2 ms·

I think we agree... I highly recommend iPhones and iPads to non-technical friends and family members for that exact reason. They are essentially foolproof. Bu

I 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 ago
What competitive software is not available on iOS? Every service that Apple sells has a comietitjr on iOS.
- wvenable 8y ago
  Chrome
  - scarface74 8y ago
    It's on the App Store.
    - Larrikin 8y ago
      A Firefox and Chrome themed wrapper around safari are available on the app store. The meaningful components of those browsers are not.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        Well for Google, the "meaningful parts" is to collect data. For users, it's to be able to sync bookmarks, passwords, etc.
- wvenable 8y ago
  Compilers and IDEs for major programming languages
- wvenable 8y ago
  Emulators for classic arcade games (or emulators of almost any sort).
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Emulators from third parties not related to the original publisher are using copyrighted firmware and the only way you are going to play games realistically is using pirated images. I'm no making a moral judgement. Plenty of movies have fallen off of the back of truck onto my Plex Server. The company that owns both the original console and the copyrighted game is free to publish a game that runs on top of an emulator. Sega has plenty of games on the App Store that are basically the emulator bundled with the game image.

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 ago

What competitive software is not available on iOS? Every service that Apple sells has a comietitjr on iOS.

wvenable 8y ago
Chrome
- scarface74 8y ago
  It's on the App Store.
  - Larrikin 8y ago
    A Firefox and Chrome themed wrapper around safari are available on the app store. The meaningful components of those browsers are not.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      Well for Google, the "meaningful parts" is to collect data. For users, it's to be able to sync bookmarks, passwords, etc.
wvenable 8y ago
Compilers and IDEs for major programming languages
wvenable 8y ago
Emulators for classic arcade games (or emulators of almost any sort).
- scarface74 8y ago
  Emulators from third parties not related to the original publisher are using copyrighted firmware and the only way you are going to play games realistically is using pirated images. I'm no making a moral judgement. Plenty of movies have fallen off of the back of truck onto my Plex Server. The company that owns both the original console and the copyrighted game is free to publish a game that runs on top of an emulator. Sega has plenty of games on the App Store that are basically the emulator bundled with the game image.