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> Libertarian Wild West on our phones where anyone can install anything from any store An important distinction is that while I can install whatever I want on

• parasubvert 6y ago
  > They didn't. We already had multiple app stores for J2ME, Windows CE and Symbian apps before Apple started the trend of locking things down. There were no "App Stores" for J2ME apps, per se. You certainly could buy and install apps from ISVs, but they were heavily locked down based on carrier policy. I developed apps for WinCE, Palm and Blackberry and the carrier-mandatory permissions were strict depending on the jurisdiction. The devices that weren't restricted were e.g. WinCE devices that were sync'd and not network connected. Apple just took the decades old old trend started by console manufacturers and applied it to Mobile.
  • ptx 6y ago
    By "locking things down" I meant locking down distribution to a single app store. Certainly J2ME apps were locked down via a system of permissions, where you had to buy a code signing cert to be granted the more interesting ones. But you could still install them from multiple sources, e.g. the phone manufacturer, the carrier, the software vendor directly, or even via Bluetooth. And unsigned apps were granted enough permissions to be perfectly viable in many cases. The "carrier policy" you mention might be a US-specific problem.