"Good artists copy, great artists steal."

Thank you to Steve Jobs for that pearl of wisdom. One would think, with that mentality, stealing would be somewhat tolerated. Not so, apparently. Stealing is only tolerated if Apple is the thief.

We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.

• Triumph of the Nerds (1996)

But don't you dare steal a stolen idea from Apple.

Apple has been on a litigation rampage lately to shut down all of its competition. Mostly, any hardware manufacturer using the Android operating system. Steve Jobs was also quoted in his biography as saying: “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.” The original iPhone was unveiled by Mr. Jobs on January 9, 2007. And Google bought the Android software from the initial developer in 2005. Your claim is unfounded, Steve.

But that hasn't stopped Apple from crying foul. They have had lawsuits with Samsung, HTC, Google, and many others over patents that Apple feels were violated. Were they? Some of them, yes. The 'Slide to unlock' feature was indeed patented by Apple. Although, I'm not sure why, since Apple wasn't even close to being the first to introduce it...

The latest in the patent debacle, I feel, crosses the line. Apple has convinced a Judge to ban the sale of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus in the United States because Apple feels some of their patents were used without permission. The Galaxy Nexus is currently Google's flagship phone for the Android OS. This would be similar to Ferrari suing Porsche, and blocking the sale of Porsche because their cars have rubber tires . Granted, Apple has to put up $96 million in case they lose, to pay Samsung for the hassle. This, of course, has all the Google fanboys in an uproar, and considering I bought a Galaxy Nexus last week, I'm probably in that category also. Over on Google+, there is a trending topic of #boycottapple, and while none of the complaints will make a difference, the pictures are funny.

I'm just tired of the patent wars. And shame on the U.S. Patent office for issuing patents for extremely generic things. Voice search? Really? That needed to be patented? Have you ever stopped and asked someone for directions? That is voice search. Is Apple going to take me to court if I ask my boss where the copier is?

Honestly, I've never been anti-Apple. I dislike the dictator-like control they wield over their products, but I can see where it is beneficial to them. I think that quality competition is a good thing. It makes great products at affordable prices. I doubt anyone will argue that. But to ban a product because you feel it violates a voice search patent? Come on Apple. If you have a better product, it will always sell better than the competition. You have had the top selling smartphone for over 5 years. If you are losing ground to Android, then maybe you should try something new. Anything new.