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1.  

   

   Greg, May 31st, 2007 @ 1:44pm

   
   

   I think the better question is just why the hell you'd want to add an MP3 player to a washing machine in the first place.

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2.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, May 31st, 2007 @ 1:46pm

   
   

   I did this myself, to my own washing machine, four years ago. I disassembled an iRiver and mounted the controls and screen in the washer's panel. I even embedded two speakers and an headphone output jack. My wife loves it when she's putting clothes in the dryer, and also transferring clothes from the washer to dryer. I figure she's used it cumulatively 30 minutes!

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3.  

   

   bonbon, May 31st, 2007 @ 1:54pm

   
   

   23 now.
   2 in one day.
   
   I'm beginning to take this personally.

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4.  

   Re:

   

   doh, May 31st, 2007 @ 1:58pm

   
   

   hey, he writes what he knows.. too bad he doesn't know the sex trade...

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5.  

   Re:

   

   InkChemist, May 31st, 2007 @ 2:09pm

   
   

   Exactly, why? Since there is no really good reason to combine the two, the invention fails the useful or improved utility criteria for a patent and should be rejected.

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6.  

   Re: Re:

   

   bonbon, May 31st, 2007 @ 2:13pm

   
   

   Amen!

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7.  

   Patentdirt

   

   taking TD off my Rss, May 31st, 2007 @ 2:29pm

   
   

   I think we all get the fact that, for some reason, Techdirt hates the patent process. I get it. This isnt Lawdirt, Patentdirt, or Patentrulingdirt.
   
   I think we get it. The patent system stinks. GET OVER IT!
   
   Now lets get to the important stuff like how Apple sucks or how MS is evil or how someone got fired via a text...you know the stuff we all actually care about!
   
   Seriously..I get it...you guys hate the patent laws...I get it.
   
   Did I mention that I get that fact that you hate the patent rules?

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8.  

   Re: Patentdirt

   

   Chris, May 31st, 2007 @ 2:45pm

   
   

   I kind of get the idea that they want to encourage discussions and debate about the patent issue in order to increase understanding of it and it's problems in hopes that education will lead to change. Whether you agree with Techdirt's stance or not, they are trying to do what they feel is right and I think that's noble. If you are tired of reading about it you can always go somewhere else for your tech related fluff pieces, which I really couldn't care less about.

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9.  

   Re: Patentdirt

   

   Anonymous Coward, May 31st, 2007 @ 2:54pm

   
   

   isn't one of the points of putting something on an rss reader so that you can skip to the posts you're interested? skip the patent posts if you don't want to read them. duh.

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10.  

    

    ME, May 31st, 2007 @ 3:53pm

    
    

    Sorry, I have a patent on skipping dull posts. You must read all posts or be sued for patent infringement. YHBT.

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11.  

    wow

    

    Buzz, May 31st, 2007 @ 3:59pm

    
    

    I'm just going to patent patenting things. I'll be rich until everyone realizes how pointless it is to patent everything.

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12.  

    Whatever.

    

    Izzy, May 31st, 2007 @ 4:12pm

    
    

    BTDT, patented the t-shirt.

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13.  

    Re: Patentdirt

    

    Anonymous Coward, May 31st, 2007 @ 6:16pm

    
    

    Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

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14.  

    

    Tyler, May 31st, 2007 @ 9:22pm

    
    

    this is kinda a dumb concept, but if someone will buy it then other people will start to buy it too

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15.  

    Re: Patentdirt

    

    Vincent Clement (profile), May 31st, 2007 @ 9:40pm

    
    

    Now lets get to the important stuff like how Apple sucks or how MS is evil or how someone got fired via a text...you know the stuff we all actually care about!
    
    That place is called digg.com

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16.  

    Patent

    

    Paul, Jun 1st, 2007 @ 12:41am

    
    

    I heard Mike just filed a patent for boring repetitive blog posts about patents.

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17.  

    Mash that and the UK challenge

    

    Mash Up, Jun 1st, 2007 @ 3:50am

    
    

    There's a challenge going through the UK courts now:
    
    Software isn't patentable in EU, but if an invention has software as part of a bigger thing, where the inventiveness is not in the software, but the bigger thing as a whole, then that bigger thing is patentable.
    
    Perhaps an example:
    
    A patent on a computer controlled time machine is a patentable time machine invention, because a time machine would be a new novel thing.
    
    but
    
    A patent on the software CONTROL UNIT for a time machine isn't patentable because the novelty is in the software, a CONTROL UNIT of itself isn't a new thing.
    
    They're suing because they want to be able to block others from shipping software *on disks* that infringes on the software part of their bigger patent.
    The *disks* part is important, they don't want this to look like a battle over software patents, the disks adds a hardware element.
    
    Since the UK and German courts have overturned that stupid European Patent Office ruling, they're trying to make it seem that the UK is out of step with Europe, when in fact it's leading the way in correcting a mistake the EPO made in 1997 and the UK & German courts have already ruled was not following patent law.
    
    So do a quick mash up here.
    If you can patent an MP3 player combined with a fridge , and you can split the patent into parts and sue for the parts individually, then you can sue for a MP3 player with fridge magnet attached, because that could be used to make an MP3/fridge combination.
    
    i.e. it's dumb, dumb dumb dumb.
    
    The lawyer behind it is Keith Beresford a lobbyist/lawyer that promotes software patents, and minor incremental patents:
    http://eupat.ffii.org/papri/beresford00/index.en.html

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18.  

    

    Joe, Jun 1st, 2007 @ 8:04am

    
    

    Quite possibly the greatest webcomic ever re: the patent office and it's stupidity...
    
    http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ffn/index.php?date=2007-05-30

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19.  

    From the "it can slice, it can dice.." department

    

    Semicharm, Jun 1st, 2007 @ 1:18pm

    
    

    Convergence it one thing, but the last time I checked, washing machines can get quite loud during the spin cycle. How would you even even here the music. And when was the last time you spent enough time with a washer to even here a whole song? I know I don't, just get it started and then do something else for 30 minutes. And if I ever got to the level of boredom, there's always my portable. Duh!

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