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See my previous post. I never said they invented it, I said they pioneered their use

Chortle!
Pioneered its use huh? Getting mealy mouthed and playing with words now aren't we? Is your name Bill Clinton by any chance?
Bottom line: Apple pioneered nothing! Others did it before Apple did. You may want to look up the meaning of “pioneer”. LOL!
They did NOT invent it. Period!
Ergo, Microsoft did NOT steal the idea of detachable keyboards from Apple like you claimed in your previous post.
Here, have a look at this patent, that was filed in 2001, and granted as long ago as 2003, long before the iPhone and the iPad even came out.:
http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/6519142.html

“Who popularized their use? Why, Apple, of course. Same with the GUI, mouse, etc.”

That's like saying Toyota invented the immobile because they sell more cars than anyone else.

“This notion that they didn't first invent it is a smokescreen for hiding the fact that they popularized it”

You are a scream!
The notion that by selling more of a product that includes technology that other people invented/pioneered and Apple “borrowed’, Apple is somehow the ones that pioneered that technology, is ludicrous.
Only a crazy Applebot like you will come up with such an idiotic, laughable statement, and

Here, have a look at this patent, that was filed in 2001, and granted as long ago as 2003, long before the iPhone and the iPad even came out.:

Uh, Joe? That patented device cover is in no way similar to the patented cover Apple invented for the iPad... it has no rare-earth magnetic hinges, no rare-earth magnetic closures, no method to turn the device on when opened, no folding stand, etc. It works with ELASTIC RUBBER BANDS and an inserted hinge into a slot in the device. Just because there was a previous device cover does not mean that Apple's cover was not a unique invention. No previous electronic device used such a cover that was attached, kept the cover on or closed, or was turned on in such a way as the cover invented BY APPLE. For this to work required matching devices built in to the iPad. So, you are again wrong.

Pioneered its use huh? Getting mealy mouthed and playing with words now aren't we? Is your name Bill Clinton by any chance?

Apple did indeed pioneer the use of a magnetic cover on a touchscreen tablet. How many touchscreen tablets were sold before the iPad came out? How many touchscreen tablets had a thin magnetically attached cover that when flipped open, would activate the screen? And when closed, would magnetically seal and deactivate the screen? And when folded, would also act as a stand?

(Sound of crickets.)

You're the one playing with words. When I said pioneered, you say I said invented. You're much like Bill Clinton, as you say you never had intimate relations with the Surface tablet yet the nasty stains of your lies all over your posts.

Ergo, Microsoft did NOT steal the idea of detachable keyboards from Apple like you claimed in your previous post.

Lies, that is all you know how to do. I didn't say steal, I said Microsoft copied Apple. Who knows if they are licensing the technology from Apple. Apple holds many patents in this area, Microsoft has none. Apple demonstrated their new magnetically detachable cover for the iPad 2 in 2011. Microsoft demonstrated a magnetically detachable cover (with keyboard), that attached and detached just like Apple's the year before ("click...click...click"). Microsoft even copied the same talking points as Steve Jobs used in his demonstration the year before. That's copying!

Microsoft simply is copying the work of others, while Apple is the pioneer.

For instance, patent US6030229 filed by Apple in 1998 and issued in 2000 for "an electromagnetic detachable connector".
US7311526 filed in 2005 and issued 2007 for "magnetic connector for electronic device".
US7351066 filed in 2005 and issued in 2008 for "electromagnetic connector for electronic device".
US7641477 filed in 2008 and issued 2010 for "electromagnetic connector for electronic device".
US7645143 filed in 2009 and issued 2010 for "magnetic connector for electronic device".
US7762817 filed in 2008 and issued in 2010 for "system for coupling interfacing parts".
US7901216 filed in 2009 and issued 2011 for "magnetic connector for electronic device"
US7997906 filed in 2010 and issued 2011 for "techniques for coupling interfaces parts using moveable magnetic elements".
US8087939 filed in 2011 and issued 2012 for "magnetic connector for electronic device".
US8177560 filed in 2011 and issued 2012 for "magnetic connector for electronic device".

This is a mere fraction of the patents issued to Apple for their pioneering work in magnetic catches. Let's see you list Microsoft's patents for magnetic catches. If you can't, it stands to reason that Microsoft is copying someone. Guess who...