3 ms·

Games consoles are for one thing only entertainment. A phone is much more personal, it more accurately fulfils the role personal computers claimed to as a digit

Games consoles are for one thing only entertainment. A phone is much more personal, it more accurately fulfils the role personal computers claimed to as a digital extension of the user. As a personal communications device any limitations or controls placed on it are limitations and controls on the persons speech / access to knowledge. Who ever owns the phone owns the person and their speech, this is why the complaint over who actually owns the phone and what that means is so important. > Or just buy a different phone. The complaint goes beyond Apple and iPhone, Android does a better job of pretending you own the phone but all that really means is Google owns you instead of Apple. The problem is political not technological, all the common person can do is bitch and moan about it.

__MatrixMan__ 7y ago
I agree with your whole comment except for the last sentence. The people will be owned by their phones until they align their desires with their capabilities such that they have control over that technology. That's not a political problem, it's a technical one. Mobile phones are like 3D printers: the technology isn't new, but within the last decade the price of 3D printer components dropped, and the availability of open source software to drive them rose, and an equilibrium was found where they entered the domain of non-professional tinker types, at which point we saw an explosion of creativity in that space. The only difference is that that equilibrium hasn't happened for mobile phones yet. But people are working on it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103809433/wiphone-a-phone-for-hackers-and-makers https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103809433/wiphone-a-ph... It's gonna take a while, but once the DIY approach is a viable alternative, even for just the tech savviest 1% of the population, Apple and Google will have something else to be compared against, and that will effect their choices in a nice way. Or at least I hope so.
swalls 7y ago
>The complaint goes beyond Apple and iPhone, Android does a better job of pretending you own the phone but all that really means is Google owns you instead of Apple. The problem is political not technological, all the common person can do is bitch and moan about it. Isn't the answer to that just buy an easily rootable phone and flash an OS without spyware? There's a few manufacturers out there with official unlock tools and presumably supporting that practice would only lead to more adoption. (although, admittedly, this does require the hardware to not have spyware or backdoors built into it)

__MatrixMan__ 7y ago

I agree with your whole comment except for the last sentence. The people will be owned by their phones until they align their desires with their capabilities such that they have control over that technology. That's not a political problem, it's a technical one. Mobile phones are like 3D printers: the technology isn't new, but within the last decade the price of 3D printer components dropped, and the availability of open source software to drive them rose, and an equilibrium was found where they entered the domain of non-professional tinker types, at which point we saw an explosion of creativity in that space. The only difference is that that equilibrium hasn't happened for mobile phones yet. But people are working on it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103809433/wiphone-a-phone-for-hackers-and-makers https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103809433/wiphone-a-ph... It's gonna take a while, but once the DIY approach is a viable alternative, even for just the tech savviest 1% of the population, Apple and Google will have something else to be compared against, and that will effect their choices in a nice way. Or at least I hope so.

swalls 7y ago

>The complaint goes beyond Apple and iPhone, Android does a better job of pretending you own the phone but all that really means is Google owns you instead of Apple. The problem is political not technological, all the common person can do is bitch and moan about it. Isn't the answer to that just buy an easily rootable phone and flash an OS without spyware? There's a few manufacturers out there with official unlock tools and presumably supporting that practice would only lead to more adoption. (although, admittedly, this does require the hardware to not have spyware or backdoors built into it)