Suspiciously Prescient Man Files Patent For iPod-Like Device In 1979
Kane Kramer, an inventor by trade, came up with a gadget and music distribution service almost eerily similar to the iPod-iTunes relationship that predates it by three decades. The guy predicted details down to DRM and flash memory’s dominance.
Kramer’s device, the IXI, was flash-based, even though flash memory in 1979 only could have held about three minutes of audio, and featured a screen, four-way controls, and was about the size of a cigarette pack. Even weirder, he envisioned the creation and sale of digital music and foresaw all the good and bad that would come from this: No overhead, no inventory, but a great push for independent artists, with the risk of piracy looming large.
He predicted DRM, though he didn’t go into many specifics, and in his one concession to the time, guessed that music would be bought on coin-operated machines placed in high-traffic areas. It’s creepy, really. Last year, Apple even brought him in to testify on their behalf—they weren’t at risk of being sued themselves, since his patent had expired. Pretty amazing, considering there wasn’t even internet at the time (he used telephone lines instead). Check out our article on the case in which Apple used his testimony for more info. [picture from CNET]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
This holds an almost eerie resemblance to the SanDisk flash players that Staples is always selling..
Hmmm...
aR-Tard
@NurseDave: Trust me, I have bundles to spare. I got a great deal. ;]
@tande04: If I had'nt seen his picture, I would've thought he is Marty McFly.
@Geisrud: They probably wouldn't have seen any value in it at the time.
Joshua Pacada
@bobojuice: Didn't you give away the internet yeserday?
NurseDave
Poor guy. Well, at least he has somehow found reason to keep on living. Good for him!
YankBoffin
@NurseDave: That was my thought as well.
I could totally see myself traveling back 30 years to patent something early then run out of cash and can't keep the patent valid.
tande04
Hmm, if any major electronics maker had bought into this at the time they would have done something stupid like avoid digital files and just miniaturize the record player.
They would then advertise the ability to listen to a whole minute of music on your high-fidelity 1" record that has to lie perfectly flat to play properly.
Oh wait, they did that already with the mini-disc.
The5thElephant
I'm amazed by how much the device actually resembles the iPod classic. I'm wondering if Apple, or other companies, have staff rifle through expired patents for "new" ideas.
Segador
@bobojuice: You forgot the robot helpers and ability to upload yourself onto the internet but I'll forgive you. Hoverboards rock.
Maori_Yelir
@Bigbadbikernerd: He worked for Panasonic?
@Maori_Yelir: We'd probably all be riding around in flying cars and riding on hoverboards.
Now, lets talk about Orson Scott Card's vision when he predicted advanced handheld gaming devices. (Yes, before the GameBoy was even brought to the market).
LouisJebber
@sinerasis: You, sir, win one internet.
And some right-place-right-time whiz kid is going to open my Dino Slider joint serving only the finest in DNA-reconstructed vat-grown dinosaur burgers - which is actually fine, considering that I'd like to eat one before I die but really don't want to make it my life's work.
@Geisrud: Imagine what it would be like if he did get that done some time in the mid-80's. Not only would it have ushered in a new age for music (possibly rendering American Idol out of history all together) it could have also pushed the adoption of the internet faster. Oh a man can dream.
Maori_Yelir
You know, this is exactly the senario you would see if someone from our time traveled back 30 years and tried to cash in on things they knew were going to happen. This my Gizpeeps, is proof of time travel.
NurseDave
@admoseremic: Lucky? No. Just the biggest bastard in rock history.
I especially like the 3.5mm headphone jack.
WyldeChef
@OMG! Toesies on the Nosies!:
"In the end the policeman, Number 503 of the Greater Westminster Council, made his way round the back. ‘You have to stop!’ We said, ‘Make him pull us off! This is a demo, man!’ I think they pulled the plug, and that was the end of the film." - Paul McCartney
@OMG! Toesies on the Nosies!: Actually, I'd say he's quite lucky. He was able to get the Beetles off of his roof.
wow, that's really incredible
Pwnerjam3.0
As someone deeply entrenched in that world, I've always found it funny - ironic even - that the duration of IP protection for inventions (i.e., patents) pales in comparison to that for creative works (i.e., copyright). You'd think that a cure for cancer, for example, would be given decades upon decades of protection, whereas some Britney Spears garbage would lose its copyright protection after a week.
nonpareil
Another case of a design being too far ahead of its time.
Contrary to your earlier assertion, Kane Kramer is not the unluckiest Briton; that distinction is held by the gentleman in "Let It Be" who telephoned the constabulary regarding the noise and had the rooftop performance shut down.
The 30 January 1969 performance was the Beatles' last live performance and the man who called the police is shown in the film footage. He, not Kramer, is the unluckiest Briton.
queue the IXI fanboi/whores in 3.. 2.. 1..
he even had WideScreen on this thing! Crazy...
DigablePlanet
Not a bad design, actually. I bet he wishes he sold it to big tech before his patent expired.
There was SO an internet in 1979. DARPA came up with it in the 1960's. The WWW part -which is only PART of the internet- did come about later.
LastError
Incredibly before his time is correct. I remeber programming my apple IIe to record the most crappy sounds ever and don't think I could store more than 20 seconds!
irishpiper
@Geisrud: But in this time it would have been IBM he probably would have sold it to. Imagine what the world would be like if IBM still dominated? Windows would be an IBM product, Apple would have never had the PowerPC, Linux wouldn't have nearly as much official support as they have now.
ddhboy
Now thats what I call prior art!
NostradiPodous
i think he's a time traveler who traveled back too far and got stuck in '79....
or forgot the duration of patents...
mocax