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There are two problems with this: Both these types of users can't co-exist on the same device type or ecosystem. Grandma might not invent the next internet on
by wvenable 8y ago
There are two problems with this: Both these types of users can't co-exist on the same device type or ecosystem. Grandma might not invent the next internet on an iPad but your kid is also never going to get that opportunity.
And secondly, since you can't install the next internet on the iPad, Grandma is never going to get to use it.
- shuntress 8y ago>Both these types of users can't co-exist on the same device type or ecosystem. This is false. An eco system can easily contain a locked down channel for installing programs as well as an open channel to side-load.
- wvenable 8y agoThe context here is that we're discussing fully locked down platforms.
- solarkraft 8y agoBut that's with the content ofthe argument that a functioning eco system needs to be locked down. It doesn't really.
- eunoia 8y ago> Both these types of users can't co-exist on the same device type or ecosystem. That's my point though. One size fits all doesn't work all that well in practice. As a technologist you seem to prefer the freedom of general compute. As a fellow technologist, I agree. We are a minority though. The vast majority of people don't seem to want much more from their devices than a working browser. (and maybe Instagram). To them things like root access are more a liability than asset. > Grandma might not invent the next internet on an iPad but your kid is also never going to get that opportunity. This is a real concern to me. What happens when whole generations view computers as black boxes of consumption rather than tools of creation / something to tinker with? Probably nothing good.
- wvenable 8y agoI think we agree... I highly recommend iPhones and iPads to non-technical friends and family members for that exact reason. They are essentially foolproof. But I really don't like the fact that they are fully gated devices. Apple has already keep useful, but competitive-to-them, applications off their platform. They've force developers to eliminate user-beneficial changes to their applications. This is not good even for non-technical users but it's much more difficult to quantify. One real example is that all users would benefit from alternative competitive web browsers on iOS but they can't have it.
- briandear 8y ago“User-beneficial” — according to whom? How do all users benefit from alternative web browsers on iOS? I would argue that users benefit more from security. Is there really much a user can’t do on iOS? What exactly are they missing out on? And whatever that is, does it offset the value from being reasonably safe from malware or badly written apps?
- scarface74 8y agoWhat competitive software is not available on iOS? Every service that Apple sells has a comietitjr on iOS.
- wvenable 8y agoChrome
- scarface74 8y agoIt's on the App Store.
- Larrikin 8y agoA Firefox and Chrome themed wrapper around safari are available on the app store. The meaningful components of those browsers are not.
- threeseed 8y ago> Grandma might not invent the next internet on an iPad but your kid is also never going to get that opportunity. Actually Playgrounds is pretty amazing. And you can definitely spin up a development platform in AWS and then Remote Desktop from your iPad or access via Coda or similar Terminal tools.
- solarkraft 8y agoI'm pretty ok with OSX and that's an OS that is both noob-friendly and comes with powerful modification features. I do think both types of users can co-exist on the same platform. People of all knowledge levels use Windows & Android.