The iPod was invented in 1979

British Kane Kramer was the original designer of the ipod. A friend of Kramer's created a device called IXI in 1979, capable of playing 3,5 minutes of music.

In 1988 he failed to obtain the necessary funding to renew his patent and his device was forgotten. Now Apple has come to him to overcome its lawsuit with Burst.com over the iPod patent. IXI will serve to demonstrate that Apple did not steal the invention from Burst.com, but from Kramer.

Kramer Kramer confessed to Daily Mail: “I was painting at the top of a ladder when an Apple woman with an American accent called me saying she was the head of the legal department and wanted to acknowledge the work I had done. I must admit that at first I thought my friends were teasing me. But we talked for a while, me at the top of the ladder and a little freaked out by everything, and she told me that Apple wanted me to come to California to talk to me. I had to make a statement before a court reporter and a cameraman at the attorneys' offices. The questioning with Burst's attorney was tough, ten hours. But I was delighted to do it. "

For now, Apple pays him for the inconvenience of the trip to California and Kramer is negotiating compensation for everything else. Everything else is, specifically, that Apple knew about the existence of IXI, knew that it was a pre-iPod patent, knew that its author was Kramer, began to earn millions by handfuls with the iPod and only remembered the British to get rid of a trial that could be more expensive. I just hope Kramer gets everything he can out of them now.
Vía: gizmondo