Why do people get hung up on wording? It is a shame people are just going to dismiss this because he worded it as "open". In reality, what he is saying is that

Why do people get hung up on wording? It is a shame people are just going to dismiss this because he worded it as "open". In reality, what he is saying is that the iPad is more useful than a regular computer, and usefulness trumps openness. As someone who is very technical, is a computer (or ipad) more useful to me if I can install whatever I want, and program it however I want? Yes. Are most users very technical? No. People just want to use their computers to do something, and quickly. Why don't alot of people who aren't comfortable with technology install software? Well, they have experience that they download something and install it, and suddenly their computer runs like crap or they have a virus. They have learned they are better off just to leave it be. That's why so many users just stick with the default. They install something, they get hosed. Again and again. The alternative is to spend a great deal of time determining whether the source is trusted, or official, or whatever. The app store removes that restriction, making it more useful to the -average- user. Apps don't write all over each other, they don't bog down the ipad, and the source is already trusted. Those things mean that a typical user is able to do more, because those are all barriers to -doing something- that don't exist on the iPad that do on other platforms. That's all he is saying. That's the point, and one that people who are building businesses here should recognize. Don't get hung up on wording. You can sit around and argue all day that people should be willing to take the time to understand their devices better, and then they would benefit from a more open system, but you are wasting your breath. People aren't interested in that, by and large. They just want to do something else, and do so without opening themselves up to a giant hassle.