Paul Thurrott's take on WinInfo:
As we've come to expect from Apple, the company was as charming as ever in defeat. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, in a statement, that Creative was "fortunate" to have been granted its "early" patent, implying that Creative's right to the technologies was simply a matter of applying for a patent earlier than did Apple. But as anyone who used an early Creative Nomad MP3 player can attest, these devices featured user interfaces that were startlingly familiar to what Apple later used in its iPod.
While the $100 million settlement is "chump change" for Apple, as one analyst put it, Creative's motivation to settle is clear: The company can now seek similar settlements from other MP3 player makers. Furthermore, Creative will now participate in Apple's "Made for iPod" program and will sell a slew of iPod-compatible add-ons to the millions of people using iPods worldwide. That's a smart move, since Creative's devices have failed to put a dent in the iPod's dominance.
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