HP launches all-in-one computer much like iMac [atualizado]

Like Apple, many manufacturers market all-in-one desktops (all-in-one), and this is nothing new for anyone. But in times of patent war and intellectual property protection, I confess that I was impressed to see one of Hewlett-Packard’s latest releases, christened HP SpecterONE.

Until today, HP had been working with a very proprietary all-in-one computer design – you looked at them and soon knew it was an HP. Now, however, the thing has broken down, with the company giving it a Samsung and “taking too much inspiration” from an Apple product – even including a keyboard and trackpad similar to Apple’s!

Regardless of the quality of the machine (23.6-inch Full HD 1080p display, 1GB NVIDIA GPUs, latest Intel processors, NFC, etc.), it is undeniable that the set was very similar to the iMac. It is ugly for HP to launch something like this, so different from its line and so similar to something from the competition.

Apple, like other companies, is inspired by products, concepts and ideas from other companies. But there is a fine line between inspiration and copy. John Gruber, from Daring Fireball, gave a beautiful example, based on the recent inspirational comparisons between Braun, Apple and Samsung:

The old joke says that inspiration is when you copy something from someone; plagiarism is when someone copies you. But for me, the difference is about being inspired to create something new, versus copying to create something derived. This is the difference between great artists who steal and bad artists who copy. Apple products are in different categories than the corresponding Braun devices, and are separated by decades.

He goes on to say that Dieter Rams (famous designer) is * flattered * by the constant words spoken by Jony Ive (Apple design boss) about him and the Apple creations inspired by him [1, 2, 3]; on the other hand, it is almost certain that no Apple designer feels the same way about any of Samsung – and now probably HP.

I, at least, sign below.

Update

It’s not just about all-in-one computers. The ultrabook HP Envy Specter, by the way, also decided to adopt a visual à la MacBook Pro. In this case, at least, the black “cover” and the “chassis” design are not so similar, but the similarity is undeniable when we look at the image below:

Heh.