One financial guru says Microsoft’s problems stem from the very top, Apple files a lawsuit and gets hit with one in return, and we discover how the industrial design field is a lot like Highlander. When it comes to the remainders for Thursday, May 26, 2011, there can be only…well, like six, apparently.
Prominent hedge fund manager calls for Microsoft’s Ballmer to step down (AppleInsider)
What’s wrong with Microsoft these days? According to Greenlight Capital manager David Einhorn, two words: Steve Ballmer. The company’s volatile CEO is apparently doing more harm than good, presiding over a 50-percent stock drop since he took over from founder Bill Gates in 2000. Naturally, we’ll pitch our own successor: character actor John Di Maggio. Why? Because not only did he play Ballmer in the 1999 TV movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, but he has also voiced an alcoholic robot. Which, when you think about, really isn’t that different from Clippy.
Apple Files Lawsuit Against Teenager Who Sold White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits, Settlement Reached? (MacRumors)
Apple has simultaneously launched a trademark lawsuit against Fei Lik Lam—the New York City teen who was selling White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits last fall—and voluntarily dismissed said suit, which suggests that a settlement may have been reached. Rumor has it all Apple wanted to know was how Lam got his white iPhones so darn white.
Videophone patent troll sues Apple, AT&T and US Cellular (FOSS Patents)
Speaking of the long arm of the law, Apple has found itself on the receiving end of an intellectual property lawsuit from Visual Interactive Phone Concepts, alleging violation of its videophone patents, filed in the mid ’90s. Visual Interactive Phone Concepts, on the other hand, has found its patents challenged by a prior art claim from Hanna-Barbera.
Apple, Samsung in talks over displays for iPad3 (Asia News Network)
Apple is apparently in talks with Samsung over AMOLED screen technology for use in the iPad 3. This, despite the fact that Apple has launched an extensive lawsuit against Samsung’s smartphone division. I mean, I’d be a little worried that all the screens Apple buys might “spontaneously” catch on fire.
Our Interview With Dieter Rams, The Greatest Designer Alive (Fast Company)
Dieter Rams, the design genius behind many of Braun’s consumer products, talks in an interview about being invited by Jonathan Ive to visit Apple—alone. Because, as we all know, the only way to truly earn the title of Greatest Designer Alive is by one-on-one design to the pain.