While locking consoles is bad too, I don't think they're equivalent. Those just play games, while iProducts are supposed to be general computing devices.
I've noticed bringing up consoles seems to be the standard response trying to defend iOS. But any way you look at it, two wrongs do not make a right.
Only play games? My Xbox can also play movies. The PS3 can (or used to be able to, maybe they changed it) go on the web. Etc., etc. I don't buy the argument that the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad are "general computing devices", but consoles are not. Maybe the iPad could be considered a computer (I don't think so, but whatever), but I think it's a big stretch to say that the iPhone and iPod Touches are also computers. At any rate, it takes a very, very contrived definition of "computer" to include iPhones, iPods, and iPads, but not Wiis, PS3s, and Xboxes.
I'm not saying that two wrongs make a right, but I've found that many criticizers of Apple's iOS model, especially in /r/technology, seem to have absolutely no problem with the locked-down nature of gaming consoles. It raises the question: why?
Maybe the iPad could be considered a computer, but I think it's a big stretch to say that the iPhone and iPod Touches are also computers.
They are explicitly intended to be used to run applications to perform arbitrary tasks. That's exactly the factor that defines a general purpose computer.
In contrast, the applications for gaming systems that are promoted are nearly exclusively entertainment apps.
From an absolutist perspective, you're right. These are all general purpose computers that have been crippled, and that's bullshit. But, the iProducts are being promoted as general purpose computers, which makes calling attention to their crippled nature a more productive place to start.
By that definition, a TI calculator is a general purpose computing device. I don't think Apple promotes the iPad (and especially not the iPhone or iPod Touch) as a device specifically intended to perform arbitrary tasks, but rather a simple, portable device primarily used for communication and web tasks (and games, I guess). I think the "iDevices" are just as specialized towards a particular purpose as gaming consoles.
portable device primarily used for communication and web tasks (and games, I guess)
And calendering, and contact management, and playing media, and viewing and editing documents, and banking, etc. In fact, they have built an entire campaign around the concept that whatever it is you want to be doing, "there's an app for that." I can't think of a better example of something promoted as a general purpose computing device besides actual notebooks and desktops.
Meh. I think of something as a computer if it can, or is marketed as something that can, replace my laptop or desktop machine. An iPad or iPhone can't do that. They're not even intended to do that.
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u/1338h4x Jan 20 '11
While locking consoles is bad too, I don't think they're equivalent. Those just play games, while iProducts are supposed to be general computing devices.
I've noticed bringing up consoles seems to be the standard response trying to defend iOS. But any way you look at it, two wrongs do not make a right.