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It's kind of nutty to equate technological simplification and totalitarianism. Some people don't want to solder their own computers together or inspect their ow
by Tloewald 15y ago
It's kind of nutty to equate technological simplification and totalitarianism. Some people don't want to solder their own computers together or inspect their own meat.
We need, occasionally, to draw a line of abstraction over complicated stuff so we can build upwards. This is why we code in high level languages rather than toggling switches on front panels, even though it meant surrendering some "freedom".
- icebraining 15y agoYes, layers of abstraction can be useful. I don't see how the iOS restrictions are a layer of abstraction, though. And selling pre-built computers doesn't mean you have to glue the box shut. You just have to make sure people don't have to mess or even think about the internals unless they really want to.
- Tloewald 15y agoSome iOS restrictions are obviously simply business driven, but fewer than you might think. E.g. The "give us 30% and don't undercut" rule means that the user can buy from the app store without needing to price compare. The "no execution of outside code" rule means no platform subversion with the endless security issues this would bring. If you stop thinking in terms of technical capabilities and start thinking in terms of the user's cognitive load, iOS is a huge step forward in terms of abstraction.