iPod found its long lost daddy — Mr. Kane Kramer

The definition of music went under a revolutionary change with the advent of Steve Jobs' iPod. Music stepped out of the confines of the Walkman and other players and took a compressed attire to fit into the small yet music-appetizing iPod. The news that iPod’s creative daddy was a Brit who left school at the age of 15 could make Apple patrons skip a heartbeat. And if you thought this news surfaced because Steve Jobs turned his benign side to accredit Kane Kramer out of respect, then you’re certainly wrong. A legal tiff with Burst made Apple submit Mr Kramer’s patents and drawings to deny infringement with respect to the technology that drives the iPod. Mr. Kramer had revealed through a newspaper that he had invented the device in 1979. He then acquired patents on his work. Back then, his invention could store only 3.5 minutes of musical melody on a chip.

ipod inventor 7Ki4C 5965

ipod sketch DxTkK 54

A management breakout and lack of funds to renew patents led to Kramer’s technology becoming a public property. Having considered the amount of turnover churned by the i-factory, it’s depressing to know that the Brit inventor does not enjoy any bit of Apple’s riches, and was awarded only a humble sum as consulting fees for his help in the Burst case. Such is the plight of Mr. Kramer that he says he can’t "bring himself to buy an iPod." But the Brit is too tough to give up and is working on an invention dubbed the Monicall. It will enable people to have phone calls recorded and emailed to the various parties as an audio file.

DailyMail :Source: CrunchGear/ Techdigest