Apple Admits British Man Invented iPod in 1979, Uses Him to Win Patent Lawsuit

There you have it folks. The real inspiration for Apple's game-changing iPod, courtesy of the world's unluckiest Briton, Kane Kramer, 52 (not including the fifth Beatle). You see, in the dark technological days of 1979, Kramer saw a beacon of light in his IXI. Capable of playing a mind-busting 3.5 minutes of music, the IXI prototype was Kramer's ticket out of obscurity. Sadly, when he couldn't raise enough venture funding to renew the IXI patent in 1988, the device became the Zune of its time, and was largely forgotten. Fast forward to the present, when Apple, fresh from making year-over-year record profits with the iPod, needed Kramer something fierce to bail them out of a lawsuit jam with Burst.com.

Apple called Kramer so he could serve as a consultant for the trial, and so his patents and drawings could be used to settle the suit out of court.

"I was up a ladder painting when I got the call from a lady with an American accent from Apple saying she was the head of legal affairs and that they wanted to acknowledge the work that I had done," Kramer told Daily Mail. "I must admit that at first I thought it was a wind-up by friends. But we spoke for some time, with me still up this ladder slightly bewildered by it all, and she said Apple would like me to come to California to talk to them. Then I had to make a deposition in front of a court stenographer and videographer at a lawyers’ office. The questioning by the Burst legal counsel there was tough, ten hours of it. But I was happy to do it."

And now he'd be even happier collecting some of that multi-billion dollar iPod business, but so far all he received was compensation for his time at the trial. The struggling furniture salesman, fresh from another failed business, is now negotiating additional compensation, but says he was happy to help whatever the outcome. Well, as long as it isn't more iPods...

"I can’t even bring myself to buy an iPod for myself," he said. "Apple did give me one but it broke down after eight months." Hmm. Apple products seem to be doing that a lot these days.

 

Real Estate Professionals -- Auckland, New Zealand, "David Lim's"

Real estate agents have probably become more unpopular than politicians in the "least trusted profession stakes" this week and it doesn't help when they resort to extreme hyperbole, claiming "views to South America" from Kawau Island, New Zealand and misleading "not taken from property" idyllic views. Here's an idea: how about taking the picture from the property?

A mate from Glenfield, Auckland, sent me this: "This Ray White rental sign was graffitied in June. I've rung Ray White twice, and emailed their head office, but two months on and it's still there - the only graffiti on the street. Unsurprisingly, the property has yet to be let." How can we trust these "professionals" to sell or rent our properties?

Pimp My Blog: From 12" to 42" screen size on Samsung Plasma TV

I have always want to see how my tiny HP 2510P's looks like on my 42" Samsung Plasma TV, so today I went out to JB HiFi at Lynn Mall to buy a video out cable for this little project.  The result is cool and my kids loves it!  Took the pimped out images with my Nokia N95's camera at late evening (click on picture below to see a bigger image).

 

$1.5 Milliion: The Price for Being Green?

Auckland, New Zealand--Pete Bethune has offered his biofuel-powered round-the-world record-holding Earthrace for sale for $1.5 million

New Zealand round-the-world record-holder Pete Bethune is advertising his futuristic trimaran Earthrace for sale. "Would you like to own the coolest boat in the world? For $1.5 million, she's yours!" he said today on the boat's website. Bethune's carbon-fibre eco-boat smashed the round-the-world speed mark on June 27 at its second attempt. The first, last year, failed.

This time it made a 24,000 nautical miles circumnavigation in just 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes, two weeks faster than the 10 year-old record. The 24m wave-piercing tri-hull vessel was run on biodiesel to demonstrate and draw global attention to the potential for alternative fuel sources. The round-the-world trip started in Sagunto, Spain on April 27, and ended there.

The Bethune family mortgaged their house three times to pay for the boat. Now Bethune, who formerly worked in the oil industry, plans to find a job allowing him to stay at home and spend time with his family. He is full of praise for his wife, Sharyn, who not only was stuck at home in Auckland, but working to support both the family and the two record bids: "I don't know anyone else who would have tolerated what she has.

Bethune has been continuing his mission of promoting awareness of the environment and the sustainable use of resources, with a promotional tour visiting Europe, the UK, Caribbean and Australia, before returning to New Zealand. But he is also seeking "blue water" qualified captain to skipper the boat from the UK, departing in the middle of this month, across the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific to Australia.

Earthrace was built with non-toxic paint, hemp composite in the flooring, biodegradable lubricants and hydraulic fluid, and pumps out bilge water through a special filter to prevent any fuel waste going into the sea. Its two 540 horsepower engines have a cruising speed of 40 knots but many legs of the record bids averaged slower than 22 knots to conserve fuel.