Apple admits iPod not its idea – original inventor is a broke Brit
Who invented the iPod? You said Apple right? Well, you’d be wrong, as it was actually a British man called Kane Kramer who came up with the idea in 1979. Apple has at last admitted who the father of the iPod was, but for its own ends rather than to finally give Kramer the appreciation he deserves.
Kane Kramer is a 52-year-old furniture salesman who left school at the young age of 15. But when he was 23, he came up with an idea that would eventually go on to spawn a device that has revolutionised the music industry and made Apple billions of dollars. While his invention was called the IXI rather than the iPod back in those days, the evolution from one to the other cannot be denied.
According to The Daily Mail, the IXI stored just 3.5 minutes of music on a computer chip, which isn’t even enough to listen to the whole of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, but storage aside, the IXI was to all intents and purposes, an early iteration of the iPod.
Kramer was convinced enough of the potential for the IXI that he took out a worldwide patent on the device and started a company to develop the idea further. Sketches made at the time show what we’d clearly recognise as an mp3 player, with rectangular screen and a centrally located scroll button.
Unfortunately for Kramer, but very fortunately for Apple, the patents slipped in 1988 after a boardroom split in the company meant the £60,000 ($110,000) needed to renew them in 120 countries couldn’t be raised. The dream was over, and the technology was available to all who wanted to run with it.
The rest is history, and a large proportion of the world’s population now own an iPod or similar mp3 player. While Apple are worth billions, Kramer is broke and recently had to sell his house.
The only consolation Kramer has it that Apple has at last recognized him as the father of the iPod. Unfortunately, it only did this to help in a legal case pursued by Burst.com, which claimed it held patents to the technology included in the iPod and so therefore deserve a cut of the profits.
Apple used Kramer’s patent applications and sketches to defend itself in court. Kramer himself was even flown to California by Apple to help defend the company. But by using Kramer in this way, Apple has publicly admitted that the iPod wasn’t its idea. Kramer hasn’t got any claims over any profits but is now negotiating some form of compensation.
This is a brilliant story but for it to be worth being made in to a movie needs a happy ending. Come on Apple, I’m sure you wouldn’t miss a few million dollars from the kitty for the guy who actually dreamt up the idea that has earned you billions over the last few years.
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