MS though, I think that was a cynical and highly artificial milestone with no product to back it up. But probably more newsworthy.