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leileilol

sorry, we don't want your innovative ideas

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I can actually see where outside innovation could cause legal issues, ones that Apple, and any company in good standing, I would think, would want to avoid. If you take ideas from out-house, you need to make a policy to make sure that said peoples ideas are recognized and compensated. This is usually easier said than done.

Personally, I don't blame Apple.

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I think that Apple was right. If they ever end up adding that feature I'm sure anyone that sent them a letter could probably try to claim the rights to the idea. Makes sense to me and that mom pissed me off anyway.

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Quote from the mom: "They're a company who (sic!) tries to promote itself as an educator of children."

Hahahahahah... educating children is hardly a number one priority for Apple.

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Yes, this sort of thing can be a real problem, but I think in a case like this, a simple and neutral "We appreciate your interest in Apple" response would have been adequate. I don't believe unsollicted ideas offered freely in this way can cause problems of this type, but perhaps there is some legal precedent that they're having to be wary of. (If so, blame the judge or jury in whatever case it was!)

I recall instances from my own experience of people pitching utterly generic and obvious ideas, while seeking at the same time (or in advance) to get an agreement that these ideas won't be used without their consent. If you're foolish enough to agree to that, then your hands are left rather tied, and you can find yourself unable to do things that you might have otherwise wanted to do.

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Exactly. This wasn't so much a "we don't want your crackpot ideas" type of letter as it was a "thank you for your ideas, but unfortunately due to legal reasons we cannot discuss ideas given to us from unsolicited third parties at all, because if we did then we'd have to deal with the thousands of crackpots claiming to have 'suggested' or 'invented' any or all of the features we use, so please don't send us any ideas" type of letter. You could only make out parts of the letter, but it is likely that Apple made their reply with some finesse, and at least briefly tried to explain why they didn't want the girl to send them any suggestions. Likely a severe overreaction (and lack of insight of how the corporate world works) on behalf of the family.

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Kristian Ronge said:
They're a company who (sic!) tries

The odd thing about that phrase is the turn from the plural referring to the people forming the company (the collective meaning of company) to the company in singular form ("personified".) It's not really agrammatical, as "who tries to" is a modifier of "a company", not "they". "Who" is also proper for social constructs, not just individuals. It's easier to see "be" as an equivalent of "form", "make up", or "compose" in such a context.

Grazza said:
I don't believe unsollicted ideas offered freely in this way can cause problems of this type, but perhaps there is some legal precedent that they're having to be wary of. (If so, blame the judge or jury in whatever case it was!)

With the schitzophrenic concept of intellectual property in between, why not?

Half of the features in any product are a clonish or slightly varied competing feature made to counter something in a rival's product, anyway.

And unless the feedback and idea was very specific they could also have said "thanks for your feedback, we've considered this before blah, blah" Without having to give any sort of inventive credit for a generic feature. They'll look even sillier if they do implement text lyrics in the future; at least from there current context where this made it to the news.

Plus it's not just a "3rd party" but a customer, and supposedly a company is continually taking feedback of all sorts from its customers.

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They are a bunch of clueless idiots who obviously didn't understand the letter that was sent to them.

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Yes, if they do implement a feature and someone can prove that they sent a letter with that idea and someone at the company was aware of the letter, then legal complications ensue. If not from the letter-sending party itself, then from some random bureau of business ethics.

But really... kids listen to song lyrics?? I thought shaking your ass was more important. Yeah, let's explore the literal mechanics of "My Humps". Or "Tomorrow Never Knows" for that matter.

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