METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PANOPLEX GENERATION AND GRYPHING
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for distributing ready-to-use soft assets in an end-user device, the method comprising:
- producing a prewritten superset of ready-to-use, pre-loaded, but obscured soft assets on an intransient signal carrier, wherein the prewritten superset includes a plurality of pre-loaded soft assets in an obscured state;
subsequently displaying a set of choices of the pre-loaded soft assets from which a customized first subset of the installed soft assets that are to be retained are chosen, and wherein the set of choices from which a customer can arbitrarily choose includes substantially all those pre-loaded soft assets that are contained in the superset of prewritten pre-loaded soft assets already on the intransient signal carrier;
subsequently receiving selection data provided by the customer that distinguishes the first subset of the pre-loaded soft assets that are to be retained from a second subset of the pre-loaded soft assets that are not to be retained; and
automatically modifying the intransient signal carrier based on the selection data, wherein the modifying includes;
automatically culling the second subset such that erased space is available in place of the second subset of installed soft assets that are not to be retained, and unobscuring the first subset of soft assets that are to be retained so the first subset of soft assets are available on the intransient signal carrier to an end user as installed and substantially ready-to-use.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for obtaining a storage medium with a deeply customizable set of installed content. Soft assets (e.g., programs, songs, videos, etc.) that form the content are selected from among a much larger set of preinstalled soft assets previously stored on storage media, such as disk drives. In some embodiments, based on a user'"'"'s selections, the non-selected assets are permanently erased from a storage medium, while the remaining assets are available as installed (wherein substantially no further processing is required to install them). In some embodiments, a new device uses the storage medium to provide its user with a fully functional device without the need to separately install the soft assets from a plurality of sources (e.g., from program-distribution CDROMS and the like). Some embodiments include the storage medium having the soft assets installed, and including a program that elicits selections from a user and erases non-selected assets.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for distributing ready-to-use soft assets in an end-user device, the method comprising:
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producing a prewritten superset of ready-to-use, pre-loaded, but obscured soft assets on an intransient signal carrier, wherein the prewritten superset includes a plurality of pre-loaded soft assets in an obscured state;
subsequently displaying a set of choices of the pre-loaded soft assets from which a customized first subset of the installed soft assets that are to be retained are chosen, and wherein the set of choices from which a customer can arbitrarily choose includes substantially all those pre-loaded soft assets that are contained in the superset of prewritten pre-loaded soft assets already on the intransient signal carrier;
subsequently receiving selection data provided by the customer that distinguishes the first subset of the pre-loaded soft assets that are to be retained from a second subset of the pre-loaded soft assets that are not to be retained; and
automatically modifying the intransient signal carrier based on the selection data, wherein the modifying includes;
automatically culling the second subset such that erased space is available in place of the second subset of installed soft assets that are not to be retained, and unobscuring the first subset of soft assets that are to be retained so the first subset of soft assets are available on the intransient signal carrier to an end user as installed and substantially ready-to-use. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22)
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8. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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providing an intransient signal carrier having a prewritten plurality of installed soft assets, wherein the prewritten plurality of installed soft assets constitutes a set of choices of soft assets from which a subset of the installed soft assets that are to be retained is chosen, wherein the plurality of installed soft assets on the intransient signal carrier form part of a panoplex, and wherein the panoplex further includes a directory data structure in a location other than a location used by an operating system as a directory;
obtaining selection data distinguishing the subset of installed soft assets that is to be retained from a subset that is not to be retained; and
modifying the intransient signal carrier based on the selection data, including writing the directory data structure to the location used by the operating system for the directory such that erased space is available in place of the non-selected subset of installed soft assets that is not to be retained and the selected subset of installed soft assets that is to be retained is available to an end user as installed and substantially ready-to-use.
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9. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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providing an intransient signal carrier having a prewritten plurality of installed soft assets, wherein the prewritten plurality of installed soft assets constitute a set of choices of soft assets from which a subset of the installed soft assets that are to be retained are chosen, wherein the intransient signal carrier further includes a first data structure, and wherein the first data structure includes directory information in a location other than a location used by an operating system for a directory;
obtaining selection data distinguishing the subset of installed soft assets that is to be retained from a subset that is not to be retained; and
modifying the intransient signal carrier based on the selection data, including writing directory information to the location used by the operating system for the directory such that erased space is available in place of the non-selected subset of installed soft assets that is not to be retained and the selected subset of installed soft assets that are to be retained is available to an end user as installed and substantially ready-to-use.
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16. An apparatus comprising:
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a functional container that includes;
an end-user storage medium to which data can be written and from which data can be read, and configured to retain the data, and further having an interface operable to couple the storage medium to an end-user functional device;
a file structure mediating logical information to and from physical locations within the storage medium;
a collection of individually end-user-accessible pre-loaded soft assets stored on the end-user storage medium, wherein the end-user storage medium is not yet connected to the end-user functional device; and
wherein the storage medium serves as both an inventory of selectable pre-loaded soft assets and a vehicle to deliver and sideload the selected installed soft assets to the end-user functional device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. An apparatus comprising:
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a new readable and writable gryphed end-user digital storage medium device containing a customized plurality of user-specified installed soft assets selected from a set of soft assets;
wherein the gryphed end-user storage medium is not yet connected to an end-user functional device, andresidual indicia of other soft assets that are in an erased state, wherein the other soft assets are also selected from the set of soft assets. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification