It’s taken nearly 9 years, but the Dock is no longer patent pending. Apple now has a patent on that application launcher that so many love to hate. The patent itself reads:
“To provide greater access and consolidation to frequently used items in the graphical user interface, a userbar is established which includes a plurality of item representations. To permit a greater number of items to reside in the userbar, a magnification function can be provided which magnifies items within the userbar when they are proximate the cursor associated with the graphical user interface.”“
It’s interesting that half the patent is about the magnification feature, something that I turn off ASAP on every Mac I use. The former half describes just about any launcher utility.
Wait, what’s that sound? Did I just hear hundreds of hands rubbing together in anticipation? Uh oh, that’s the Apple legal team thinking about the possibilities. This could end badly.
I think I hear representatives of Plain English crying more than anything else. The description is written in legal-speak (seriously, have you ever heard of "a plurality of item representations" before? "Multiple icons" would have been sufficient) and contains bad grammar. I love the Dock but hate its formal description.