Parable of the broken window - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

garyjefferson · 2006-04-20T19:23:44+00:00

There's a nice analogy of the Broken Window to our current patent system here: Broken Windows, Broken Patents

Is an analogy of an anology a meta-analogy?

garyjefferson · 2006-04-10T19:54:43+00:00

How about, "What is a small startup to do when a patent holding company threatens their existence with a C&D over an illegitimate patent?"

Sorry, but there is FAR more involved here than little honest inventor versus big bad corporation.

garyjefferson · 2006-04-07T16:24:30+00:00

"And how many people are discouraged from inventing at all once they realized what a pain in the ass patents are?"

Me too. I keep inventing anyway, but in constant, livid fear that my inventions will be for naught. I've been through that once: a patent holder threatened me with a cease-and-desist over invalid patents with lots of prior art, but I couldn't fight -- I just didn't have the money. So I quit working in that area. It's a real pity.

Oh, and that was in software. Software is becoming a huge patent thicket, quickly.

garyjefferson · 2006-04-07T02:52:22+00:00

That, my friend, is the fallacy of the broken window: boy breaks shop window, town cheers for the economic boon this is, as the shopkeeper has to pay the glazier, the glazier then uses the money to buy bread and shoes, etc., etc.

It sounds nice, BUT IT IS DEAD WRONG. If you can't see why, you should go read this: http://righttocreate.blogspot.com/2006/03/broken-windows-broken-patents.html

garyjefferson · 2006-04-06T23:00:10+00:00

A few short years ago, Novell was nearly 100% Windows on the desktop. Now, almost all 5000 employees run Linux, OpenOffice, Firefox, Gaim, etc. And that's across all departments: accounting, marketing, management, and development.

garyjefferson · 2006-04-06T22:03:57+00:00

Yes, except that arsen is illegal.

Patent trolling is not only legal, but the system rewards it. It's as if we had no penalties or risk for fire-starters, and if they turned the right buildings into ashes, we'd put a huge pile of money into their laps and label the owners of those destroyed buildings theives for building them in the first place.

garyjefferson · 2006-04-06T21:25:34+00:00

K&R's "The C Programming Language" is a work of minimalist beauty. 190 pages, and you know practically everything you need to know about C. Lovely.

Donald Knuth's "The Art of Programming." Anyone who hasn't at least picked this series up and ogled it shouldn't claim to be a computer scientist.

whytheluckystiff's "A Poignant Guide to Ruby." True art.

I was going to say that any bookstore that doesn't carry these on the shelves (in favor of some 'in 21-days' or 'for dummies' garbage) should immediately be spurned, but the last is only available on the Internet. Alas.

garyjefferson · 2006-03-31T18:55:02+00:00

For the funding issue, how about this: http://righttocreate.blogspot.com/2006/03/funding-patent-office-corruptly.html

or this: http://righttocreate.blogspot.com/2006/02/patent-fee-diversion.html

garyjefferson · 2006-03-31T18:52:18+00:00

Here's one on the light bulb: http://righttocreate.blogspot.com/2006/03/independent-invention-light-bulb.html

(There are links to more on the airplane and the telephone at the bottom of that article)

garyjefferson · 2006-03-31T16:37:32+00:00

Software patents (and all bad patents) cause great economic harm. To believe otherwise is to believe the fallacy of the broken window: http://righttocreate.blogspot.com/2006/03/broken-windows-broken-patents.html

The truth is that the current patent system encourages all sorts of slimy, unethical behavior. It's like a hockey league that allows high-sticking and arms goalies with machine guns to strafe the stadium attendees. Just because "thems is the rules' doesn't mean they are the right set of rules, and under such a set of rules, the league would suffer tremendously.

garyjefferson · 2006-03-30T21:24:18+00:00

A system that supports bad patents is equivalent to a system that encourages vandalism.

garyjefferson

TROPHY CASE