Copying is the way design works (2020)

Copying, Design, and Originality

• Many argue copying is fundamental not just to design but to all creative work; everything builds on prior ideas.
• Several compare this to art and music training: students copy masters first, then gradually develop “their own” style from accumulated influences.
• Some stress a distinction between design (solving problems, structuring information) and styling (colors, shapes, surface aesthetics); only the latter is easily copy‑pasted.
• Others push back that the article drifts loosely between design, software, patents, and art without clear boundaries.

Xerox, Apple, Microsoft, and “Theft”

• Strong debate over whether Apple “stole” from Xerox PARC.
• Points raised: the visit was negotiated in exchange for pre‑IPO stock; Apple had PARC alumni already; they saw the Alto, not the later Star; what they shipped was different and more consumer‑ready.
• Some emphasize that Xerox did successfully commercialize the laser printer and recouped PARC investment, even if they missed out on GUIs, Ethernet, etc.
• Microsoft’s antitrust history appears as a separate example of power, but commenters note this is about monopoly abuse, not “trouncing others for stealing.”

Intellectual Property, Piracy, and Incentives

• One camp views copyright/patents as mostly protecting middlemen and slowing innovation; open source and piracy are framed as major accelerants to tech progress.
• Others argue IP exists so idea‑creators get paid by those who control production and distribution, and note that unauthorized copying does have harms, especially for small creators.
• Extensive anecdotes from self‑published authors describe entitlement to free content and rampant book piracy (including via major platforms).
• A more systemic critique claims modern subscription models (e.g., streaming) restored profits for publishers at the expense of artists, and that “artists need to make a living” is often co‑opted by capital, not creatives.

UI/UX Patterns, Trends, and Copying

• Experienced designers say chasing striking originality often harms usability; users benefit when interfaces behave like what they already know.
• Patterns like pull‑to‑refresh and flat buttons started as debatable “fads” but became de facto standards; resisting them is now seen as an anti‑pattern.
• Copying successful UX conventions is framed as creating ecosystem harmony and lowering cognitive load, though there’s criticism of teams that “rearrange the UI” just to appear busy.

Imitation, Learning, and LLMs

• Several commenters claim humans are “imitation machines”; copying is how we learn in every field, much like large language models remix training data.
• Others contest the analogy: LLMs are described as probabilistic “next‑word machines” without lived experience or durable learning from failure, unlike humans.

Knockoffs, Quality, and Markets

• The Eames‑style chair example triggers discussion that visual similarity doesn’t guarantee build quality; cheap copies may literally fall apart.
• Broader “dupes” in fashion/home goods are compared to historical norms where craftspeople routinely reproduced designs; scaling to global mass‑market is what made originality claims feel higher‑stakes.
• Some note that counterfeit buyers often aren’t the original brand’s customers anyway; the bigger risk is brand dilution rather than lost sales.