The video clip below from 2001 A Space Odyssey. The Apple iPad looks a lot like the device the two astronauts are using. This is the look that Apple patented 40 years after it appeared in the movie.

Who knew I was supposed to watch more science fiction to get my engineering inspiration? Actually, it is not that surprising. It has been pretty well known that science fiction can be the inspiration for later actual technological inventions.

Of course patenting how to make something happen that was only dreamed of by science fiction writers is one thing. Trying to patent a look that was actually put into practice by film makers 40 years ago is quite another.