What does iPod have to do with Elgin?
March 25th, 2008
Nothing really. But I love Elgin trivia, and this one escaped my attention when the news came out a few years ago. It looks like Steve Jobs tried to patent the iPod interface, but was beaten to it by one John Platt, an Elgin native!
The company’s patent application, which lists Apple vice president Jeff Robbin and Apple chief executive Steve Jobs as two of its primary inventors, received a final rejection last month from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Standing in Apple’s way appears to be a prior filing by inventor John Platt, who submitted a patent application for a similar software design for a portable device in May of 2002 — just five months before Robbin submitted his claims on behalf of Apple. (AppleInsider 8/9/05)
Who’d have thought that Steve Jobs would be bested by an Elginite?
