gdgt

This is kind of a tough one because these situations are all different. From a legal standpoint, if someone creates something truly novel they should probably patent it, but none of these items seem like something that is novel/inventive enough to be patentable (although who knows with the US patent system). So from a legal standpoint anything short of taking the code or completely copying the interface is probably allowable.

From a practical standpoint it isn't a great business idea to repeatedly shaft your developers so Apple should probably consider purchasing or hiring developers of kick ass applications. That way there are fewer hurt feelings. Besides it really isn't much money in the scheme of things and Apple is getting something of value (code or a talented employee).

From the list:

Delicious Library - This is poor form, but it is just the background and otherwise the applications aren't particularly similar. Apple probably should have changed the color or something, but in the scheme of things I don't think this is that big of a deal.

Notifications - They hired the guy with the proof of concept so I think they are clear there. Also, iOS and Android have borrowed liberally from each other in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

Wireless Syncing - This is the sticky one. Apple clearly liked what this guy did and probably should have given him a job, but I imagine, that in Apple management's eyes, publishing an app via Cydia is roughly equivalent to dropping a turd in the punchbowl at the Apple holiday party. I feel bad for this guy, but he had to know that Apple would add this feature at some point and he still made $500k. He isn't necessarily dead in the water either. Apple's wireless syncing isn't going to be everything to everybody and some of those power users will be willing to jailbreak and pay for innovative and custom features.

Instapaper/Readability - I haven't used Readability so I won't comment on it, but Instapaper will be fine. The developer has said that even if 99.7% of the iOS universe finds Apple's solution to be sufficient that remaining .3% is a bigger target market than he needs. This seems like the right attitude to take. Instapaper totally changed the way that I read on mobile devices. The offline functionality of Instapaper is critical to the way that I use it and I also want something that works outside of Safari (since I use Chrome on my Mac). Ecosystem agnosticism is also another big benefit (although it doesn't effect me at the moment) and could help Instapaper in the same way it has helped Kindle over iBooks.

This is going to sound cold, but not a damn thing. At this point devs should know that when they write for a platform that they don't control there is a risk that the company that owns the platform will come into competition with them. When that happens devs should be prepared to offer higher value or more in-depth services than what the OS vendor is willing to provide. As Marco Ament (of Instapaper) said, it's going to introduce more people to the concept that his app provides and may even serve as advertising for it. Take advantage of the attention, don't lament the new competition.

There is no rule that Apple, Google, HP or Microsoft can't compete with smaller developers.

I don't think it's an easy solution here. What if the developer doesn't want to be hired by Apple? What if the developer doesn't want to be bought out by Apple? Perhaps they're making much more money than Apple is offering by being independent.

Licensing would bring a whole another bunch of issues. In their current TOS, Apple has the right to replicate anything they want without further compensation, which is probably a safety net for them not paying up every crazy person out there who says Apple replicated the smallest of features out there.

Also, I know it sucks, but I think if you're a developer, you should know that Apple can do this and there's a possibility of rendering your business less profitable. I think this is an interesting aspect that, only in this day and age, can happen where a business can be rendered kaput in a rather short amount of time by their dependent company integrating that small aspect in their whole ecosystem, if they think it's a good enough idea.

I think in the grand scheme of things none of these examples was necessarily Apple copying or stealing an idea. Having notifications that slide down from the top was independently developed by Android and webOS, if I'm not mistaken, and there have been a couple different jailbreak mods that were "inspired" by that design. MobileNotifier has gotten the most press as of late but there have been others that were also very similar.

As for WiFi sync, I think the developer of the jailbreak version, although he was the first developer who actually built it, wasn't necessarily the one who came up with the idea. It was an idea that was tossed around a lot before the jailbreak version was actually released. I'd be hard-pressed to believe Apple wasn't at least toying with the idea before the unofficial version was submitted to them. Even the logo, I would argue, is a very natural conclusion for someone to come to when designing a logo that combines "wifi" and "sync."

As for Instapaper/Readability/Reader, I think that idea's been around long enough and has had enough competing implementations, no one would take a second glance if another independent developer came out with their own version, so who's to say Apple doesn't have the right to do the same?

I think that they should either hire the developer or buy their application. Licensing could get messy and I feel like it would work out better for Apple and its developers to just offer cash outright for the things that they lift. Apple's huge profits and deep well of liquid assets would allow them to do this.

Of course the problem with that tactic is that people may (read: will) try to bargain their way to unreasonable prices, at which point I'm not sure what steps to take. Users want the features and Apple is delivering (at roughly 2 years behind the pace) so in the end it works out. The developers will always find new ways to innovate, even if they are unhappy with the company for stealing their intellectual property.

Then again, the developers could always switch over to Android or Windows Phone, where there is a greater need for well designed, non-memory-leaking applications.