November 1st, 2007
Sorry, iPhone is NOT an "invention"
TIME magazine’s Lev Grossman announces the choice of Apple’s iPhone as the “Invention of the Year.”
Well yea, Lev’s main points are valid. The iPhone is pretty, its touch-screen actually works,and the iPhone’s User Interface is something that all competitors might take under advisement as an influencer for their forthcoming handset device designs.
Only one thing, though.
While iPhone is a product, and a danged good one, iPhone is NOT an “invention.”
Dictionary.com notes that U.S. Patent Law defines invention as:
“a new, useful process, machine, improvement, etc., that did not exist previously and that is recognized as the product of some unique intuition or genius, as distinguished from ordinary mechanical skill or craftsmanship.”
That said, the iPhone strikes me as more applied technological craftsmanship than “unique intuition” or “genius.”
What do you think?
Loading ...Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
