The old new

The BBC reports on the similarities of the iPod Mini and TR-1 transistor radio which was made in 1954. The Regency was the first commercially sold transistor pocket radio.

The similarity between the two has created quite a stir online. Some of those stirred by the debate definitely see the parallels.

"I'd say a good engineer learns from a good thing, not to say they copy it," says one member of community discussion site Digg.

"It'd also be decently safe to say that [Apple boss Steve] Jobs likes his old school design work, think about the iMac G4 for a sec; you've all heard the classic desk lamp reference. I could be really off base here, but look at how [animation firm] Pixar depicts certain common appliances/cars in films, pretty retro."

So is Apple a copycat? Well, the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes has a few words to say about novelty, fashion and innovation.

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be:
And that which is done is that which shall be done:
And there is no new thing under the sun."