"Guess I'm Never Buying Anything from Apple Again"

I've been seeing a lot of stink being raised over a new patent from Apple by the media and especially by folks on Twitter.

The patent covers an idea for an camera system that includes an infrared receiver that can accept data. To sum up some of the uses of this new system, Patently Apple states:

On one side, the new system would go a long way in assisting the music and movie industries by automatically disabling camera functions when trying to photograph or film a movie or concert. On the other hand, the new system could turn your iOS device into a kind of automated tour guide for museums or cityscapes as well as eventually being an auto retail clerk providing customers with price, availability and product information. The technology behind Apple's patent application holds a lot of potential.

And of course, everyone latches onto that first sentence. And only that sentence.

I've seen tweets (well, mostly retweets) in my feed saying things along the lines of "Guess I'm never buying anything from Apple again".

Grow up, people.

It's a patent. Do you have any idea how many patents Apple files in a year? Enough to keep a site like Patently Apple in business. Now, with that scale in mind, how many of those patents make it into an actual shipping product? Not many.

With this in mind, let's save the outrage for if this system is ever implemented, and in an evil way. Otherwise, knock it off.