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Kane Kramer
Born	April 23, 1956 (1956-04-23) (age 53) United Kingdom  United Kingdom
Residence	London  United Kingdom
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Known for	Inventor

Kane Kramer is a British inventor and business man. He is credited with the initial invention of the digital audio player.

[edit] Invention of the DAP

A sketch of the IXI DAP with screen and menu and playlist navigation buttons.

In 1981 Kramer filed for a UK patent for his newly conceived Digital Audio Player, the IXI. UK patent 2115996 was issued in 1985, and U.S. Patent 4,667,088 was issued in 1987. The player was the size of a credit card with a small LCD screen and navigation and volume buttons and would have held data on an 8 MB bubble memory chip with a capacity of 3.5 minutes worth of audio. Five working prototypes were produced and one was unveiled in a trade exhibition in October 1986. Kramer reportedly had £60,000,000 in orders for the device from the music industry when a coup within Kramer's company kept him from renewing the IXI's patent. The patent was voided shortly afterward and Kramer's designs entered the public domain.

[edit] Downloadable Music

Kramer's initial report introducing the IXI also contained detailed descriptions of a possible music download service over phone lines. Kramer reasoned that with freedom from the limitations and expense of physical media the music industry would be able to provide the consumer with more released material from more artists on a tighter schedule. Kramer's system would have also allowed for the downloading of data and software.

[edit] Burst.com vs Apple Deposition

In 2006 Burst.com sued Apple Inc. for patent infringements it reported were at the heart of Apple's ubiquitous iPod. In order to combat Burst.com's claims Kane Kramer was invited by Apple to the United States in 2008 to give a deposition that lasted 10 hours. Kramer proved that his drawings and ideas were the original concept behind the iPod and that they predated Burst.com's patents. Burst.com and Apple settled out of court shortly afterward.

[edit] Current Work

Kramer is still at work in the technology sector. His most recent project, called "Monicall" functions as a dial in service that would make phone call conversations legally binding. Kramer also says he has plans that would end copyright infringement altogether, however no details on this project have been released.

[edit] External links

• Official site of Kane Kramer
• Original investor's report on the IXI from 1979 (PDF Format)