OT: Microsoft patents "timed button presses"

[John Esak]

This sounds like the system used on the new Treo phone we just got... (and
other cell phones... which means it is just about eveywhere already... does
Microsoft say it invented it???)  Anyway, you hold the number buttons down
to get B, and C from the ABC key... E and F from the DEF key and so forth.
Most everyone is used to this already, no?

John


> -----Original Message-----
> From: filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com
> [mailto:filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com]On Behalf Of Kenneth
> Brody
> Sent: Monday, May 03, 2004 10:54 AM
> To: Keith F Weatherhead
> Cc: filePro mailing list
> Subject: Re: OT: Microsoft patents "timed button presses"
>
>
> Keith F Weatherhead wrote:
> >
> > Sounds like the person that invented the lights for stoves and
> > clothes dryers should sue M$.  Those were "limited resource
> > computing devices" as they timed cooking meals or drying clothes and
> > you had to press and hold the button to turn the light on or press
> > and release to turn it off.  I figure this should cost M$ a few
> > billion as these were established LONG before M$ existed.
> [...]
>
> And car radios that change stations when you press one of the "pre-set"
> buttons, but set that pre-set to the current station if you hold the
> button.
>
> And programmable calculators that execute macros when you press the
> button, but display the macro code if you press and hold the button.
>
> And so on.
>
> Of course, "prior art" didn't stop Amazon from getting a patent on
> "one-click shopping".  Or the guy who got a patent on a sliding window
> solution to 2-digit-years holding dates beyond 1999.  Or any of a
> zillion other software patents that have been given in recent years.
> (There's a patent on fund raising via the web.  He sued the Red Cross
> for patent infringement.)
>
> I think it's time for me to patent "a method for obtaining e-mail
> addresses from Internet websites", and "a method for sending bulk
> e-mail advertisements".
>
> --
> +-------------------------+--------------------+------------------
> -----------+
> | Kenneth J. Brody        | www.hvcomputer.com |
>            |
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