Have Walled Gardens Killed the Personal Computer?

theodp writes "Harvard Law School Prof Jonathan Zittrain explains in The Personal Computer is Dead why you should be afraid — very afraid — of the snowballing replicability of the App Store Model. 'If we allow ourselves to be lulled into satisfaction with walled gardens,' warns Zittrain, 'we'll miss out on innovations to which the gardeners object, and we'll set ourselves up for censorship of code and content that was previously impossible. We need some angry nerds.' Searchblog's John Battelle, who's also solidly in the tear-down-this-walled-garden camp, adds: 'I'm not a nerd, quite, but I'm sure angry.'"

Comments

Angry Nerds

[Anonymous Coward]

No way, Angry Nerds will not be in the App Store!

Re:Angry Nerds

[amnesia_tc]

Angry Words from Angry Nerds.

So what?

[Anonymous Coward]

I haven't RTFA, but the instant question is: So what?

As long as a device solves a problem to the user, that's what the device should restrain itself to do.. General use PCs have proven to become virus/worms/problem infested in the hands of "normal" users..

There will always be general use pc's for those who are willing and have to skills to handle them responsibly..

I for one welcome this new era when tech support nightmares get reduced to a minimum..

Re:So what?

[impaledsunset]

Getting out of the cave a few times a week to hunt is enough to sustain myself. My cave and my stone weapons solve a problem to me, so why care about anything else? If ain't broken, don't fix it.

Re:So what?

[Anonymous Coward]

> General use PCs have proven to become virus/worms/problem infested in the hands of "normal" users..

This. Normal users have lived with the crapware infested mess that is "general PCs" for years, and they HATE IT. They want something better, and walled gardens are that thing. That's why the PC is on the road to becoming a niche platform. PC sales are *declining* in the US, Canada, and Western Europe.

More and more my friends, mostly younger people 18-25, aren't bothering to replace their PCs when they die. They find that a combination of an iPad, iPhone, and a PS3 meets all their needs much better than the "jack of all trades, master of none" PC did. The iPhone is always with them, so they are always connected. The iPad is with them in classes and at home, sometimes elsewhere. The PS3 for gaming of course, to avoid the annoying mess that is PC gaming.

The post-PC world is coming, and it's because people WANT it. Because PCs are too complex for most people to want to deal with, and a range of consumer-friendly devices meets their needs better. That's where the market is being driven, and for good reason.

Re:So what?

[pushing-robot]

There will always be general use pc's for those who are willing and have to skills to handle them responsibly..

Sorry, but this is Slashdot, where we have to see the world in absolutes. Despite antitrust and consumer protection laws, soon *every* device will be made by [Apple|Google|Microsoft] and the entire world will be subject to that company's terrible machinations. Everyone who purchases one of those companies' products is immanentizing this monoculture eschaton, thus we are justified in hating these people for their part in curtailing our future personal freedoms.

Also, all restaurants will be Taco Bell.

Re:So what?

[drx]

And today people think that you're a hacker if you look at Google's second search result page.
This shouldn't have happened.

Re:So what?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have no idea why you got modded up so high but the points you make are sure as hell ridiculous. Theres so many uses for PCs, can you do photoshop on an iPhone, No? wonder why.. Can you code on an iPhone? No? wonder why.. The PC isn't going anywhere buddy, these people predicted the death of the TV because people watch moves on their phones, simply NOT true, and retarded at the same time.

Re:So what?

[TheLongshot]

Funny that to replace one device, you need to have three.

There are a couple of reasons why I don't think PCs are going away: keyboards and fact that the vast majority of web sites are not optimized for touch screen. Fact is, typing in anything on any of these devices is a pain in the ass. I hate using touchscreen keyboards and I've hated the trend of going away from built in keyboards. Yes, there are bluetooth keyboards, but it isn't always practical to carry those around with you.

As for web sites, while most are usable, most are also designed to be used with a full PC, not a hacked down browser of many of these machines.

Re:So what?

[Graymalkin]

Wow Apple killed Stanza? You better tell that to my copy of Stanza for which I get regular updates. Better yet, maybe you should shut the fuck up if you're not going to fact check things you say.

Several years ago Stanza had a problem because used an unsupported interface in order to load books onto it from the computer. Apple then added an API to allow apps to transfer files from iTunes. Stanza adopted this API and has since had no problems.

Your conjecture about B&N and Kindle doesn't even fucking make sense since Apple has their own eBook store. You're just talking out of your ass. I suspect maybe you've suffered from some sort of severe head trauma recently. You should maybe head to the nearest hospital and get that checked out. You wouldn't want permanent brain damage to occur.

Re:So what?

[caseih]

Curious about this I just did a quick google search and confirmed that indeed, Stanza is not getting regular updates. Amazon said that the latest update from last month or so is the last one. Stanza is finished. And it already is broken on iOS 4.3. You can read about this on the forums. Stanza will keep working for iOS 5 for the foreseeable future, but it's certainly not being developed further. Instead Amazon is pushing the Kindle app.

Re:So what?

[morari]

Fact is, most people don't need a keyboard 98% of the time, because they aren't entering information, they are consuming it.

Isn't that the problem? These corporation want to turn the internet into just another passive experience, like television or radio. All of the iTards out there are happy to go along with it, because as "creative" as they think they are, they're really just consumers with a credit line. Walled gardens stifle innovation by removing the power to creative from the hands of the individual and placing it solely in the palms of a select few groups. That's bad for everyone, whether they're willing to acknowledge it or not.

Re:So what?

[BasilBrush]

If walled gardens completely take over then all entertainment software / content will be developed by a small cliche of companies and you will have to accept what ever they decide to produce.

The reality contradicts your theory. There are 121,000 companies and individuals with apps published on the iPhone App Store.

Re:So what?

[Anthony Mouse]

It isn't about every user being able to write software. That is never going to happen. What it's about is the ability of the millions of independent developers to give users software the gatekeepers don't approve. If there are billions of people with Windows 7 or Snow Leopard or Ubuntu, I can write a piece of software and sell it or give it away to those users and there isn't anything Microsoft, Apple or Canonical can do to stop me.

If those users have to jailbreak their computers before they can install my software, and they don't know how to do that, I'm now beholden to the troll under the bridge into the walled garden. No apps that compete with iTunes. No apps that "ridicule public figures." No apps that help dissidents unless Apple is willing to give up China.

Pardon my French, but fuck that shit.

Well duh.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is why we have free software and open source software.

So that we're not bound by the whims of some business model.

Re:Well duh.

[Lonewolf666]

Free and open source does not mean that the author has to offer the software on the platform of your choice. In the case of open source it does mean that you can take and redistribute the software yourself.

If the TOS of the platform (for instance Apple's) get in the way, that is the fault of the platform.

In short, if you want free software, avoid un-free platforms ;-)

Re:Frameworks

[InsightIn140Bytes]

You're still free to use any other framework or do your own. Hell, if we make that argument then Linux would be walled garden too. But in both cases you are still free to do what you want, if you want. In true walled garden (like iOS) you are not.

I'm happy with the walled garden

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm developing an innovative synthesis program for the iPad. I wouldn't be doing this without the walled garden. I'm happy with the distributions system, the quality control rules, and the closed development environment. If the system cuts down on piracy a bit, that's also a plus.

Walls can easily be broken. The jailbreaking community is alive and well. So as far as I'm concerned, it's the best of both worlds and the op ed is a lot of FUD.

The major reason why apple store is public enemy i

[unity100]

this term in their tos :

They can't license their work as Free Software, because those license terms conflict with Apple's.

such ecosystems can legally and single handedly kill free software.

the consumer has changed

[sl4shd0rk]

The PC is not dead its just that common end users are driving up the shut-up-and-take-my-money model. the PC will end up being left to the geeks again which is probably the same small percentage of people (compared to the entire pc market space right now) it was back in the late 80s. the only reason common end users bought pcs was to get on the internet. they have other ways to do that now without having to learn anything. internet access has acheived the easiness of the VCR and thats what most people want who are not geeks.

Re:the consumer has changed

[Anonymous Coward]

The PC isn't dead... but it's dying the death of a thousand cuts.

The internet, trusted computing (DRM) and locked down devices has allowed Apple a degree of control that most corporations would dampen their knickers over. With Intel being a kingpin in this Orwellian wet dream - back in the late 90s... I heard an Intel engineer giving a speech about how the next frontier in security was about keeping owners from controlling their own devices - aka TPMs) - with the support of governments and content companies. All the pieces are dropping into place.

It's a perfect storm of control, surveillance and profit. And you can thank Apple for blazing the trail.

In another couple of years we'll be looking back the Microsoft Windows PC era with fondness. Remember when you could....

a few arguments

[Anonymous Coward]

- "open gardens" have caused far more trouble then the enemies of walled gardens care to admit. And i'm not talking about trojans, virii, rootkits or whatever. Just the HUGE mess they allowed to be made in terms of API and backwards compatibility. Fuck that shit. If walled gardens can keep things "just working", well there is a BIG pro argument you're ignoring.
- web apps are still around. I don't think apple will kill mobile safari any time soon. So there. Here's your open garden you can play in and make a big fucking mess off. Now leave the people who want to GetThingsDone alone please with your whining. Go play and shut up.
- hack your fucking phone if you really want to break things and bother tons of people with software that relies on dependencies that are no longer supported. But then don't start complaining how apple broke your app.
- DONT BUY IT. If you're having such a monumental issue with walled gardens, stop buying stuff from them. But oohhhh shiny steam app... must buy... and all those achievements... ohhh... must have... and those hats... groovy... and the whole fucking world needs to see my status update. But facebook sucks ! That's right. It sucks and still you want to have it. For free.

goddamd kids...

Re:Frameworks

[osu-neko]

Not really. I don't need to jailbreak my PC to run software created with a different framework, nor do I have trouble running different apps created with different frameworks at the same time.

Re:Frameworks

[hairyfeet]

I can't believe i have to spell this out and why so many bloggers think the sky is falling i have NO clue, except maybe just whoring for page views.The iShiny is a niche folks. sure it makes apple a metric fuckton of cash and makes too many developers drool at the thought of iMoney because Apple users will happily shell out real money for things Windows and Linux users wouldn't give a cent for, but its still a niche.

As someone in retail I can tell you there are TWO reasons why the iShiny is growing like crazy while the PC is so much lower and NEITHER have to do with the death or birth of anything. 1.- The iShiny simply hasn't existed very long so those that want one may not have gotten one yet. Look at how PC sales went nuts when they first became affordable, hell stores were going through units as fast as they could get them in the store.

And the most important reason 2.- The PC is mature technology and for the vast majority of the masses has been "good enough" for several years now. Even a 5 year old laptop or desktop is frankly INSANELY overpowered for what the vast majority do with a personal computer and everybody and their dog and their dog's squeaky toy has one if not several. In just my own family we have a single core laptop, dual core laptop, a dual core netbook, and no less than FIVE desktops ranging from a 3GHz Celeron for my mom all the way up to my quad. With all the units going through the shop I could frankly add another desktop or 3 without even blinking but what the fuck would i do with them? hell I'm typing this on a 1.8GHz Sempron I keep as a nettop and downloader box. This thing is circa 2003 but you know what? for the web and downloading it is quite peppy, even plays SD flash without a complaint.

So let these guys get their panties in a wad, it isn't like Windows PCs and Linux servers are going anywhere. Ballmer will put out his abomination called Windows 8 Dumbass Edition and finally get a big fat pink slip for Xmas next year, Apple could frankly put a brick in a box and still get lines around the street thanks to branding, but what is to be afraid of? The iPad? While I've met a few people that have actually forced themselves to use it constantly just to justify the money they spent the rest I've seen basically treat it as a really expensive portable video player, Mobile Phones? They are disposable razors. Folks get a new one with contract and shitcan the previous one, everyone i know has drawers full of the things. Sure they'll spend a dollar on a fart app or some shit but other than Angry Birds there hasn't been anything worth talking about.

But I hate to break the news to this guy but at the end of the day, when it comes to actually wanting to get something done? Everyone plops down in front of their desktop or laptop and breaks out an assload of software. Everybody and their cat has frankly mountains of the stuff, from some stupid app that came with their camera they really love to Quickbooks/Quicken to a bazillion other free and pay things they have collected over the years like so much belly button lint. What are they gonna do, give everyone a free copy of every app they own? try to force them all to go buy it all over again? yeah they tried that shit with the lousy backwards compatibility of Vista and I spent a year and a half wiping the damned thing off computers for XP.

TL:DR? Appstores are a niche market for a niche product, that is all. Sure they make good money but that is ONLY because they are a NEW market and once the shiny wears off and those that want one have one the bottom will crash and crash HARD. Don't forget there was a time not too long ago when much of the same things being said about the iShiny was said about the Palm Pilot, like how it would replace everything and rule the world. Where is it now?