Thread

1. smalltorch · 1790442053 · focus · HN ↗

   Wow, that's a lot of money for a little buzz. I mean what could possibly be such sacred knowledge that a vibration could even be patentable.

   You spin a unbalanced thing in a circle and it creates a vibration. Make it less unbalanced and you get a smoother vibration.

   1. gherkinnn · 1790444722 · focus · HN ↗

      That little buzz feels like a click on my Air's trackpad and like a tap on my iPhone's keyboard. Any other vibration thingy I came across feels like a vibration thingy, not like a click, not a tap.

      As nobody else seems to care or is able to build the same, maybe it is worth a dollar or two. Though 5.7B is a bit much.

      1. sokoloff · 1790446569 · focus · HN ↗

         A dollar or two? Per device that infringes?

         Apple has sold over 3 billion iPhones and 4.5 billion iPhones, iPads, and iPods together.

         $5.7B seems low if every one of those devices infringes.

         If it’s iPhone 6s and later and all watches (for taptic input), that’s around 2 1/3 billion phones and 1/3 billion watches, so even just $2/device gets you into that range.

         1. rogerrogerr · 1790448000 · focus · HN ↗

            iPads and iPods don’t infringe because they’ve never had any kind of haptic feedback.
         2. dd8601fn · 1790451508 · focus · HN ↗

            Also the pencils, magic keyboards, magic trackpads…

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