Apple turns to British 'iPod inventor'

Kane Kramer filed a patent in 1979 for a media player with a touch interface

A British man who filed a patent on an 'iPod prototype' in 1979 has been called into Apple to testify, and has received a broken iPod in return.

Kane Kramer, 52, filed a patent nearly 30 years ago for a media player holding music with a touch interface similar to the iPod, but the patent lapsed in 1988 due to lack of funding.

His player, dubbed the IXI, was described as holding 3.5 minutes of music but its inventor hoped that it would hold more as the technology improved.

Apple recently called Kramer to testify in its case against Burst.com over patent infringement, but he received consultancy fees only and no mention of royalties.

"I was up a ladder painting when I got the call from a lady with an American accent from Apple saying she was the head of legal affairs and that they wanted to acknowledge the work that I had done," Kramer told the Daily Mail.

"Then I had to make a deposition in front of a court stenographer and videographer at a lawyers' office. The questioning by the Burst.com legal counsel there was tough, 10 hours of it. But I was happy to do it.

"I can't even bring myself to buy an iPod for myself. Apple did give me one but it broke down after eight months."

Kramer, who organises the annual British Invention Show, is now working on a patented invention that he claims will be bigger than the iPod. Called Monicall, the device records and emails phone conversations.