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iPad Is a "Huge Step Backward"
An anonymous reader writes "FSF's John Sullivan launches the Defective by Design campaign and petition to rain on Steve's parade, barely minutes out of the starting gate. 'This is a huge step backward in the history of computing,' said FSF's Holmes Wilson, 'If the first personal computers required permission from the manufacturer for each new program or new feature, the history of computing would be as dismally totalitarian as the milieu in Apple's famous Super Bowl ad.' The iPad has DRM writ large: you can only install what Apple says you may, and 'computing' goes consumer mainstream — no more twiddling, just sit back, spend your money, and watch the show — while we allow you to." What is clear is that the rise of the App Store removes control of the computer from the user. It makes me wonder what the next generation of OS X will look like.
It'd be amusing to see a video of a Victorian orphanage/poorhouse full of ragamuffins each getting handed an iP*d. Then one looks up at the grizzled, warty man handing them out and says "Please, sir, may I have something different?"
Then he could either scowl and bellow "Different, not at Apple!" and clout the kid.
Or he could break into a gleaming, toothpaste-commercial smile and say "but of course" and hand the kid something from Asus or Marvell.
What has choice done? It's given us the chaos of spam, malware, worms etc...
The average consumer should get a locked down device such as what Apple are proposing, a limited device with a closed market. And you do realise this is really no different to a games console.
Full blown computers should be reserved for those of us who know how to manage them responsibly.
The only thing they should do, is ensure that the locked down devices and the apps on them use standard APIs and formats, so that those of us with full blown machines and the knowledge to use them can still easily communicate with the non technically literate.
Computers as they are today are simply too complex and difficult to manage for the average consumer, so you either give them something simple or you take the management out of their hands.
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Why on Earth would you list Beck and Palin and ignore Keith Olberman, Jon Stewart, and Rachel Maddow? Or even Barack Obama? Surely you can't believe that Palin has been the recipient of greater publicity than Obama, or that Beck is more extreme than Olberman.
As for the nerdy meat of your comment -- sometimes, I would prefer to have simple and limiting to complex and free. I don't *need* to have complete and total control over my phone, my music player, or a simple internet device. These are items that just need to work out of the box, be aesthetically pleasing, and do the job they are intended to do. That doesn't mean that I'm anti-Free Software, but that I don't want to use it for everything that I do.
I run ArchLinux on my primary PC, and love it. I alternate between KDE 4 and ScrotWM as window managers, depending on my mood and task. I also love my iPhone, which does 95%+ of what I want out-of-the-box. For that other 5%, jailbreaking is trivial and allows complete control.
Learn about Photography Basics.
The iPad has the most creative potential of any device I've seen. It's going to slowly eat Adobe's lunch. Can't wait.
No.
My addiction: Arguing with idiots. AKA Slashdot!
You wont to know why EVERY major business uses PCs?
Bucause they can do whatever the fuck they want.
Apple locking down is preventing them from competing with Microsoft.
My addiction: Arguing with idiots. AKA Slashdot!