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The real Ipod inventor
Finally, the original inventor of MP3 players and whose design inspired Apple to make the Ipod, has been recognized. Kane Kramer, a UK resident got the idea of building a music player in 1979 even before CDs.  Then, the 23-old inventor, with no formal technology education, worked on getting music to be sent to a device with compression techniques, and reassemble it when it arrived so that the sound would be of original quality. Kramer went on to patent the idea under the name of IXI System in 1981.
His first investor was Beatles’ Paul McCartney, who later introduced him to Richard Branson. However, Branson ended up passing on making an investment. But finally, with some financial backing, the IXI System was launched in 1990 and had a revolutionary 8 MB memory that recorded three-and-a-half minutes of music.
Unfortunately, Kramer had a fall-out with investors who left him without resources to renew the patent on his player; subsequently it went into public domain.
Interestingly, Kramer got his due recognition while making an appearance in a US court on behalf of Apple who has been fighting a patent lawsuit over Ipod with a company called Burst.com which has been claiming to have invented the MP3 player. Apple entered his patent into the court record and paid him to testify about his original design. His sketches also included the idea of a futuristic iPod-style store complete with listening stations.
While speaking to media after the court appearance, Kramer reportedly said, "To be honest, I was just so pleased that finally something that I had done has been a huge success and changed the music industry is being acknowledged. I was really quite emotional about it all."
My Lord, I’ve been framed
Sanjay Kumar, once the poster boy of Silicon Valley and the (in)famous head honcho at Computer Associates, has agreed to name all his former cronies involved in the multi-billion dollar fraud for which he is now serving a 12-year jail term.
Kumar, in 2006, admitted charges of securities fraud and conspiracy that saw CA wrongly stating over $2 billion in revenue during his tenure as the COO and CEO.
In an affidavit recently filed in the US court, Kumar blamed his mentor and founder CEO of CA Charles Wang for the malpractices for which he has been accused and sentenced. He has accused several other Directors and senior management people saying that the misstating of financial statements was going on much before he became the CEO. He has accused CA of a massive cover-up to protect Wang and to single him out as the only culprit in the scam.
CA has however denied the accusations and blamed Kumar of single-handedly conducting the fraud. It is now up to the US court to decide if there is any weight in Kumar accusations to warrant deeper investigation. |