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juliusaugustus

macrumors regular
Oct 8, 2011
135
0
Here are some Ultrabooks.
None of those look like Macbook airs if you ask me
Thinkpad t430u
Lenovo-ThinkPad-T430u.jpg

Ideapad U300s
xlarge_lenovo-u300s.png

Hp Folio 13
folio-13-profile-back.jpg

Toshiba Z83x series
Toshiba-Portege-Z835_1.jpg

Samsung Series 5 ultrabook
Samsung-Series-5-Ultrabook-back.jpg

While technically not an Ultrabook it meets the specifications. Samsung Series 9
Series9_6x4.jpg

While both the Asus Zenbook and acer aspire s3 are both definitely Macbook air knockoffs I wouldn't say that about ultrabooks as a whole
Asus Zenbook
325547-asus-zenbook-ux31-rsl8.jpg

Acer s3
B005MR58MG_image_1.jpg

Now those are macbook air knockoffs.
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
*Poor* MacBook Air clones (with no OS X.) Let's be clear. ;)
Tell me, what makes what essentially what people used to call a Netbook, but with a bigger screen a MBA clone?


I think by 'stole', maflynn meant 'copied'. It is true that Apple had permission to inspect the Xerox GUI, but based on that info, there is no way anyone can claim Apple came up with the idea themselves.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
I think by 'stole', maflynn meant 'copied'. It is true that Apple had permission to inspect the Xerox GUI, but based on that info, there is no way anyone can claim Apple came up with the idea themselves.

It's a good thing Apple got their hands on it, too. They actually did something with it.
 

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
The Asus Zenbook and Acer S3 are not Macbook Air clones. In fact, I'd say the MacBook Air, the Asus Zenbook and Acer S3 are Sony Vaio X505VP clones :

vaio-x505-i1.gif


That laptop hails from 2004. Notice the wedge shape, 11mm at its thinnest, 21mm at its thickest.

Yes that's right, Apple stole the MacBook Air's design and concept from Sony, just like they did the chiclet keyboard. In fact, a lot of design cues in Macs come from Sony's line-up.
 

smoledman

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 17, 2011
1,943
364
The Asus Zenbook and Acer S3 are not Macbook Air clones. In fact, I'd say the MacBook Air, the Asus Zenbook and Acer S3 are Sony Vaio X505VP clones :

vaio-x505-i1.gif


That laptop hails from 2004. Notice the wedge shape, 11mm at its thinnest, 21mm at its thickest.

Yes that's right, Apple stole the MacBook Air's design and concept from Sony, just like they did the chiclet keyboard. In fact, a lot of design cues in Macs come from Sony's line-up.

I never heard of that Sony model and I guess it didn't sell well. You see even if Ive took design cues from this model, he combined with everything else Apple does(better screen, glass trackpad, the drilled-in LEDs) that makes for the best package. Combine that with AppleCare and AppleStores and you have a mega-winner.
 

juliusaugustus

macrumors regular
Oct 8, 2011
135
0
The Asus Zenbook and Acer S3 are not Macbook Air clones. In fact, I'd say the MacBook Air, the Asus Zenbook and Acer S3 are Sony Vaio X505VP clones :

vaio-x505-i1.gif


That laptop hails from 2004. Notice the wedge shape, 11mm at its thinnest, 21mm at its thickest.

Yes that's right, Apple stole the MacBook Air's design and concept from Sony, just like they did the chiclet keyboard. In fact, a lot of design cues in Macs come from Sony's line-up.
I agree pretty much every laptop is a Sony Vaio knockoff in some way shape or form, heck you could even say Sony invented the modern laptop. But the Zenbook and s3 are macbook air wannabees because of the combination of aluminum, buttonless trackpad, and teardrop shape. The x505 doesn't have a trackpad, it is matte finish black, trackpoint, it seems to have a small 4:3 aspect ratio screen. The x505 looks quite different from the Macbook air if you ask me.
 

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
The x505 doesn't have a trackpad, it is matte finish black, trackpoint, it seems to have a small 4:3 aspect ratio screen. The x505 looks quite different from the Macbook air if you ask me.

That's only because laptops in 2004 used 4:3 for screen ratios. Remember, this is over 7 years old now.

And really, it doesn't look "quite" different. It's a 10.4 ultraportable, wedged shape. Really looks like the 11" MBA if you ask me.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,566
look up konfabulator. When apple created widgets in OSX they completely ripped off konfabulator.

they also stole the GUI style and mouse from xerox, if you want to go back further in history

What a load of nonsense.

Konfabulator was a rip off of desk accessories, available with the first Macintosh in 1984.

And Xerox got paid good money for allowing Apple's engineers a look around. The AAPL shares that Xerox got for that would be worth billions now; Xerox's fault for selling them early.


I think by 'stole', maflynn meant 'copied'. It is true that Apple had permission to inspect the Xerox GUI, but based on that info, there is no way anyone can claim Apple came up with the idea themselves.

I think when he said "ripped off" and "stole", he meant "ripped off" and "stole". Why would he use these words if he meant something different? And I think Apple was the ones who came up with the idea to build a computer with a GUI that was cheap enough so that everyone could buy it. _That_ thought never occurred to Xerox.


Apple copies a lot as well. From Android for the iOS (ie notification system). IT is all about share and reapply.

Notifications were in MacOS 9 in the late 1990's. I think they were there in MacOS 8, but it's too long ago to be sure.
 
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juliusaugustus

macrumors regular
Oct 8, 2011
135
0
That's only because laptops in 2004 used 4:3 for screen ratios. Remember, this is over 7 years old now.

And really, it doesn't look "quite" different. It's a 10.4 ultraportable, wedged shape. Really looks like the 11" MBA if you ask me.
That machine looks like a Thinkpad if you ask me not a Macbook to be honest but that is my opinion. The closest thing to the 11" macbook that existed before was the 11" Vaio tt with nearly identical specs and the intel atom based Vaio x that used flash memory just like 11" macbook air did a year after.
 
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kdarling

macrumors P6
What a load of nonsense. Konfabulator was a rip off of desk accessories, available with the first Macintosh in 1984.

Desk accessories were native code apps written as drivers so they could stick around.

Konfabulator was a widget engine, allowing anyone to write apps using Javascript and XML.

And Xerox got paid good money for allowing Apple's engineers a look around. The AAPL shares that Xerox got for that would be worth billions now; Xerox's fault for selling them early.

Apple offered Xerox the right to buy 100,000 pre-IPO shares. Xerox paid $1.5 million for them in August 1979. The stock split, and Xerox sold 800,000 shares in Oct 1981 for $6,776,000.

At today's $422 a share, they would be worth $337,600,000 or just over a third of a billion.

And I think Apple was the ones who came up with the idea to build a computer with a GUI that was cheap enough so that everyone could buy it.

Jef Raskin at Apple was the one who wanted to make such a computer cheap enough for everyone.

Instead the Mac morphed into a cheaper Lisa that was still priced over $2,000... which would be over $5,000 in today's money. Hardly a cheap everyman computer, which is why it didn't sell very well at first.
 

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,028
3,003
St. Louis, MO
I agree pretty much every laptop is a Sony Vaio knockoff in some way shape or form, heck you could even say Sony invented the modern laptop. But the Zenbook and s3 are macbook air wannabees because of the combination of aluminum, buttonless trackpad, and teardrop shape. The x505 doesn't have a trackpad, it is matte finish black, trackpoint, it seems to have a small 4:3 aspect ratio screen. The x505 looks quite different from the Macbook air if you ask me.

That's like saying a Chevy is a ripoff of Ford because of the combination of an internal combustion engine, 4 wheels and headlights.
 

juliusaugustus

macrumors regular
Oct 8, 2011
135
0
That's like saying a Chevy is a ripoff of Ford because of the combination of an internal combustion engine, 4 wheels and headlights.
I'm not talking about the general design. The Sony vaio did influence a lot of modern designs the like the design of the macbook, Asus, HP machines etc. I wouldn't say those companies flat out copied Sony but always has been and continues to be an industry leader even with the tough times sony has gone through and I would say the same about Apple or Lenovo. Sony was the first to use a chiclet keyboard on a laptop and now Sony's keyboard layout is the industry standard, Sony Vaios were some of the first laptops to use a magnesium frame with an aluminum exterior and now almost every laptop uses that type of design, also the power media dock is the first close-to-mainstream adoption of the an external laptop graphics card, Sony was also one of the first companies to use a Carbon fiber chasis and now other laptop makers are looking in to making carbon fiber laptops including Apple, Acer, and others. Sony's Innovations go far beyond the innovations of a company like ford with the steering wheel and what have you. Sony isn't the only industry leader their is also lenovo with their lineup of thinkpad and ideapads. Give credit where credit is due.
 

DingleButt

macrumors regular
Dec 14, 2011
124
0
We could also just say that Ultrabooks are the natural progression of thin and light laptops. Of course I won't deny that several manufacturers took pages from Apple on their design as well as I won't deny Apple did the same with their Air/MBP's.
 

MorphingDragon

macrumors 603
Mar 27, 2009
5,159
6
The World Inbetween
look up konfabulator. When apple created widgets in OSX they completely ripped off konfabulator.

Can I have what you're smoking?

Konfabulator was a 2003 release.

If memory serves me right KDE 1 (or 2) had desktop widgets which was all the way back in 1998. Ironically, Microsoft and Apple are still getting "Inspiration" from the KDE project. KnightWRX might know for sure but I think X Desktop itself had desktop widgets.

Funny how Scientists and Engineers stand on the shoulders of giants. ;)

edit: Ninja'd by Gnasher

400px-DA_OpenGem.png
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
I think when he said "ripped off" and "stole", he meant "ripped off" and "stole". Why would he use these words if he meant something different? And I think Apple was the ones who came up with the idea to build a computer with a GUI that was cheap enough so that everyone could buy it. _That_ thought never occurred to Xerox.
No, but they took what xerox had done and used it. Find any other word to describe that. The bottom line is the saw what xerox did (improved it) and made the macintosh.

Even in Job's biography, the xerox's engineers where appalled that corporate would let someone in to see their unreleased product development, for fear that it would be copied.

Was it against the law, doubtful xerox let them; was it ethical, i dunno, but lets not put apple on a pedestal and cast aspersions to other computer companies when they copy apple.
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
It's a good thing Apple got their hands on it, too. They actually did something with it.

Read Jobs' biography and you'll find out that Xerox did actually have some plans for the GUI. Unfortunately, they were too slow to the game and appeared to be indecisive to whether it would succeed or not.

Or is that just the story Walter Isaacson wants us to believe? :rolleyes:
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
Can I have what you're smoking?

Konfabulator was a 2003 release.

If memory serves me right KDE 1 (or 2) had desktop widgets which was all the way back in 1998. Ironically, Microsoft and Apple are still getting "Inspiration" from the KDE project. KnightWRX might know for sure but I think X Desktop itself had desktop widgets.

Funny how Scientists and Engineers stand on the shoulders of giants. ;)

edit: Ninja'd by Gnasher

Image

My point which I probably didn't explain better is that OSX already had widgets thanks to konfabulator. Apple stole (and I mean that word) the whole look, feel and usage of widgets and virtually destroyed a small developer in the process. There were predecessors to be sure, even in apple's system 7, which were called Desk Accessories but when apple reintroduces a feature that looks extremely like an app already being sold for OSX, you cannot help but wonder.
 
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Mord

macrumors G4
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
Pfft, more like every laptop ever is just a knockoff of my Powerbook 100.
 

0000757

macrumors 68040
Dec 16, 2011
3,893
850
Because the T430 is totally a MacBook Air clone....:rolleyes:

T430u_1_9906.jpg


T430u_4_9978.jpg
 
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*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
We could also just say that Ultrabooks are the natural progression of thin and light laptops. Of course I won't deny that several manufacturers took pages from Apple on their design as well as I won't deny Apple did the same with their Air/MBP's.

A natural progression? Possibly.

Then again, half the initiatives, product directions and announcements in the industry are responses to Apple, or anticipation of what Apple might do in the future.

This is how it's been for years. These "natural progressions" mysteriously seem to come after Apple has done the natural progressing first. Then, after witnessing Apple's results, the industry deems it "safe" to move ahead en masse. Suddenly everyone releases an iPad competitor. Suddenly everyone is out with an "ultrabook", etc. And they usually don't get it right the way Apple did it the first time around.

Apple sneezes, everyone grabs a Kleenex.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
Because the T430 is totally a MacBook Air clone....:roll eyes:

T430u_1_9906.jpg


T430u_4_9978.jpg

That's nice looking but I have to say I absolutely hate the little red joystick pointer. I've used enough thinkpads in my life and that's the one thing that is never being used. From the people I know and work with, that opinion is shared. Makes me wonder if anyone really uses that.
 

MorphingDragon

macrumors 603
Mar 27, 2009
5,159
6
The World Inbetween
My point which I probably didn't explain better is that OSX already had widgets thanks to konfabulator. Apple stole (and I mean that word) the whole look, feel and usage of widgets and virtually destroyed a small developer in the process. There were predecessors to be sure, even in apple's system 7, which were called Desk Accessories but when apple reintroduces a feature that looks extremely like an app already being sold for OSX, you cannot help but wonder.

No, I would blame Yahoo! for destroying Konfabulator. The Yahoo dev team destroys everything it touches. They nearly Killed off Zimbra - An MS Exchange Competitor/Superior until VMWare acquired it.
 
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