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That's all true, but in the last few years Apple does seem to have undergone a rather alarming shift away from open systems. I don't think anyone is disputing

by Kadin 17y ago

That's all true, but in the last few years Apple does seem to have undergone a rather alarming shift away from open systems. I don't think anyone is disputing that they've done a lot of nice open stuff in the last few years, since jumping on the bandwagon in a big way with Darwin ... but that sure doesn't seem to be their M.O. anymore. It's beginning to look like that whole attitude was borne out of desperation and a need to get MacOS in line with the times, and now that they're not against the wall it's back to the same old sealed-box model that was driving people nuts twenty years ago (and which was arguably a big part of why they ended up in trouble). Time will tell, I guess.

tptacek 17y ago
They just shipped GCD. FreeBSD has already ported it. Meanwhile, in their most hotly contested market --- the one, by the way, where Apple makes more money than any other --- over just the last two years, Apple code has been adopted by virtually all of their viable competitors. I don't think you can support the argument that they're shifting away from open source with any credible evidence, but I'd appreciate any stab you take doing so.
- Kadin 17y ago
  My concern is that all of their new products seem to be sealed boxes. Yes, they still make Macs, and still sell MacOS, and MacOS is still fairly open. But it seems like the Mac is quickly becoming a legacy product, and Apple is no longer a computer company but instead a personal consumer-electronics company. And this chart (http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-in-case-you-had-any-doubts-about-where-apples-revenue-comes-from-2010-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-in-case-you-...) suggests that the Mac is no longer Apple's biggest product in terms of revenue. The locked-down iPhone is, with the iPod coming in for a close third. Add in the iPad and it's going to move even more in favor of their closed products. I've always had a soft spot for Apple since they came out with OS X and cheated what most everyone assumed was corporate death, and I'm writing this on a MacBook right now. But I find their other products less than compelling, and since it seems that the direction they're going in is more towards sealed boxes and away from the open-system approach of the (post-2000) Mac, I'm not sure how much of their gear I'll be purchasing. I do own an iPod just because I haven't found a player that's as good, in terms of being well-integrated with software, and the iPod at least doesn't restrict you to only loading music that you buy from iTunes. (I do wonder if, were Apple to bring out the iPod today, if that would be the case.) But I don't have an iPhone and I don't see myself purchasing an iPad. And their last few updates to OS X haven't felt like they're keeping up the pace of speed and feature improvements that they had been; it seems like it's the red-headed stepchild now. There's a serious question in my mind as to whether the MacBook I'm typing this on will be the last one I ever use. It's just disappointing because they brought out a lot of neat stuff.

by Kadin 17y ago

tptacek 17y ago

They just shipped GCD. FreeBSD has already ported it. Meanwhile, in their most hotly contested market --- the one, by the way, where Apple makes more money than any other --- over just the last two years, Apple code has been adopted by virtually all of their viable competitors. I don't think you can support the argument that they're shifting away from open source with any credible evidence, but I'd appreciate any stab you take doing so.

Kadin 17y ago
My concern is that all of their new products seem to be sealed boxes. Yes, they still make Macs, and still sell MacOS, and MacOS is still fairly open. But it seems like the Mac is quickly becoming a legacy product, and Apple is no longer a computer company but instead a personal consumer-electronics company. And this chart (http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-in-case-you-had-any-doubts-about-where-apples-revenue-comes-from-2010-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-in-case-you-...) suggests that the Mac is no longer Apple's biggest product in terms of revenue. The locked-down iPhone is, with the iPod coming in for a close third. Add in the iPad and it's going to move even more in favor of their closed products. I've always had a soft spot for Apple since they came out with OS X and cheated what most everyone assumed was corporate death, and I'm writing this on a MacBook right now. But I find their other products less than compelling, and since it seems that the direction they're going in is more towards sealed boxes and away from the open-system approach of the (post-2000) Mac, I'm not sure how much of their gear I'll be purchasing. I do own an iPod just because I haven't found a player that's as good, in terms of being well-integrated with software, and the iPod at least doesn't restrict you to only loading music that you buy from iTunes. (I do wonder if, were Apple to bring out the iPod today, if that would be the case.) But I don't have an iPhone and I don't see myself purchasing an iPad. And their last few updates to OS X haven't felt like they're keeping up the pace of speed and feature improvements that they had been; it seems like it's the red-headed stepchild now. There's a serious question in my mind as to whether the MacBook I'm typing this on will be the last one I ever use. It's just disappointing because they brought out a lot of neat stuff.