Judeumeh's Blog

Or so the headlines could read if / when Apple get their patent for DRM enabled shoes and garments no less. Read on to find out more, and to marvel or shudder at the possibilities of tomorrow.

This interesting development is taken from a New Scientist report, as discussed on this blog. The main point of the patent is aimed at creating an electronic “pairing” between a sensor and an authorised garment, that way an electronic sensor will only work with its associated garment.

The benefits, according to the patent application which was filed in March 2007, would be the ability to prevent relocation of an electronic sensor (e.g. for an iPod enabled trainer) to an unauthorised garment (e.g. a competitor’s trainer).

This effectively binds the electronic sensor to the garment it was intended for, but it also hampers the choice of the users (also as intended) in trying out creative mash-ups of their wardrobe / electronics. This could give another meaning to the idea of wardrobe malfunction!

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Note: This post was previously published on my BCS DRM Blog, where you can find the original post, and reader comments, in the archives.