I like that Apple is copying (for the most part, I don't like the idea of another chat system that just talks to itself). There is nothing wrong with building on good ideas. I welcome the vast improvement iOS 5 will be. I just don't like that such a litigious company that has touted how many patents they have in keynotes past [1] is shamelessly swiping ideas.

1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JZBLjxPBUU

Yeah, that's a great point. But I like that Apply is copying too. All the mobile OS platforms should copy each other's best features. It pushes them to make even cooler platforms. In the end, the users win.

Yeah, I totally agree, and thanks for that non-divisive non-flamey take on the issue! I personally have had a really hard time deciding between iOS and Android devices, which is a pretty great problem to have.

"There is nothing wrong with building on good ideas."

This is the key point. Apple may have copied a feature, but I think they usually put their own spin on how it should work or try and make it better.

I feel for the Camera+ guys though. I am glad that the volume button for taking pictures is back. But I hope they allow TapTapTap to put the feature back in and do an update.

Awesome! There should be much more borrowing going on. Especially Apple is often reluctant to flat out copy good ideas of others. It’s nice to see that all the great features – especially of WebOS and Windows Phone 7 – might not forever be doomed to be absent from iOS.

Now Apple, what about copying Aero Snap from Windows 7? Or the multitasking UI of WebOS?

So instead of doing one thing well, they do several things well? That seems pretty awesome.

I'm a huge fan of my Android phone. I think it's pure magic. I can't understand how people can tolerate these iPhone 4s since they're such inferior devices. iOS 5 is a pretty awesome game of catch-up (and flies past Android in a few areas).

Surely copying is just another word for silent agreement of what the users want. Or that Apple take longer to implement it because they want to do it better (e.g. copy&paste).

In fairness, the majority of Android, as well as many of the smartphones it runs on, are cloned directly from Apple. Android phones were going to look totally different before the iPhone was unveiled in 2007.