There are a large number of microprocessor-based devices in my home, on and about my person that I can't program (without a great deal of difficulty). A dishwasher, a microwave, a thermostat, a landline telephone, a router, car computers; the list goes on.<p>The iPhone isn't a 'device', it's an appliance. Apple are happy with it being that way. If you don't like it, buy an Android. I thought we'd all had this discussion already?
For every person complaining that iOS is restrictive, there are hundreds of people for whom it's genuinely liberating.<p>Take my parents-in-law. They have laptops, and they have an iPad. As far as they're concerned, the iPad is a <i>much</i> more capable device. This is because it's got apps that can do a lot more different things installed on it. Sure, technically there's actually a wider variety of software for the computer. But many long years' worth of getting burned by viruses, Bonzai Buddy, and Yahoo Toolbar have taught them that installing software on a computer is a dangerous thing that they should avoid doing without the assistance of someone like me.<p>The folks who can't see the garden for the wall need to come up with an answer to that. Otherwise all their kvetching is going to continue to fall on deaf ears.
Very little added here, mainly a summary of the EFF blog post at <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/05/apples-crystal-prison-and-future-open-platforms" rel="nofollow">https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/05/apples-crystal-prison-...</a> discussed here previously at <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4036596" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4036596</a>
Ignorance is Strength?
or
Freedom is Slavery?<p>Look what freedom has brought us? Spyware. Google tracking. Cookies. Shared objects. Worms. Trojans. Viruses. Key loggers. Registry hax. Unauthorized bandwidth usage. Real Time Virus scans. Software that's hard. Having to configure. flaky hardware.<p>Apple liberates us from freedom and we love them for it.
"And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!"<p>An apt comparison of Microsoft and Apple as any, I think.
America itself is like a beautiful crystal straightjacket. You can make a billion dollars, but just try stabbing someone in the face.<p>Living with restrictions has its pros and cons. You can move to Russia, where I hear you can do anything you're physically able to do, and deal with the consequences yourself.<p>In this case "moving away" is actually a <i>lot</i> easier.<p>In the analogy: not everyone living in America ever chose to live there - i.e. anyone who didn't immigrate as an adult. And it's a lot of work to move. So the default is living in a situation most people didn't choose themselves, with a very high barrier to changing anything.<p>But in the story: the easy alternative is buying an Android instead of buying an iPhone, or developing for Android instead of developing for iPhone. They're "just" phones and literally have the same functionality and anyone can use whichever one they want. It's not even like most people get their iPhone from their employers. People chose to enter this ecosystem as consenting adults in a competitive market, and it's one small purchase of a PHONE. If you made a mistake, it's one of the easiest things to replace. It's not like a car or a house or even a laptop. It's a phone.<p>I simply don't see why Apple shouldn't have the right to do things exactly as they want. I choose to "live there", and so do loads of other people.