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> If that perception continues, Apple loses recruiting access to a lot of the best developers. I certainly consider Google to be a more ethical company than Ap

> If that perception continues, Apple loses recruiting access to a lot of the best developers. I certainly consider Google to be a more ethical company than Apple. Currently, I own neither an iPhone or an Android phone; if I did get one it would be the Android because it is more open. If I did have an Android, it's quite likely I would develop software on it. On the desktop, I currently use a Linux box. I've considered getting a Mac; several of my friends have them. But the locked-down nature of the iPhone and iPad deter me from buying any of their products. So Apple has certainly lost me as a potential customer, due to my perception of them being evil. Do they care? Probably not. However, if lots of programmers think like me, the software ecosystem around their product will suffer.

protomyth 17y ago
Apple never blocked calls to a Tribal community college or a nunnery, but Google did.
- sorbus 17y ago
  According to [1], it was because the costs of connecting are too high. Since Google voice is a free service, I (at least) see no issue with it; you get what you pay for. However, saying that Apple never did that while Google did makes no sense; Apple isn't a service provider, while Google is, in this case. It makes just as much sense to say that Google never required their devices to be jailbroken to be user-controllable, while Apple did - or that Google never said that jailbreaking was illegal, while Apple did. [1] http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/66661-pressure-on-google-over-blocked-calls http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/66661-pressure-on...
  - protomyth 17y ago
    Does Google Voice say, "we don't want to pay a connection fee" or does it just block the call? Was Google open about blocking certain people? I think if they cost one person a job or internship because of blocked calls, that qualifies as "evil". I find it funny that AT&T had to figure out who was getting blocked and how sloppy Google was doing it (Google was blocking more numbers then they had to to avoid the fee). I'm glad that you are unaffected by such things, tis a shame for other people.
ericd 17y ago
Their being closed dow not make them evil. Is every company that doesn't give you access to everything they've made, or at least all the information on everything they've done evil? I don't think so... They're keeping it closed for the sake of their users (most of whom would actually be worse off by a very open environment). For example, a couple days ago I talked with a non-technically savvy owner of an android phone, and my god. A Verizon tech has her killing all the background apps every hour so that her battery life isn't atrocious. Might be good for you and I, but not real consumers.

protomyth 17y ago

Apple never blocked calls to a Tribal community college or a nunnery, but Google did.

sorbus 17y ago
According to [1], it was because the costs of connecting are too high. Since Google voice is a free service, I (at least) see no issue with it; you get what you pay for. However, saying that Apple never did that while Google did makes no sense; Apple isn't a service provider, while Google is, in this case. It makes just as much sense to say that Google never required their devices to be jailbroken to be user-controllable, while Apple did - or that Google never said that jailbreaking was illegal, while Apple did. [1] http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/66661-pressure-on-google-over-blocked-calls http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/66661-pressure-on...
- protomyth 17y ago
  Does Google Voice say, "we don't want to pay a connection fee" or does it just block the call? Was Google open about blocking certain people? I think if they cost one person a job or internship because of blocked calls, that qualifies as "evil". I find it funny that AT&T had to figure out who was getting blocked and how sloppy Google was doing it (Google was blocking more numbers then they had to to avoid the fee). I'm glad that you are unaffected by such things, tis a shame for other people.

ericd 17y ago

Their being closed dow not make them evil. Is every company that doesn't give you access to everything they've made, or at least all the information on everything they've done evil? I don't think so... They're keeping it closed for the sake of their users (most of whom would actually be worse off by a very open environment). For example, a couple days ago I talked with a non-technically savvy owner of an android phone, and my god. A Verizon tech has her killing all the background apps every hour so that her battery life isn't atrocious. Might be good for you and I, but not real consumers.