Steve Jobs, hes no Edison

[Grieve]

There are certainly problems, yes. But what's the solution? Get rid of patents altogether? Let anyone steal anything they want?

The worst problem is the patent trolls - the companies that exist onto to buy and hold onto patents without actually making anything themselves. Then when someone inadvertently infringes their patents, they sue. Both Apple and Google have been plagues by such companies.

It's a different story when you are actually a company making things based on the patents, and someone else copies you. I agree that at first glance some of the patents Apple is suing over seem trivial, but that's more due to how difficult it is to create a patent that sufficiently covers what you've done with current patent law. Also now it's become an arms race. All the Android makers (and especially Google) are buying up other people's patents purely to use as a weapon. Yes, Apple have done it too, b/c that's how an arms race works.

Also Apple isn't doing it for financial gain. Jobs makes that very clear - he just wants them to stop copying what the iPhone did. Do what Microsoft did, do what Palm did - come up with your own way to do things.