Re: Let the down votes begin - US 4489303 A
Another obvious idea that should never have been granted a patent. A Hall Effect device behaves like a potentiometer, replacing microswitches or pots with Hall switches is equivalent to adding "on a computer".
I think you are making the argument as to why the system needs to be reformed.
When I applied for a US patent it was on the basis of several man years of metallurgical and electrical research by a team of people, hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment, and evidence that other people in the past had said "can't be done". Not an idea that someone with an electronic parts catalog and a joystick couldn't come up with in ten minutes.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
