Apple is currently suing Samsung, claiming that Samsung has copied the appearance of their phones and tablets from Apple. In response, Samsung says that it was inspired by the 1968 movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”. I was very excited when I saw this headline in Slashdot:
Samsung Cites 2001: A Space Odyssey In Apple Patent Case
Because I thought that this is what they are citing as prior art:
Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey
But sadly, it seems Samsung were only referring to some tablet computers that were shown briefly in use by the astronauts in the movie. You can see that picture in CNET’s coverage.
Samsung would have made a better argument, and a winning one, if they’d claimed that all of the current smartphones and tablets, which are black and shiny rectangles, are derived from the Monolith. As has been foretold.
(By the way, there’s an “Action Figure” toy of the Monolith. It’s just a featureless black plastic rectangle. This is a real thing.)