The iPhone has done more to liberate consumers in the mobile market than any phone before or since. It's not perfect, but the mobile landscape was radically different 3 years ago and much has changed for the better because of the iPhone's release. In fact it was so good that Google, RIM, Windows, etc. jumped on the bandwagon and decided to copy it.
Err Windows Mobile, Blackberry etc. never had restrictions on app developers. But now WP7 is going to have the same restrictions by following in Apple's footsteps. If anything, the iPhone has actually made it worse for the mobile market by your own logic.
Except Apple doesn't have anything close to a monopoly on anything. The critics of Microsoft had a point. The Apple critics are just whiners.
Don't they have something close to a monopoly on tablet computers now? Or iPods?
What about the scary scenario in which two companies (Apple and MS?) have 45+ market share each, do both of them get free passes to abuse developers and customers just because they're not a monopoly?
Only hardcore Apple fanbois can justify calling what is essentially a tablet computer a phone, just to justify the lockdown placed by Apple on it. I give up.
The difference is that most of Slashdot used to be united against MS but now it has basically split into two camps, Apple fans and FOSS fans. The Apple fans railed on MS and appeared to side with FOSS. not because they loved freedom, but because they loved Apple and MS was enemy number one. And the Apple fans have a lot of mod points and use them indiscriminately in the discussions both to mod up positive comments about Apple and to mod down any criticisms(legit or not) about Apple. This shows in every Apple story.
Ignoring the fact that we're entering an era of mobile computers, iOS 4 runs on the iPad too. Is that a phone too by your twisted logic?
Guess you didn't even make it to the second sentence of the summary...
From the original press release:
"iPhone OS 4 will be available as a software update to iPhone and iPod touch users this summer. A version of iPhone OS 4 will be coming to iPad this Fall."
So, talking about the iPad in this discussion about iOS is perfectly justified.
That, of course, is despite the fact that they make excellent products that are popular which are also forcing other companies to adapt and evolve (seriously, look at the (smart)phone landscape before the iPhone and compare it to after the iPhone)
You mean like how MS is now following in their footsteps by DRM'in the hell out of Windows Phone 7 Series (Unlike Windows mobile 6.5 and less which were open) ? If that is the impact that Apple is having on other companies, I would rather not have that.
Read on - I'm sure someone is, right this moment, comment on how we all used to hate on Microsoft but Apple is now worse than they ever were while someone else is bitching about Apple's walled garden approach.
Aren't both of them true? Almost everyone here united to rail against MS, but now Slashdot has broadly split into two camps, the Apple fanboys and the freedom lovers. The fanboys used to hate on MS because they loved Apple, not because they truly loved freedom. Now that distinction in falling apart with the recent moves by Apple.
It's funny to see how Slashdot was was railing against MS about Trusted Computing, DRM and Palladium. Now Apple implements them in a shiny box and not only there's not a peep about the DRM in the iDevices but many Slashdot posters fawn all over and write long justifications about how it is good. I guess Trusted Computing was meant to come wrapped in a pretty box for the masses to not notice it. Now even MS is following in the same footsteps with Windows Phone 7 Series. Sad.
Got 4 +1 insightful, 3 -1 Flamebait and 2 -1 Troll for that post.
So all the railing against DRM, Palladium and Trusted Computing in the years past was just anti-MS fluff. When Apple does it, it's not only okay but the best thing ever and any comments pointing out the flaws must be beaten down and taught a less. Not just that, but Apple can do nothing wrong, People write long justifications even when it's banning competition like Admob. Sad to see Slashdot descend into a Apple fanboy site.
If you are extremely worried about this, just put your device into "airplane mode" before putting it to sleep. It won't try to talk to anything at all.
Won't that kill phone calls too? People might not get many phone calls at night, but the whole point of a phone is to alert people in cases of rare but important emergencies.
Mozilla corporation seems to be pretty badly run. They solicited donations for the NYT ad(some of my poor college friends scraped together money for it) while overpaying the CEO($500K per year)! The management was supposed to find different ways of getting funding but Mozilla is still dependent totally on Google(which competes with it's own rival browser). Mozilla made $66 million in revenue just in 2006 while development was largely done by unpaid volunteers.
In the meantime, Firefox was quite bloated, crash prone and lost the speed race to Chrome, Thunderbird stagnated and nothing really innovative or useful came out of Mozilla labs. Ubuntu will probably switch to Chromium and Firefox will start losing search revenue. . Probably the only thing going for Firefox are extensions(Chrome supports extensions now) and proper Adblock. Things are so bad that the CEO is planning to step down
Sad to see one of the epitomes of FOSS go down in flames like this.
What boggles the mind is why can't they pay a few more bucks to the people working in Foxconn(who are jumping off buildings) who actually make these iDevices?
Because Apple isn't responsible for the salaries of Foxconn employees? And why do you single out Apple in contrast to the dozens of other huge companies that contract with Foxconn like Microsoft, Logitech, Intel, Cisco, Dell, Nokia, HP, or Sony?
This story is about Apple, and it's known that Apple has the highest margins by a big lot among all the companies that you have listed.
Looks like Apple is looking to dominate the entire vertical space from the silicon in the chip and selling directly to consumers with Apple stores along with all the software that consumers buy. And it wants a cut of everything:
1. Hardware of the iDevices 2. Monthly kickback from AT&T on iPhone users monthly fees. (This is the real reason for exclusivity to shitty AT&T, Apple is just too greedy) 3. A forced 30% cut of all software sales for the iDevices. 4. And now a 40% cut of ad sales in Apps(while conveniently banning Admob).
Looks like Apple is leaving no stone unturned to make money hand over fist and is rolling in billions of cash. What boggles the mind is why can't they pay a few more bucks to the people working in Foxconn(who are jumping off buildings) who actually make these iDevices? Couldn't hurt Apple's bottomline really that much, can it?
Current jailbreak techniques now in widespread use utilize unauthorized modifications to the copyrighted bootloader and OS, resulting in infringement of the copyrights in those programs. For example, the current most popular jailbreaking software for the iPhone, PwnageTool (cited by EFF in its submission), causes a modified bootloader and OS to be installed in the iPhone, resulting in infringement of Apple’s reproduction and derivative works rights. Specifically, in the spring of 2008, hackers were able to determine how to circumvent the secure ROM in the iPhone and falsely sign the bootloader. Using such knowledge, a falsely signed modified version of Apple’s bootloader was created that will fool the secure ROM into loading it, thereby circumventing the TPM implemented by the secure ROM. PwnageTool directly modifies a copy of the bootloader and loads it onto the iPhone. The modified bootloader is configured so that it does not perform the authentication check of the OS, and it therefore loads a modified version of Apple’s OS that is not signed, thereby circumventing the TPM implemented by the bootloader. The modified OS, in turn, is configured so that it does not perform authentication checks on application programs loaded onto the iPhone, thereby jailbreaking the device. In sum, PwnageTool circumvents every link of Apple’s “chain of trust” TPMs in the iPhone. More generally, as the EFF submission admits, “decryption and modification of the iPhone firmware appears to be necessary for any jailbreak technique to succeed on a persistent basis.”32 Jailbreaking therefore involves infringing uses of the bootloader and OS, the copyrighted works that are protected by the TPMs being circumvented. Unauthorized derivative versions of the bootloader and OS have been created. Copies of those infringing works have been stored on web sites, and infringing reproductions of those works are created each time they are downloaded through Pwnage Tool and loaded onto the iPhone.33 In addition, as discussed in Section II.B.2 above, the jailbroken OS enables pirated copies of Apple copyrighted content and other third party content such as games and applications to play on the iPhone, resulting in further infringing uses of copyrighted works and diminished incentive to create those works in the first place. In sum, the jailbreaking of the iPhone that would be permitted by the proposed Class #1 exemption in 5A and 11A would result in infringing uses of copyrighted works. It would involve the creation, distribution, and copying of unauthorized modified versions of the bootloader and OS, and it would facilitate and encourage the making, distribution, and use of infringing copies of copyrighted material such as games and applications, owned by both Apple and third parties, that run only on jailbroken phones. The proposed exemption therefore does not satisfy the fundamental prerequisite of the statute that it aid “noninfringing uses” of copyrighted works and should be rejected. The infringing uses of copyrighted works that result from jailbreaking distinguish the proposed Class #1 exemption in 5A and 11A from that of the 2006 exemption for circumvention of firmware in a wireless telephone handset in order to connect to a wireless telephone communication network.34 With respect to that exemption, the Librarian of Congress found in 2006 that the reason the four statutory factors “appear[] to be neutral is that in this case, the access controls do not appear to actual
Not to mention the iDevices are all about the exact same DRM(only allowing trusted apps to run) and Trusted Computing that everyone here was railing about a few years ago. But once it's wrapped in a shiny package, there are legions of supporters who leave no end justifying these practices. Instead we had a great brouhaha about DRM in Vista which doesn't really stop a user from installing or playing back any other content.
The issue is that the bad guys reverse engineer the patches as they come and then they target the unpatched systems immediately. Hence it's better to release the patch es as a bundle on a single day.
It is still wrong and is bullshit. It's like Microsoft banning iTunes on Windows 7 because it can relay Windows users usage patterns to Apple which it can use to improve OS X to compete with Windows. What utter bullcrap.
Because I they learned with the Fring iPad discovery, analytics could provide their mobile phone competitors with information that helps them compete with Apple/iPhone. Things like: - New prototype devices/features - How much time iPhone users spend doing X, Y, and Z - Where iPhone users use their phones the most - What features iPhone users like the most This can help Google/Microsoft replicate the most compelling features and tailor the devices to the usage of iPhone customers. Why should Apple allow this information to go to a competitor?
Why are the super secret prototypes running ad-laden Apps in the first place? Looks like Apple messed up. Even websites that prototype users browse can gather this information(IP Address, Screen resolution, etc). I guess you will even support Apple banning websites that do analytics from the iDevices.
They ban being required to put the stickers on while they are building the cars. And they REFUSE to let anyone else use their name. Bastards!
Err, I think you have the workflow messed up. The user downloads an App after he buys the phone, which shows ads(for various other things, not for Google services, ads are sold through ad services). If user doesn't install an App that shows ads, no ads are seen. Period.
Also, when you start your car, you can't have a third party add-on take over your display to sell Ford ads. Unbelievable!
Err why not? Can't you install a DVD player in your Toyota which plays a DVD showing ads for Ford?
Slashdot Mirror
And the other 80% of the cellphone market that uses subscription crapware I can only get through the telco is different how?
Erm, what about Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile? You don't need to go through the telco for them.
I guess since I can make a call on my laptop then that makes it a phone?
According to the twisted logic of your fellow fanboys, yes. See http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1693064&cid=32641450
The iPhone has done more to liberate consumers in the mobile market than any phone before or since. It's not perfect, but the mobile landscape was radically different 3 years ago and much has changed for the better because of the iPhone's release. In fact it was so good that Google, RIM, Windows, etc. jumped on the bandwagon and decided to copy it.
Err Windows Mobile, Blackberry etc. never had restrictions on app developers. But now WP7 is going to have the same restrictions by following in Apple's footsteps. If anything, the iPhone has actually made it worse for the mobile market by your own logic.
Except Apple doesn't have anything close to a monopoly on anything. The critics of Microsoft had a point. The Apple critics are just whiners.
Don't they have something close to a monopoly on tablet computers now? Or iPods?
What about the scary scenario in which two companies (Apple and MS?) have 45+ market share each, do both of them get free passes to abuse developers and customers just because they're not a monopoly?
Only hardcore Apple fanbois can justify calling what is essentially a tablet computer a phone, just to justify the lockdown placed by Apple on it. I give up.
The difference is that most of Slashdot used to be united against MS but now it has basically split into two camps, Apple fans and FOSS fans. The Apple fans railed on MS and appeared to side with FOSS. not because they loved freedom, but because they loved Apple and MS was enemy number one. And the Apple fans have a lot of mod points and use them indiscriminately in the discussions both to mod up positive comments about Apple and to mod down any criticisms(legit or not) about Apple. This shows in every Apple story.
Ignoring the fact that we're entering an era of mobile computers, iOS 4 runs on the iPad too. Is that a phone too by your twisted logic?
Guess you didn't even make it to the second sentence of the summary...
From the original press release:
"iPhone OS 4 will be available as a software update to iPhone and iPod touch users this summer. A version of iPhone OS 4 will be coming to iPad this Fall."
So, talking about the iPad in this discussion about iOS is perfectly justified.
That, of course, is despite the fact that they make excellent products that are popular which are also forcing other companies to adapt and evolve (seriously, look at the (smart)phone landscape before the iPhone and compare it to after the iPhone)
You mean like how MS is now following in their footsteps by DRM'in the hell out of Windows Phone 7 Series (Unlike Windows mobile 6.5 and less which were open) ? If that is the impact that Apple is having on other companies, I would rather not have that.
Read on - I'm sure someone is, right this moment, comment on how we all used to hate on Microsoft but Apple is now worse than they ever were while someone else is bitching about Apple's walled garden approach.
Aren't both of them true? Almost everyone here united to rail against MS, but now Slashdot has broadly split into two camps, the Apple fanboys and the freedom lovers. The fanboys used to hate on MS because they loved Apple, not because they truly loved freedom. Now that distinction in falling apart with the recent moves by Apple.
Ignoring the fact that we're entering an era of mobile computers, iOS 4 runs on the iPad too. Is that a phone too by your twisted logic?
It's funny to see how Slashdot was was railing against MS about Trusted Computing, DRM and Palladium. Now Apple implements them in a shiny box and not only there's not a peep about the DRM in the iDevices but many Slashdot posters fawn all over and write long justifications about how it is good. I guess Trusted Computing was meant to come wrapped in a pretty box for the masses to not notice it. Now even MS is following in the same footsteps with Windows Phone 7 Series. Sad.
Voices of sanity are being drowned here on Slashdot due to the Apple fanboy moderators winning out against the regular folks.
Speak up against Apple and be modded Troll or Flamebait. Happened to me yesterday when I questioned Apple's practices. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1689760&cid=32604544
Got 4 +1 insightful, 3 -1 Flamebait and 2 -1 Troll for that post.
So all the railing against DRM, Palladium and Trusted Computing in the years past was just anti-MS fluff. When Apple does it, it's not only okay but the best thing ever and any comments pointing out the flaws must be beaten down and taught a less. Not just that, but Apple can do nothing wrong, People write long justifications even when it's banning competition like Admob. Sad to see Slashdot descend into a Apple fanboy site.
If you are extremely worried about this, just put your device into "airplane mode" before putting it to sleep. It won't try to talk to anything at all.
Won't that kill phone calls too? People might not get many phone calls at night, but the whole point of a phone is to alert people in cases of rare but important emergencies.
Mozilla corporation seems to be pretty badly run. They solicited donations for the NYT ad(some of my poor college friends scraped together money for it) while overpaying the CEO($500K per year)! The management was supposed to find different ways of getting funding but Mozilla is still dependent totally on Google(which competes with it's own rival browser). Mozilla made $66 million in revenue just in 2006 while development was largely done by unpaid volunteers.
In the meantime, Firefox was quite bloated, crash prone and lost the speed race to Chrome, Thunderbird stagnated and nothing really innovative or useful came out of Mozilla labs. Ubuntu will probably switch to Chromium and Firefox will start losing search revenue. . Probably the only thing going for Firefox are extensions(Chrome supports extensions now) and proper Adblock. Things are so bad that the CEO is planning to step down
Sad to see one of the epitomes of FOSS go down in flames like this.
What boggles the mind is why can't they pay a few more bucks to the people working in Foxconn(who are jumping off buildings) who actually make these iDevices?
Because Apple isn't responsible for the salaries of Foxconn employees? And why do you single out Apple in contrast to the dozens of other huge companies that contract with Foxconn like Microsoft, Logitech, Intel, Cisco, Dell, Nokia, HP, or Sony?
This story is about Apple, and it's known that Apple has the highest margins by a big lot among all the companies that you have listed.
Looks like Apple is looking to dominate the entire vertical space from the silicon in the chip and selling directly to consumers with Apple stores along with all the software that consumers buy. And it wants a cut of everything:
1. Hardware of the iDevices
2. Monthly kickback from AT&T on iPhone users monthly fees. (This is the real reason for exclusivity to shitty AT&T, Apple is just too greedy)
3. A forced 30% cut of all software sales for the iDevices.
4. And now a 40% cut of ad sales in Apps(while conveniently banning Admob).
Looks like Apple is leaving no stone unturned to make money hand over fist and is rolling in billions of cash. What boggles the mind is why can't they pay a few more bucks to the people working in Foxconn(who are jumping off buildings) who actually make these iDevices? Couldn't hurt Apple's bottomline really that much, can it?
Name one person who ever got in any trouble from Jailbreaking a phone.
That doesn't mean it's not illegal.
Apple may have stated the consider it illegal but millions do it anyway, and the courts do NOT consider it illegal. .
How do you know the courts do not consider it illegal?
Yes. Jailbreak your iPhone and download it from someone else. Neither act is illegal.
Wrong.
This is Apple's response to EFF's request for an exemption for jailbreaking to the Copyright office:
http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2008/responses/apple-inc-31.pdf
Some excerpts:
Current jailbreak techniques now in widespread use utilize unauthorized modifications to
the copyrighted bootloader and OS, resulting in infringement of the copyrights in those
programs. For example, the current most popular jailbreaking software for the iPhone,
PwnageTool (cited by EFF in its submission), causes a modified bootloader and OS to be
installed in the iPhone, resulting in infringement of Apple’s reproduction and derivative works
rights. Specifically, in the spring of 2008, hackers were able to determine how to circumvent the
secure ROM in the iPhone and falsely sign the bootloader. Using such knowledge, a falsely
signed modified version of Apple’s bootloader was created that will fool the secure ROM into
loading it, thereby circumventing the TPM implemented by the secure ROM. PwnageTool
directly modifies a copy of the bootloader and loads it onto the iPhone. The modified bootloader
is configured so that it does not perform the authentication check of the OS, and it therefore
loads a modified version of Apple’s OS that is not signed, thereby circumventing the TPM
implemented by the bootloader. The modified OS, in turn, is configured so that it does not
perform authentication checks on application programs loaded onto the iPhone, thereby
jailbreaking the device. In sum, PwnageTool circumvents every link of Apple’s “chain of trust”
TPMs in the iPhone. More generally, as the EFF submission admits, “decryption and
modification of the iPhone firmware appears to be necessary for any jailbreak technique to
succeed on a persistent basis.”32
Jailbreaking therefore involves infringing uses of the bootloader and OS, the copyrighted
works that are protected by the TPMs being circumvented. Unauthorized derivative versions of
the bootloader and OS have been created. Copies of those infringing works have been stored on
web sites, and infringing reproductions of those works are created each time they are
downloaded through Pwnage Tool and loaded onto the iPhone.33 In addition, as discussed in
Section II.B.2 above, the jailbroken OS enables pirated copies of Apple copyrighted content and
other third party content such as games and applications to play on the iPhone, resulting in
further infringing uses of copyrighted works and diminished incentive to create those works in
the first place.
In sum, the jailbreaking of the iPhone that would be permitted by the proposed Class #1
exemption in 5A and 11A would result in infringing uses of copyrighted works. It would
involve the creation, distribution, and copying of unauthorized modified versions of the
bootloader and OS, and it would facilitate and encourage the making, distribution, and use of
infringing copies of copyrighted material such as games and applications, owned by both Apple
and third parties, that run only on jailbroken phones. The proposed exemption therefore does not
satisfy the fundamental prerequisite of the statute that it aid “noninfringing uses” of copyrighted
works and should be rejected.
The infringing uses of copyrighted works that result from jailbreaking distinguish the
proposed Class #1 exemption in 5A and 11A from that of the 2006 exemption for circumvention
of firmware in a wireless telephone handset in order to connect to a wireless telephone
communication network.34 With respect to that exemption, the Librarian of Congress found in
2006 that the reason the four statutory factors “appear[] to be neutral is that in this case, the
access controls do not appear to actual
Apple considers jailbreaking highly illegal.
It's the question of gaming console vs. mobille computers.
The problem is that it's the only grocer in the town for the iDevice users. And Apple considers it illegal to try to shop at other groceries.
Not to mention the iDevices are all about the exact same DRM(only allowing trusted apps to run) and Trusted Computing that everyone here was railing about a few years ago. But once it's wrapped in a shiny package, there are legions of supporters who leave no end justifying these practices. Instead we had a great brouhaha about DRM in Vista which doesn't really stop a user from installing or playing back any other content.
Any patch(for any software) can be reverse engineered to get to the exploit. Your post shows your ignorance in your hurry to bash MS.
The issue is that the bad guys reverse engineer the patches as they come and then they target the unpatched systems immediately. Hence it's better to release the patch es as a bundle on a single day.
It is still wrong and is bullshit. It's like Microsoft banning iTunes on Windows 7 because it can relay Windows users usage patterns to Apple which it can use to improve OS X to compete with Windows. What utter bullcrap.
Because I they learned with the Fring iPad discovery, analytics could provide their mobile phone competitors with information that helps them compete with Apple/iPhone. Things like:
- New prototype devices/features
- How much time iPhone users spend doing X, Y, and Z
- Where iPhone users use their phones the most
- What features iPhone users like the most
This can help Google/Microsoft replicate the most compelling features and tailor the devices to the usage of iPhone customers. Why should Apple allow this information to go to a competitor?
Why are the super secret prototypes running ad-laden Apps in the first place? Looks like Apple messed up. Even websites that prototype users browse can gather this information(IP Address, Screen resolution, etc). I guess you will even support Apple banning websites that do analytics from the iDevices.
They ban being required to put the stickers on while they are building the cars. And they REFUSE to let anyone else use their name. Bastards!
Err, I think you have the workflow messed up. The user downloads an App after he buys the phone, which shows ads(for various other things, not for Google services, ads are sold through ad services). If user doesn't install an App that shows ads, no ads are seen. Period.
Also, when you start your car, you can't have a third party add-on take over your display to sell Ford ads. Unbelievable!
Err why not? Can't you install a DVD player in your Toyota which plays a DVD showing ads for Ford?