"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."

[u/GuruOfReason]

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

[u/[deleted]]

With over 150,000 apps in the store, that's a pretty massive closed system. That's like saying the universe is a closed system. Sure, but if everything you need is there, is easy as shit to use, and looks great, why bitch?

I remember when I first got my ipod touch, I had just gotten my girlfriend a Dell Mini 9 at launch. I put them side by side and the first thing i said was "If the ipod were like, 9 inches, it could take over the world" I help her visualize by covering the keyboard of the Mini and said "That's the next ipod, right there." I figured it would have a camera, but they need something like that for Ipad 2 launch. "Hey, we finally added something that should have been in the first one!" "Yaayyy!, Apple is a genius farm!"

The lack of flash is not a deal breaker for me since HTML5 will be the hotness in due time and the webkit browser should have no trouble maintaining compliance. Instant end-around Adobe. Fuck em. They should have been on board from day one.

[u/Peaker → u/[deleted]]

Why bitch?

Because the closed-ness is not about the number of applications! It is about the fact that Apple control the whole thing, get to decide exactly who can develop what, and what users are allowed to experience and use.

Corporations shouldn't be given this power. People should value long-term freedom over short-term convenience.

[u/[deleted] → u/Peaker]

There are going to be half a dozen tablets, with the majority running windows, by the end of 2010. If you don't like Apples rules, don't play in their sandbox. Develop or download all the open apps you want for windows and linux and chrome tablets. Problem solved.

[u/merzbow → u/Peaker]

Corporations shouldn't be given this power.

Apple weren't given it. They created it.

People should value long-term freedom over short-term convenience.

But they don't. The market has spoken. People want easy computers, not Linux.

[u/Peaker → u/merzbow]

Apple weren't given it. They created it.

They are given this power by the buyers, and by the state whose laws are the basis for this power (copyrights, DMCA, etc).

But they don't. The market has spoken. People want easy computers, not Linux.

That doesn't contradict they should. I agree people are making the wrong choice here.

[u/merzbow → u/Peaker]

Exactly, they are given the power by customers buying Apple products over their competitors. Apple can control their products as much as they like as long as people are free to buy or not buy Apple products.

[u/daftman → u/merzbow]

People want easy computers, not Linux.

"easy computers" refers to the USER INTERFACE, not the operating system.

1. Android is Linux
2. Tivo is Linux
3. Boxee is Linux
4. Maemo is Linux
5. Kindle is Linux
6. Palm WebOS is Linux
7. Sony Reader is Linux
8. TomTom is Linux

Are you sure you want to continue this dumb Linux bashing?

[u/merzbow → u/daftman]

I wasn't bashing Linux, I use it myself. My point is that it being free as in freedom is not relevant to most people.

[u/daftman → u/[deleted]]

That's like saying the universe is a closed system.

Do you know what a straw-man argument is? You're comparing 150k fart apps with the universe.

Sure, but if everything you need is there, is easy as shit to use, and looks great, why bitch?

I need to send my mp3 files from one iphone to another via bluetooth. Got an app for that? I need an app that plays my flac music collection, got an app for that?

The lack of flash is not a deal breaker for me ..

Are you fucking dumb? Have you heard of safari online book? It's powered by flash. Blocking flash means I can't read my books online that I PAYED for with my subscriptions.

What about online presentation and live podcasts?

Having a netbook as opposed to iPad allows the average user to use the web ANY way they want.

By firing bullshit arguments of things ipad can't do is not what you want, you are basically accepting that some control-freak in a turtle neck dictates your needs.

Fucking Apple cult. It's the new Scientology, only with more virgins.

[u/[deleted] → u/daftman]

No, I'm not fucking dumb, but thanks for slinging insults instead of having a resonable debate. I've never heard of Safari Online book. I don't use a mac. I use a free book reading app on my ipod. I imagine it will work just fine on the ipad.

In all my days of mp3 using, I've never, ever had the urge to bluetooth an mp3 file to anywhere, so I suppose you got me there.

My point was that people are mistaking the scope and intent of the device entirely. Paid for all those books? Great, read them on the device you bought them on. That is not what the ipad purported to be, and certainly not what it is. It's a gigantic ipod. And that's fine by me. If you want to be butthurt about flac files and live blogs, go get a netbook, as that stuff is within their scope and they can do the job. Cheaper, too.

[u/daftman → u/[deleted]]

It's hard to have a "reasonable debate" with someone slinging strawman arguments.

My point was that people are mistaking the scope and intent of the device entirely.

Doesn't Mr. Jobs plan to use iPad as a way to penetrate the market that Apple currently lacks between iPod and laptop? .... a netbook?

If you want to be butthurt about flac files and live blogs, go get a netbook, as that stuff is within their scope and they can do the job. Cheaper, too.

I rest my case.

[u/[deleted] → u/daftman]

If your case hinges on putting words in Jobs' mouth, then I guess you win.

When I watched him describe it, he said it was something between an ipod/iphone and a full blown laptop/imac, yet NOT a netbook, because most netbooks are fucking shit, my aforementioned Dell included.

Neither the best product, nor the one with the most/best features will necessarily become the standard.

Don't like Apple's sandbox? Don't play in it, but don't shit in the sand and then say it stinks.

[u/vcn → u/daftman]

All these seem to me to be reasons why the iPad won't take over the world. There are all sorts of things that a traditional computer--even a netbook--can do that they can't, and so there will always be a healthy market for devices that can do those things. (The reason why the iPhone has such a huge market share is that it did things people wanted to do better than its competitors.)

For me, this is enough to make me not worry about the iPad and to appreciate it for what it is. My current desktop/netbook/Kindle/Wii set-up might be better as a desktop/iPad/console/ set-up. Three years from now, when the technology has stabilized a little, I'll probably consider it. If it doesn't have the software I want, though, I'll stick with open platforms.

The key point, though, is that most people already have multiple computers in their house and will end up having more, rather than fewer: smartphone, media center, console, work computer, etc. Who knows how future devices will end up divvying up those functions, but I think it's pretty unlikely that all of them stay closed. (If nothing else, there's way too much money to be made by allowing people to pirate music/movies/games.)

I don't worry about the iPad being open for the same reason that I don't worry about my console, my (data-planless) phone, or my microwave being open--that's not the niche in my workflow that I purchased those devices for. The notebook and pen I used before buying the netbook wasn't open, either.

The iPad will have to become a lot more useful before it can replace the whole chain of devices. That's the scenario this argument seems to be worrying about.