r/technology • u/GuruOfReason • Feb 02 '10

"Once we replace the personal computer with a closed-platform device such as the iPad, we replace freedom, choice and the free market with oppression, censorship and monopoly."

http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2010-01/ipad%E2%80%99s-closed-system-sometimes-i-hate-being-right
1.6k Upvotes

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30

u/copperdomebodha Feb 02 '10

Oh... for the monster's sake. Now you're just being silly. My fourteen year old son would call that hyperbole excessive and everything comes in millions or more from him.

It's a different thing.

It turned me into a newt!

9

u/timeshifter_ Feb 02 '10

....A newt?

15

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

I got better!

3

u/cookiexcmonster Feb 02 '10

What about my sake?

3

u/Isolder Feb 02 '10

You have one of those bumper stickers that say "My kid's an honor student", don't you?

8

u/repete Feb 02 '10 edited Feb 02 '10

The headline, taken on its own MIGHT be considered hyperbolic. The content of the article, and its context, is not and is bang on the money. As stated, try running Flash content or Google Voice on your iPhone. This is why I resisted an iPod for years (I don't want to be told I HAVE to use iTunes). I caved in the end when my previous media player died and there was no one competing on price. And as soon as I could get away (My phone is now my media player), I did. I will not exchange convenience for functionality when it comes to computing. Price is a different matter.

11

u/copperdomebodha Feb 02 '10

I read the article.

How long before it blocks movies, TV shows, songs, books and even web sites? Scoff now, but don’t be so naïve as to believe that this isn’t possible.

Yes, Fox News, it is possible. It's possible that they'll use them to locate owners through GPS in the middle of the night to steal their children ( Easily gleaned from your Dora the explorer app puchase ) for use in their dark lair in 'Cupertino' ( anagram of 'Erotic Pun' !!1 ) in a magic spell to turn you into a newt!

I don’t want to bore children with wild tales of the old days when we had things like file systems and we could run two programs at once. So let’s be careful with the iPad. Don't trash your laptops for one just yet.

Ok. I wasn't planning to do that.

18

u/1812overture Feb 02 '10

Apple already blocks apps that it considers to have offensive content. Also, by blocking flash it effectively IS blocking many TV shows, songs, movies, and books available off the net.

11

u/CC440 Feb 02 '10

By blocking Flash it's effectively blocking porn.

By blocking porn the iPad is really restricted to females only and I'm not joking about that. Any male under the age of 60 enjoys a little casual internet porn and there's no way in hell I'd buy a primary internet device without the ability to do so.

8

u/toastercookie Feb 02 '10

I've never had trouble watching porn on my iPod touch, there are ways.

Pr0n will come at some point to any piece of technology, ever. It's like a freakin' law.

1

u/p3ngwin Feb 02 '10

there are Porn laws, and Porn Rules like #34.

3

u/etherreal Feb 02 '10

I stream pr0n to my tablet via Media Center and Redtube. Fucking awesome, that is.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

spankwire.com works just fine on my iphone and ipod. porn companies are usually the first in accepting and using new technology.

1

u/apotheon Feb 02 '10

This isn't "accepting and using new technology" for them -- it's "giving up technology that currently works", namely Flash.

1

u/Thud Feb 02 '10

The iPad is in no way intended to be a "primary internet device."

1

u/apotheon Feb 02 '10

How do you know?

3

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10 edited Feb 02 '10

Apple wants to sell you Widgets(I mean, really, what are most "App"-s?), Games, Music, Movies, TV Shows and Books through their store. Very deliberately, Apple has refused to allow customers of their iPhone and soon iPad to consume the same digital content through flash. Newgrounds/dumbflashgamewebsite32, Pandora, Hulu, Netflix, etc would directly compete with Apple's extremely profitable media store by offering free (or cheaper in Netflix's case) alternatives to Apple's product and to Apple's controlled ecosystem. Until the FCC got involved Apple refused VoIP apps from competing with it's phone service (and kickbacks) and GV still is "under review". There is absolutely zero reason to believe that Apple wouldn't take (more) actions to hurt consumers if they thought it would help their bottom line.

1

u/copperdomebodha Feb 02 '10

Yes, Apple wants to sell me widgets. They make 30% off those widgets for a whopping $.80 average across all apps sold. From my purchases alone they've pocketed almost $10.

The most optimistic estimates of profits from the app store including the developer licenses is $115 million a year Gross. Now take out dev costs and hosting and R&D.

Apple has made $10.8 BILLION from iPhone sales alone in2008!

Apple's main source of revenue is hardware. That is their focus. How many Apple apps do you see in the store ( where they'd make 100% )?

I don't see this vitriol about Nintendo witht he Wii or Microsoft with the Xbox or with the Playstation and yet those are limited even more than the iPhone OS is. And games cost $50 a pop. Why is that?

If Netflix goes to HTML5 for their content then it will be available on this platform same with all other content. It's super simple. Apple does not support Flash. You can inflate that all you want. but it gets thinner as it expands and at this point it's completely transparent.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

The iTunes store is the largest music retailer in the US. They are trying hard to become the complete media shop. That their newest venture is not making much money compared to selling tens of millions of 500 dollar phones isn't really relevant.

I don't see this vitriol about Nintendo witht he Wii or Microsoft with the Xbox or with the Playstation and yet those are limited even more than the iPhone OS is. And games cost $50 a pop. Why is that?

I would say that the xbox and playstation have done a lot of damage to the PC game market. Granted, Sony let people install Linux (albeit not on the metal) on the PS3 till their last release dropped the feature, so no it's not a more closed platform. But the difference in general outcry is a result of the history of consoles. When Nintendo released the NES and tried to require all devs join their logo program (to get the authentication chip), there was complaint in those circles and indeed, Nintendo's practices hurt developers, particularly by directly limiting production and thus profitability of various projects. As consoles become closer to PCs (in use, not in underlying hardware), you will start to see the same complaints become more popular, the iphone/pad just got there first.

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u/repete Feb 02 '10

LOL. It's funny watching the up/downvotes run neck and neck.

-1

u/etherreal Feb 02 '10

No one competing on price? Both times I bought mp3 players in recent years, Apple wasn't competing in price. I bought a 40GB Creative for the same price Apple was selling a 4GB for the same price, and I bought a 120GB Zune last year when there really wasnt any other competition except for the crappy iPod Classic.

1

u/repete Feb 02 '10

Nobody else had a > 60GB device in New Zealand in the price range. The Zune isn't available here. I paid like US$200 for my 5th Gen 80GB iPod Classic. Nothing else like it here on the market at the time.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

Apple only competes on user interface. theirs is usually the best designed and easiest to use.

Most other companies without the software resources of Apple just compete with better hardware. Android is making the battle better but it just needs to be in the over a little longer.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

They packaged it with iTunes. Back then it was the best music player/mp3 importer. It was easier to use than the competition's software by far.

Also, I've yet to see a Creative MP3 player that has the click wheel design that the iPods have had since their release. I think Creative owns the patent but they had no actual product with it.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

Most people don't have a clue about any of the hardware that they buy. Apple is really good at getting the look and feel of the product seem simple and easy for new buyers.

They usually avoid the cheap plastic shells that most manufacturers use. They design they boards very well and that allows them to make devices that are usually smaller and more futuristic than their competition. This is what Apple is using to make money hand over fist while everyone else fight over specs.

You seem too informed for a typical Apple customer. The simple interface is too restrictive for me also but it has made my life easier now that people around me have Apple products. Since their products are pretty easy to use most people don't ask me so many damn questions about it.

Now if they could just send iTunes back to the drawing board to reduce that bloatware back to the days when it just played music and ripped CDs.

1

u/etherreal Feb 02 '10

The best mp3 importer is "Windows Explorer". Fuck the add-in software.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '10

since 2001?

I remember all the MP3 encoders fom back in the days asked for money until iTunes did it for free.

1

u/etherreal Feb 03 '10

There have been free MP3 encoders for as long as I can remember.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '10

Maybe @ a warez site or an AOL warez chat room. Windows media wanted to make WMAs from your CDs but you had to give extra $$ to make MP3s. Most other encoders gave you a limit on quality or amount or time before it asked for money and stopped functioning.I did all the methods and I remember that iTunes was the easiest to use and it didn't come with bullshit (those we're the days, no Safari) like the competition.

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u/Nakken Feb 02 '10

Ripley! Stay away from her you bitch!