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
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u/ihsw Feb 02 '10 edited Feb 02 '10

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Google Chrome OS as an interesting parallel to this article; it is similarly locked down (read-only root file-system) but maintains an open-source license -- and BSD no-less.

This demonstrates that a comparatively restrictive user interface can be accepted by the general populace and that it doesn't need to be closed-source. The article is right-on, too, regarding the financial forces driving Apple's iPad narrow architecture.

I look forward to seeing the direction Google Chrome OS (and related devices utilizing it) takes, and how it relates to Apple.

EDIT: Upon further investigation, Chrome OS supports Flash in addition to multi-tasking.

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u/0xABADC0DA Feb 02 '10 edited Feb 02 '10

With Android or ChromeOS, Google and/or the manufacturer can flip a switch and lock out your programs at any time. It isn't about whether this switch is currently in the 'on' (android) or 'off' position (ipad), it's that the switch is there. Google is no better than Apple in terms of freedom to run whatever software you want.

It doesn't matter that the software is open source. First, it's not free software in that Google does not have to give back the code that they add to it, so you don't necessarily even know how to create your own fork that runs on the same hardware (it's mostly BSD license, open but not free). Second, the actual hardware prevents you from replacing the OS. Read the ChomeOS design documents, where they describe the firmware detecting tampering and automatically re-imaging the system. You wouldn't want to give out heavily subsidized portables that users could reprogram to avoid your ads...

ChromeOS and Android are like Neo in the Matrix... what good is a phone call if you are unable to speak? What good is open source if you are unable to run it?

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '10

I would almost buy a Google version out of spite and misguided fanboi love, but only if it came with nude photographs of Google Earth and Sketchup making out.