4 ms·

I was replying to the "open computers" statement of which I took to primarily mean operating systems. Which unless you call Mac OS or Windows open, IMHO my poin

• wmf 17y ago
  Mac and Windows are open compared to the App Store; they're just not open source. The market needs openness to foster innovation, but it doesn't necessarily need open source.
  • fakelvis 17y ago
    I feel that this is the key point: distinguishing between open and open source. Openness, in terms of economic freedom, allows choice and therefore increases competition. As you say, this leads to innovation and is better for the consumer.
  • elblanco 17y ago
    Exactly, the problem is that I, as a hobbyist, can't scratch personal itches by writing and giving away little programs that run on such a device. Most of the software I ran on my first few computers was freeware, downloaded from BBSs at 2400baud. The barriers to entry for hobbyists to get little itch scratching programs up on the app store at $0 makes it not even worth the effort. And the shame of it is that the iPad is the perfect kind of hobbyist platform, small, constrained, knowable. An organization putting millions of dollars into a piece of software for it isn't likely to make something really that much better than one or two teens banging out code in the bedrooms over a few weeks.