craigix said:
I see what you're saying, but go in to any computer or car accessories shop and you wills see third party add ons.
We probably will add the google phone, but if we keep 'hiding' from apple, where would that stop?
Yeah, and most of those accessories are general purpose and predate the iPhone (car chargers, belt pouches, mic/speaker systems, Bluetooth headsets, etc.). Your gaming controller, if their patent is as close to your device as you say, has drawn the attention of their IP lawyers, and it's attention most small businesses don't survive.
And I don't see it as "Hiding" from Apple, I see it as not supporting their line of hardware, and this is nothing new. People build 3rd party accessories for Sony products all the time, Nintendo too. the IBM architecture became Microsoft's 90% market share in no small part because people could freely develop software and hardware without "approval" from IBM. Apple has a habit of starting out with something innovative (like the first floppy drives) but ultimately they end up shooting themselves in the foot by not allowing developers like yourself to create new and interesting peripherals. Their attitude with the iPhone and the iPad is nothing different than they've ever done before, and if they want to chase away developers with new peripherals and software by being pricks, that's their business decision.
As far as them patenting your controller... It sucks but Apple is just taking advantage of the fact that you didn't patent first, and it's not (completely) Apple's fault that the patent system is the way that it is. Again, they've got the budget for the army of IP lawyers, just like any large corporation has, and frankly if you let this one go it wouldn't change squat. there's no 'slippery slope' here, at least not in that direction. If your only product was the iControlpad I'd be of the opinion that you should fight as far as you want to, bankrupt yourself for ideals and whatever no skin off my nose, or really anyone else's.
...however...
You're deeply involved in the Pandora, a far more interesting project, an open-sourced platform that someone could turn in to a phone and your response (I assume) would be "That's Cool!" with plenty of proper attribution, unlike Apple's response. With Microsoft acting more and more like Apple it's my opinion that small-developers building hardware that is independent of a specific OS is a very important thing to support. I preordered a Pandora in part because I want to see where you guys take the concept next. I don't know how the Pandora's specific finances work out, but I suspect that if you had already had to blow a lot of money fighting Apple there's a lot of things that you wouldn't have been able to accomplish that you've had to invest above and beyond what OPLtd. had anticipated in order to get Pandora where it is. Pandora's not in the customer's hands yet, shit can still happen. If you can get the Pandora delivered, and make plans accordingly to keep OPLtd out of the Apple/iControlpad legal -and- financial considerations, then fight the good fight and all that rot.
In short I'm saying: "Pick your battles wisely." Apple prevents you from making yet another snap-on controller system by ganking the patent out from under you, the battle lines will not have changed. If fighting this battle creates 11'th hour difficulties for the Pandora, a fairly unique piece of hardware with a -very- unique background, I find that possibility far more distressing than what is ultimately 'business as usual'.
Of course this is all my own $0.02
