4 ms·
I think that statement illustrates his bias. He puts people objecting to Apple's control into the basket of "hobbyist", impugning them at the same time as imp
by zmmmmm 17y ago
I think that statement illustrates his bias. He puts people objecting to Apple's control into the basket of "hobbyist", impugning them at the same time as implying that there are no business or professional reasons to dislike closed platforms over open ones. In his view, the only uses for open systems is so that people can fiddle in their spare time and make mischief, causing ordinary folks pain and suffering.
It is a common and somewhat legitimate reaction, to say that geeks just want computer systems to stay geeky so that they have more control and power. However there is a very real non-hobbyist problem with closed systems. I don't think anybody would agree that it was great that Microsoft was able to stymie the growth of the entire internet with their domination of the browser market. And IE / Windows was relatively open, compared to iPhone OS and Safari. The damage done by holding back the growth of the internet has hurt consumers enormously, even though most of them don't know it and couldn't articulate it if they did. Apple is essentially setting the stage for the same thing to happen in the mobile space but far worse since they have quite literally given themselves veto power over any application making it to consumers.
- orangecat 17y agoIt is a common and somewhat legitimate reaction, to say that geeks just want computer systems to stay geeky so that they have more control and power. That's a ridiculous strawman and I'm amazed that so many people believe it. Most geeks would be thrilled if more people could perform basic computing functions without constantly asking for help. Apple is essentially setting the stage for the same thing to happen in the mobile space but far worse since they have quite literally given themselves veto power over any application making it to consumers. Exactly this. Microsoft was only able to delay the rise of the web; with the power to prohibit disfavored applications they very well might have stopped it completely, or twisted it into a proprietary architecture deliberately dependent on Windows. If Apple has Android shut down in the courts and is able to form a cozy duopoly with Microsoft, we won't be seeing that sort of innovation anymore and we won't even know what we've lost.
- stcredzero 17y agoIf Apple has Android shut down in the courts and is able to form a cozy duopoly with Microsoft, we won't be seeing that sort of innovation anymore and we won't even know what we've lost. I think this is overblown. If Apple gets too high-handed, some Chinese company is going to come out with a cool new platform slick, cheap, and open enough to support the next killer app.
- stcredzero 17y agoI think of Apple as the Bose of computer hardware. Many Bose products are looked down on by audiophiles, but many people are in the market for the level of integration and convenience they provide. Instead of Hobbyist, perhaps he should have written "non-consumer." Afficianado? Pro-Sumer? Perhaps the slant changes with the term, but the basic idea still stands.
- jacquesm 17y agoBose could only hope for the kind of market success that Apple enjoys, I think that analogy breaks quite quickly. Bose is seen as 'high end, very high prices, exclusive'. Apple is seen as 'high end, simple to use, premium, but not high priced, and definitely not 'exclusive''. The 13 year olds here have iphones, I bet they don't have a bose sound system in their bedrooms. More likely an iphone dock with a bunch of speakers attached.