Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is used to having rivals imitate its designs, whether it be Motorola Mobility's (NYSE: MMI) iPod nano-esque MOTOACTV or any number of frenemy Samsung's numerous attempts to be like Apple. Of course, Sammy's on the receiving end of handfuls of patent infringement suits all over the world as a result.
Even some of iconic PC maker Hewlett-Packard's (NYSE: HPQ) laptops bear an uncanny resemblance to Cupertino's offerings, heeding Apple's lesson that industrial design is of paramount importance. HP has just unveiled a new thin and light Ultrabook offering, the Envy Spectre XT, and like many other Ultrabooks, it looks an awful lot like a MacBook Air.
When asked about the obvious resemblance and the potential legal implications, HP VP of industrial design Stacy Wolff replied:
I would go back to the TC1000 [tablet PC] from about 10 years, and that's a tablet. I think if you look at the new Spectre XT, there are similarities in a way, not due to Apple but due to the way technologies developed. Apple may like to think that they own silver, but they don't. In no way did HP try to mimic Apple. In life there are a lot of similarities.
Source: Engadget.
So naturally, the similarities are just a kooky coincidence.
Well, here's Samsung's VP of design Lee Minhyouk with a similar acknowledgement of the serendipity, responding to criticism over the Galaxy smartphone lineup a few months ago.
As a designer, there's an issue of dignity. [The Galaxy] is original from the beginning, and I'm the one who made it. It's a totally different product with a different design language and different technology infused. I've made thousands of sketches and hundreds of prototype products [for the Galaxy]. Does that mean I was putting on a mock show for so long, pretending to be designing?
Source: Slashgear.
There you have it. It's all just a big misunderstanding, and everyone's design philosophy is just naturally converging, so some similarities are inevitable. That's just life. C'est la vie. Case closed.
Sources: HP, Apple. HP Spectre XT (top) vs. Apple MacBook Air (bottom).
Beyond smart devices, there's another technological revolution in 3-D printing happening that will transform industrial manufacturing as we know it and will make designers lives much easier. That's why you should check out this free video report that names the three companies leading the way.
