Did Samsung copy Apple? I think so!

I was reading a blog of RealDan called "Enough with the Samsung bashing", which defends the Apple vs. Samsung lawsuit that Apple claims Samsung copied its products (iPhone and iPad).

I couldn't help to leave a quick comment, but I thought I would share my view in my blog as well:

For the "did Samsung copy Apple?" question, I look at this from an abstract level: Consider A and B are two students taking an exam with only one question (consider the exam is about solving consumer problems). They both got stuck at the question. A took it on by himself, thought really hard, made a few mistakes, and scored 80% on that exam. At the exam, B constructed a few thoughts, but rejected all his ideas. (Assume) he had an opportunity of checking on A's answer before the end of the exam ("looked over the should"), and he liked A's approach of the problem (before A finished the answer). B continued to solve the problem based on A's idea, but added his thoughts to complete the answer. B scored 95% on that exam.

In the above scenario, I think both Apple and Android fanboys would agree that B cheated A during the exam. However, if one ONLY compares the scores, no one would believe B cheated on A at the exam because B had a higher score! But sometimes, science or engineering solutions only takes one simple idea to make a huge difference. Everyone who's taken an exam had that "Oh, aha" or "Duh!" moment - you only need a "tip" or a "reminder" to get a complex puzzle solved.

Although Samsung offers more phones to consumers than Apple, most of their touchscreen phones and pads can come out from a single platform. Given Samsung's engineering resources, they literally can make hundreds of phone models per year, leveraging a single platform seed (e.g. "cheated") - adding buttons, changing button sizes and positions, changing screen sizes and display technologies, etc. But the originality remains in single digit.

Comparing Apple's iPad vs. Samsung's Galaxy Tab, the simple home button, the USB connector and charger, the tight software interaction between Apps...it only takes a few tweaks to improve and make products intuitive for the end user. Yet, these ideas take years of thoughts and experiments. Apple might have been cooking some prototypes for years. When they finally "got it" (as Steve Jobs said), Samsung and other mobile phone OEMs just take the ideas as is.

Granted, I must note that the South Korean market was way ahead of the U.S. for smart phones. Touchscreen phones were common (resistive-technology) and existed long before the iPhone was introduced. However, the hardware was still cumbersome and the software was not as intuitive (e.g. slide to unlock, and click on a phone number in an email to dial, etc.). Apple solved these user issues with a companion industrial design that's unique. I also should add that Samsung never had a "pad" before the iPad was launched, so no one should argue that the "pad" was Apple's idea.

Most importantly, arguing about a patent or an intuition is not about the exact screen size or the thickness of the phone, it's about how the solutions approach the problems and solves them. Just like the exam scenario I presented above.

Did Samsung copy Apple's industrial design? I believe so - they added own thoughts, made more phones, perhaps scored higher in the exam, but they copied and cheated on the originality nevertheless.

李开复和方舟子之争，对与错的宏观价值在哪里？

这段时间，微博上炒李开复和方舟子的事情掀起了一个小高潮。 我对此有些个人的想法，借此发表一下。

方舟子被国内（某些）人称作是“打假专家”。也许他确实有些作为，我且不去理会。最近方舟子在微博上说李开复的自传里中英文翻译不附，我也不去谈李开复是否有理，因为我想谈的，不是谁对谁错的问题，我只想和有兴趣的读者分享一下对这件事情的“哲学”看法。

当年，美国前总统克林顿出现性丑闻的时候，我不太理解“美国群众”的看法 – 当时美国很多喊声是让克林顿下台。 我和朋友讨论这件事的时候，他们的看法是，美国人让总统下台，是因为他在大庭广众之下对着电视机，对着美国人撒谎了。（后来才知道克林顿还半夜打电话给苹果的乔布斯求建，乔布斯叫他“坦白从宽”。）

在我看来，“总统”的职责是搞好国际政治关系，搞好国家建设，搞好人民的生活水平。这是“总统”这个职位的“工作岗位职责”。管理一个国家，也许像管理一个公司，各有分工。 如果一个人在公司里的表现出色，没有犯“原则上”的错误，那么他“下了班”后私生活怎么过是他的自由。 （我要先强调，“私生活”应该不包括贪污腐败，因为如果一个国家是个公司，那么贪污有损公司的利润，所以算是“原则上”的错误。） 在克林顿在位的八年，美国这个国家的经济和政治实力在国际上和历史上创造了一个顶峰。 国家几乎没有赤字，而且美国人的平均收入和支出比例非常高， 很多人都有工作，可谓“欣欣向荣”。 虽然有人可以说克林顿是幸运的，他客观上赶上了美国高科技发展最灿烂的几年，可是这一切不能说和克林顿的外交政治和经济政策没有关系。所以说，克林顿算是美国历史上的一个“好”总统，他有尽到自己的“工作岗位职责”。 所以当时在我看来，克林顿的性丑闻，他的私生活，应该和政治没有直接关系。 是的，他对着电视机向美国人撒谎了，可是只有傻瓜才相信政治家在公众面前甚至电视机前不撒谎。 其实，恰恰相反，我认为在公众面前演戏是一个政治家的必有能力。

我谈克林顿和“李开复对方舟子”的话题是否有关连？ 我们再回来谈李开复。 首先，李开复是去大陆赚钱的。（如果有人以为李开复是因为自己为中华文化而贡献去了，那你就天真了。） “风险投资”在美国的资本主义制度下已经是玩了几十年的游戏了，但在迅速发展的中国市场还是一个相对比较新颖的商业模式。李开复以一个“导师”的角色开“创新工厂”，然后招来很多大陆的精英，以“孵化”的形式进行“风投”，这是很聪明的。 一方面，李赚到了钱，但关键的是他让那些聪明的年轻人也赚到了钱。 另一方面，他的形象（我在这里不讨论个人看法，也不定论“好”与“坏”）和公司的影响，让很多国内聪明，实干，却找不到创业方向和扶持的年轻人有了奋斗的目标。“风险投资”在九几年就已经进入了大陆市场，但是只有极少数的人懂得。 “李开复”的名字让很多想创业的人关注他，关注这个商业模式。

所以，宏观上来讲，李开复和他的创新工厂对中国的教育和年轻人的鼓励是有积极作用的。这是一个无法估算的“正面效应”（相信很多懂社会经济学的人能够同意我的看法。）这就和我前面举的克林顿例子联系上了 – 他们都有自己在社会上的角色，在宏观上都对社会有正面影响。那么，剩下的那些“鸡毛蒜皮”的小事真的那么重要吗？在我看来，那些参与其中，为各方争辩（翻历史，确定中英文翻译）和加油鼓励的人多少有些“短眼光”。

李开复在美国名牌大学毕业，在苹果和微软都有过经历（不论他是否和乔布斯还有盖茨共事过），这些社会机构和公司本身就是一个“过滤系统” – 只有（相对的）很出色的精英才能进入，这些经历就已经足够证明一个人的实力。 相比，某些人在美国密歇根州大学拿了个博士，却没有被聘或者进入美国的顶级医疗或药物公司，拿高薪。这就说明博士和博士是有不同的。

另外，假设方舟子的分析完全是正确的，假设李开复对全世界的中国人撒谎了，假设李开复的形象一跌千丈，那么，中国那些想创业的年轻人换来了什么？ 当年美国人说克林顿撒谎了，民主党竞选败了，换来了十年的战争和负债。（现在很多美国人都抢着读克林顿的新书。）（某些）中国人想把李开复“搞下去”，那么他们想用什么来替换他的政治和经济形象？ 所以，吹没吹牛，吹了多少都是次要的，都是鸡毛蒜皮的。 宏观上，对社会经济有贡献的，就可以算是“好”的，这些产物上是否有瑕疵，瑕疵的大小，相对而言（再次强调是“相对的”）没有那么重要。

我相信很多人不赞同我的看法。这些人会认为政治家撒谎是不可原谅的，（假设）在自传里吹牛是不可原谅的。 很多人喜欢去找瑕疵，其实那是很容易的，而且从别人身上找毛病舒服。 但是很多人忽视了创造一个带瑕疵的成功的难处。在我看来，可悲的是社会上总有那些小人，妒富嫉贤，为了己利而不择手段，自己不成就去拆别人的台。 但更可悲的，是那些社会中被舆论夹在其中的人，其实他们自己的利益因那些小人而损了，却不得而知。

李宗盛的歌

最近听李宗盛的《给自己的歌》，忽然想起以前就想写出的品论。 

听大哥的歌，听的不是音乐，而是去品味人生。 李宗盛的歌，对很多人来说是脍炙人口，而对我这个80年代来说，是哼着大哥的歌长大的。 从《明明白白我的心》，《我是一只小小鸟》，到《凡人歌》，从《鬼迷心窍》，《当爱已成往事》，到《爱要怎么说出口》, 从《伤痕》，《领悟》，到《梦醒时分》，从《伤心地铁》，《爱如潮水》，到《我是真的爱你》。  李宗盛的歌词和作曲不追求华丽的音韵和浮华的词句，它们体现的，是一个成熟的男人对生活的感受，对人生的感慨，对爱情的执着和对往事的回味。 品赏李宗盛的歌，就像是吃一颗奇异的果子，刚放到嘴里，噘嚼无味，然而过了一会，就开始尝到酸甜苦辣咸，这种特殊的感受，让那些内心敏感的人反复揣摩，吃了一颗又一颗，听了一遍又一遍，时而开心而乐，时而犹然而泣，时而感慨而叹，时而惆怅而滞。

我想，曾经有幸握过大哥的手，得到他的签名，对我来说是一见荣幸。 但我更希望能有机会告诉他，他的诸多作品影响了我的人生。 谢谢他的作品给我带来的快乐，让我能找到诠释感情的空间。 在我少年执狂的时候，李宗盛的歌指点了我很多人生的方向; 在我因情而伤的时候，我曾经哼唱他的歌敷治心的疮口。而在我回首人生的时候，大哥已经有好多歌曲帮我诠释了对人生的感慨。 在流行乐坛里，没有几个人能够像李宗盛这样用简单的词句把生活描述的如此生动而真实，所以人们才如此喜欢李宗盛的作品。

随便找一个90年后的来问，很多人也许都不知道李宗盛是谁，让我感觉自己渐渐地变成了“老一辈”。 然而“老一辈“就”老一辈“吧。 也许等90年后的人到了而立之年，他们忽然听到大哥的歌，虽已时境变迁，但那些经典的歌曲仍然会让他们感到震撼。 如果有一天有人问我李宗盛是谁，我会为他或她点一首《你像个孩子》：

你象个孩子似的
要我为你写首歌
一点也不理会
会有好多的苦从我心中重新来过
重新来过重新来过重新来过
而写歌容易写你太难
怕如果写了
因为想要你而有的苦苦坚持
就要被你统统发现被你统统发现
已经做了的决定
是不会再更改的了
自己也很清楚
会有很多的苦会从我心中重新来过
重新来过重新来过重新来过
而决定容易
可是等待太难
怕如果等了
这些年学会的一点点成熟稳重
就要被你通通化解
被你通通化解被你统统化解
工作是容易的赚钱是困难的
恋爱是容易的成家是困难的
相爱是容易的相处是困难的
决定是容易的可是等待是困难的
你象个孩子似的要我为你写首歌
你象个孩子似的要我为你写首歌
你象个孩子似的要我为你写首歌
你象个孩子似的

李宗盛《给自己的歌》

李宗盛《给自己的歌》

 

想得却不可得 
你奈人生何 
该舍的舍不得 
只顾著跟往事瞎扯 
等你发现时间是贼了 
它早已偷光你的选择 
爱恋不过是一场高烧 
思念是紧跟著的好不了的咳 
是不能原谅 
却无法阻挡 
恨意在夜里翻墙 
是空空荡荡 
却嗡嗡作响 
谁在你心里放冷枪 
旧爱的誓言像极了一个巴掌 
每当你记起一句就挨一个耳光 
然后好几年都问不得闻不得女人香 
往事并不如烟 
是啊 
在爱里念旧也不算美德 
可惜恋爱不像写歌 
再认真也成不了风格 
我问你见过思念放过谁呢 
不管你是累犯或是从无前科 
我认识的只有那合久的分了 
没见过分久的合 
岁月　你别催 
该来的我不推 
该还的还　该给的我给 
岁月　你别催 
走远的我不追 
我不过是想道尽原委 
谁能告诉我这是什麼呢？ 
他的爱在心里埋藏了抹平了几年了仍有余威 
是不能原谅 
却无法阻挡 
爱意在夜里翻墙 
是空空荡荡 
却嗡嗡作响 
谁在你心里放冷枪 
旧爱的誓言像极了一个巴掌 
每当你记起一句就挨一个耳光 
然后好几年都问不得闻不得女人香 
想得却不可得 
你奈人生何 
想得却不可得 
情爱里无智者 

Google is Becoming Microsoft Starting with the New Google Reader

Google updated their Google Reader interface today, and I was really disappointed with it.

I remember I was extremely disappointed 10 years ago, after installing Windows ME on my Windows 98 PC. After paying $60+ of my hard-earned money, only I realized that my PC ran slower with more useless features offered by Microsoft. In that era, Microsoft was a monopoly. I was not as angry with Microsoft as people at Netscape were, however, I was sometimes annoyed when Microsoft took every possible opportunity to "stir" their users stay with their software - things like Internet Explore and Microsoft Office.

I feel Google is now doing the same thing. I wouldn't mind as long as they keep their products innovated. However, I feel they're following the same pattern as Microsoft did - less innovation, more bad products, and tighter controls or less choices for the user.

I suppose Larry Page got some good advises from the legendary Steve Jobs, before he passed away. One of the best managing traits for business of Steve Jobs is that he can stay focused - he carefully chose the top priority projects that Apple should work on, and he made sure to execute. I feel Google is doing the same thing. Shortly after Page replaced Schmidt, he killed many dangling Google products (one of them was Google Desktop Search) and attempted to consolidate the rest and shift them towards Google's "social network" solution competing Facebook, the Google Plus. The PROBLEM is, along the way of this consolidation, Google did not bring out any innovation - they products are remained with the same set of features (or less), and they're turning less user friendly.

Take Google Reader for example - have you seen the new interface yet? It sucks. The previous Google Reader interface used blue and gray for distinguishing unread items - new items are well highlighted in color, and this makes the page simple, colorful and easy for navigation. The new Google Reader interface, on the contrary, has 3 fundamental design issues.

First, the interface wastes valuable space. Take a look at the following snapshot, the "A look at what's new in your Reader" logo is taking 3 rows of space! Combing it with the search bar, and the tabs for my browser, the user looses about one fifth of the screen size on a 14" laptop monitor.





Second, the navigation panel's color scheme is boring. Google is very much an engineering-driven company. With all due respect to the talents, they just don't have much marketing sense. This is why I, and many other people like Apple products. (No, I do not consider myself an Apple fanboy. I try to speak an objective opinion from the user's perspective.) Apple truly integrate technology intuitively - their product interfaces are welcoming. Google's product interfaces are typically simple - even Android. They can either be elegant or extremely boring, like the new Google Reader.




Third, again, color scheme. However, this is sever because it impacts my reading experiences. Take a look at the following picture - I have one unread item, but I cannot distinguish it from the rest because, well the BLACK looks very similar a DARK GRAY (as oppose to blue vs. gray in the previous interface). Seriously Google, are you assuming your customers are all color blinded?!





It's even more sad that I just spend 30min to write my rant. That's because I liked Google's products and enjoyed using them. As Google is turning into a new Microsoft, its arrogant would never allow it to care an end user like me. I lost Google Desktop Search not long ago, and I now just have to start looking for an alternative RSS reader.

如何把“愤怒的小鸟”的分数和游戏进度从旧iPhone转移到iPhone 4S

我刚刚从iPhone 4升级到iPhone 4S。和许多人一样，我不常用iTunes同步我的iPhone 4。 因此，新的iPhone 4S里面真的是“空白”。当我把所有以前iPhone 4的应用都搬家到iPhone 4S后，才发现所有应用程序的安排和设置要重新来过。另外，所有以前的游戏，比如我的得分和设置都没有被iTunes传到新的iPhone 4S里面。 实在是悲剧！我花了很长时间玩“愤怒的小鸟”，得想个办法把我的游戏进展和分数转移到新的iPhone 4S。

经过一些研究和试验后，我发现下面的方法可以使“愤怒的小鸟”的进展和得分数据传输到新手机。我猜以同样的方法，也可以应用到把“愤怒的小鸟”从iPad移动到iPad 2等。

1. 首先，做任何事之前，一定要用iTunes备份手机，然后再尝试进行任何修改。这样如果出了问题，至少有个回落到目前状态的办法。

2。下载一个名为DiskAid 的程序（14天的免费试用)。当你把iPhone连到电脑后，它有点像“Windows资源管理器”的功能。

3。安装完成后，把iPhone 4连接到电脑上。打开DiskAid，并在菜单栏中点击“DiskAid”，然后选择“Preference”。新窗口跳开后，单击“Advanced”标签，并选择下面的选项：
- “Display all Apps even if they dont have their 'File Sharing' enabled";
- “Show root path for Apps”
- “Show hidden files and folders”

点击“Save”。之后，你应该能够看到所有存储在你的iPhone 4的应用程序。

4。查找"愤怒的小鸟" (Angry Birds) 的目录，单击“Documents”文件夹，你会看到两个需要转移的文件: highscores.lua和settings.lua。这两个文件记录你的游戏进展和得分。

5。点击“highscores.lua”和“settings.lua”的文件，右击，并选择“Copy to PC”。把它们存储在桌面上。

6。把iPhone 4和电脑断开，再连接iPhone 4S，按照上述相同的步骤找到“愤怒的小鸟”的“Documents”文件夹。然后选择DiskAid “Copies files to Device”的选项，选择存储在电脑里的“highscores.lua”和“settings.lua”文件，然后将它们移动到“Documents”文件夹。

7。完成以上之后，在iPhone 4S里打开"愤怒的小鸟" ，你应该看到所有以前的成绩已经恢复了！

我试过用以上的方法去搬移其他的游戏，都没成功。 但至少“愤怒的小鸟”没问题，而且是我花的时间最多的， 所以已经算是欣慰了！

How to Transfer Angry Birds Score and Progress to iPhone 4S

I upgraded from an iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S. Like many people, I do not sync my iPhone 4 with iTunes regularly, and I didn't have the time or bothered to upgrade iPhone 4 to iOS5 before purchasing the iPhone 4S (if I do that, I would have to spend much time on reconfigurating the iPhone 4 after the OS upgrade).

As a result, my iPhone 4S is a "clean" phone, and my immediate problem is to configure all the Apps arrangements and settings. Quickly, I also realized that none of my game score and setting were carried over by iTunes. Specifically, I spent quite some time playing Angry Birds, and I wanted to transfer all my progress and scores to the new iPhone 4S.

After some research and trial, I discovered the following method for transferring Angry Birds progress and score data to the new phone. I think the same would work for moving or sharing Angry Birds between 2 iOS devices (e.g. moving from iPad to iPad 2, etc.). My disclaimer is that this worked for me on my case, and I cannot be responsible for any data or personal loss if you follow the procedures.

1. As a good practices, always back up your data using iTunes before attempting any modification on your iOS device, so that you will always have a path for falling back to the current state.

2. Download an application for PC called DiskAid.  This is a paid application with 14-day free trail. It essentially functions as a "Windows Explorer" for your iPhone when it is connected to your computer's USB port.

3. After the installation, connect iPhone 4 to the PC. Open DiskAid, and click "DiskAid" in the menu bar, then choose “Preferences”. A new tab opens, click “Advanced” tab and make sure to check boxes for:
- “Display all Apps even if they dont have their 'File Sharing' enabled";
- “Show root path for Apps”
- “Show hidden files and folders”

Click "Save". After that, you should be able to see ALL the applications stored on your iPhone 4.

4. Find the Angry Birds directory, click the “Documents” folder, and you’ll see the two files you need to transfer, highscores.lua and settings.lua.

5. Click on the "highscores.lua" and "settings.lua" file, right-click, and choose "copy to PC". Store these files on your desktop or somewhere you would remember.

6. Remove iPhone 4 from your computer's connection, connect iPhone 4S, follow the same procedures above and open the "Documents" folder for the Angry Birds game on your iPhone 4S. Then choose the "Copies files to Device" option on DiskAid, select the "highscores.lua" and "settings.lua" files stored on your computer from the earlier process, and move them to the "Documents" folder.

7. After the above, open Angry Birds on your new iPhone 4S, and you should see that all your previous scores are restored.  Enjoy continue playing the game!

I attempted to repeat the above processes for "Cut the Rope", "StreetFighter" and "iFighter" games. Unfortunately, they didn't work.  However, "Angry Birds" was the move time-consumed game for me, so I'm happy it was taken care of!