Originally Posted by csimons

Competition is good, but patents hinder competition in my opinion. Competitors will no longer be able to copy-and-improve the way they normally do. They will have to come up with a pretty ingenious way even to replicate the patented technology without doing it the way Apple did it. Software patents particularly have hindered competition and the path of technological progress for years now.[1] I realize this isn't strictly a software patent, but it can be analogously dangerous for competition in the same ways. The patent verbiage makes it sound like any other company will be prevented from similarly connecting any 'Portable Electronic Device' with a bicycle.[2] That doesn't sound good for competition to me.

[1] The Dangers of Software Patents (Stallman)
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/stallman-mec-india.html

[2] Systems and Methods for Integrating a Portable Electronic Device with a Bicycle
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...DN/20100198453