Over the past few months, Apple has been in the news quite a bit, especially here at USI. With the electronics seller’s recent court battle with Samsung, many have been left questioning the corporation’s integrity.

With these questions being raised, do we really want Apple’s products being sold on our campus?

The lawsuits in question are primarily dealing with patents. In the most recent case, the courts ordered that Samsung pay $1 billion in damages to Apple after determining that Samsung had violated patents held by Apple.

The patent system in America allows for an entity to hold a monopoly over an invention for a period of 20 years as long as they reveal the plans for the invention. This is intended to allow other companies to improve upon the invention rather than merely copying it.

The issue is not that Samsung violated Apple’s patents, but rather, if Apple sued Samsung in order to maintain the integrity of the patent system or in order to maintain their monopoly and narrow the market on smart phones.

The simple fact of the matter, in my opinion, is that Apple sued Samsung for the money. A corporation that large rarely, if ever, does something for the sake of integrity.

As much as this reality disappoints me, it does not mean that Apple’s actions are completely without merit. Regardless of Apple’s intent, Samsung is now forced to introduce new products and increase the diversity of technology on the market.

The unavoidable truth of the market is that any company is going to make the most money it can from the consumer. If you have ever had to purchase a copy of Microsoft Office Suite, you know that Microsoft does the exact same thing as Apple.

I propose that we let the fan boys fight this one out while the rest of us give Apple a chance to settle in to their new place on our campus.