With companies gobbling up the competition for patents and patent 'troll' law firms suing for all sorts of alleged patent infringement, give some credit to Samsung Electronics' defense against a patent suit by Apple: showing movie clips from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Apparently, Apple patented the rectangular-ish shape with dominent screen for computing tablets and is suing Samsung for patent infringement over using the same, er, shape and idea. Samsung countered with clips from the 1968 movie showing two astronauts eating and using personal tablet computers, as well as clips from a 1973-1979 British TV show The Tomorrow People also showing a tablet computer.
Arguably, a tricorder from the 1960s TV show Star Trek could have been included, although also arguably not thin enough until the 1980s remake. But if you really want to ultimate 'prior art' defense for a rectangularish high-tech (for the time) device with dominant display, try going back to the ancient era -- wax tablets.
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