

Apple's OS X: Why Mavericks is a move against the open web - grey-area
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/22/apples-os-x-why-mavericks-is-a-move-against-the-open-web

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easytiger
More importantly it exposes the patent hypocrisy of the apple marketing
strategy:

> "Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all
> open standards." [1]

They killed flash not just because of the technical issues but because it was
a rival to their all encompassing applications platform. So is the web, but
they know the web delivery mechanisms embodied by html5/css/js are not quite
there yet and now is the time to make a land grab for the areas it will occupy
in the next few years.

They don't want people accessing their Map infrastructure on non apple
devices. They have made a trade off that Google took the opposite view on.
Google decided to make money from the users making use of their maps and by
careful monetisation of that data. Apple have decided to make money from the
devices because that is what they have been doing to date... and attempting to
make the devices compelling enough to grow an expensive application
marketplace. The opposite to what is happening on Linux and Windows up to 7.
Microsoft will presumably try the same approach with Windows 8. (In fact to me
the windows 8 platform spread is if anything the same as Apple's errant
approach)

1 - [http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-
flash/](http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/)

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comex
Why should Apple be suddenly forced to abandon their platform and create their
apps on the web just because they connect to online services? Maps.app is a
great smooth, native experience. Google's new WebGL maps are equally smooth in
Chrome, which is impressive (the old ones didn't come close), but they're not
native, and they're not what Apple has so much expertise with.

(I'm not so sure about iBooks, though; while anyone not on one of Apple's
preferred Maps platforms can just use Google Maps, iBooks hold purchased
content hostage with DRM. This is why I don't use iBooks. On the other hand,
it's not like a "open web" app would be a good solution to this, since it
would be just as annoying as the app to anyone wanting to customize their
reading experience; getting rid of DRM would work better and make it pretty
much OK for Apple to ignore other platforms. Maybe someday...)

Note that Apple is working on iWork for iCloud, so it's not ignoring the web
entirely.

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lvturner
This article seems to make the assumption that a web browser and the open web
are the same thing.

Personally, I've always wished more sites would just publish raw data without
markup and allow me to determine how I read it, to me that's more open.

Really, if there's a sudden up-shot of apps on OS X for displaying 'web'
content, it could go either way - lock-in or a more data-centric, less markup
driven web. I'd welcome the latter, guess we'll have to wait and see.

~~~
easytiger
You mean everything should be RSS?

The popularity of sites like readability, pocket and several others show some
people agree with you. They strip the content down as though it was published
in a semantic markup and people (including me) see that as added value.

~~~
lvturner
No. Map data wouldn't be very useful in an RSS format :)

I mean more services and sites should provide APIs to provide access to the
DATA.

While twitter have somewhat recanted on this recently, the ability for anyone
to create a twitter client and use/display the data provided by twitter opened
up things far more than just using "open formats".

The key point is, that there's a difference between DATA and DISPLAY - and I
think this article missed that point.

However, it's concerns are valid

EDIT: Whoops - replied too fast, just saw your full comment after edit,
everything except the flat 'no' still stands :)

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icodestuff
What FUD. "Oh no, an application doesn't use the web! This must be an attack
on the open web!" What a crock. Hyperbolic click-bait. The article does not
fulfill the promises of the title, the byline is completely unsubstantiated,
and the author's conclusions, such as they are, are completely unfounded. At
most, the only correct points of the article are that A) Apple is attacking
Google by having a Maps desktop app, B) a desktop app can be a better
experience than a web app, and C) information may - and often more by design
rather than by technical limitation - flow less freely through native apps
than web apps.

From that to "Apple is making an attack on the open web, accelerating its
walled garden strategy..." is an illogical leap that someone trying push an
angle or sell ads could make.

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nzp
Exactly. There seems to exist a strange, crazy fetishization of the WWW, as if
it's by its nature unquestionably superior to other delivery methods. Even
morally superior in some sense (i.e. if you make a native application instead
of a web based one, you're a horrible, sinister person). It's just nonsense.

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k-mcgrady
So Apple is against the open web because they built a Maps app instead of a
maps website?? Maybe they did it like this because most stuff Apple does on
the web sucks? They have more expertise in building native software. And
maybe, just maybe, their customers prefer it.

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avdempsey
I bet an awful lot of the open web will be built on systems running Mavericks.
So there's that to consider too.

Our "trucks" need upgrading too. Making attractive trucks that have all of the
powers of creation you want (and a shameful caveat, without perfect secrecy)
seems like a boon to the open web to me.

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venomsnake
Right idea wrong arguments - Apple has always hated their users having
experiences they could not control. So the open web is indeed a threat for
them especially with browsers (sadly slowly) turning into universal runtimes
it could threaten their iOS model and they are pushing OsX into that direction
too. So in the long run expect as much tightening as they can get away with on
the browser front. "Think of the security" is the new "Think of the children".

But apple maps don't have a reason to be web site - there is google maps that
they could not match, so they are forced to go a different route.

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kilon
I tried to venture into web dev , being a desktop coder and frankly I came
back. Foremost most of the so called "web technologies" are just desktop
software which includes anything that goes inside your web browser. And to be
even more frank Web is against Web , a lot more than Desktop is against Web.
Web is a mess, why would Apple or any coder that takes design into serious
consideration be part of the web ? Its a big pile of mess that will take a
long time to be shorted out. I am macos user myself, an Apple fan, but I
prefer using cross platform open source tools (currently coding in Pharo) so
as a developer I don't care about Mavericks or anything that locks me to a
specific platform.

For everyone that is ready to tolerate the shit that hogs your computer
offering you no substantial improvement I will have to say go for it, I am
sure web development will be waiting with open arms. Desktop is not without
its kind of flaws, but lets say I am so glad I am not a pro coder so I don't
have to follow nonsense overhyped crap in the name of making a living.

Not having javascript or browsers forced down my throat is not a disadvantage
its actually a huge advantage. Ask me again when Web reaches the state Desktop
really is. If it does then I will be 100% behind it. But until then, open web
? Hell no !!!

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simonh
What utter rubbish. Apple have their own proprietary mapping data and are
exposing it through a Mac App. In what way is that anything to do with the
web?

In no time flat I can think of a handful of reasons why Apple has exposed
their mapping data through an app rather than a web site. Firstly they
probably can't expose it on the web even if they want to due to licensing
restrictions on the data they have sourced. I wouldn't mind betting they
signed for non-web rights. Secondly by having the data in an app on iOS and
OSX they can integrate the two via iCloud such as with shared pins, shared
routing info, etc. Finally if the mapping app is local, it can integrate
better with other local OSX apps such as iPhoto for displaying geo-tagged
photos.

Meanwhile, Apple releases a bunch of fully native web versions of their iWork
suite, because it makes sense to do so. Honestly, I expect much better than
this from the Guardian.

~~~
icodestuff
To be fair, there's no reason you couldn't share pins with a web app, as long
as you're logged into iCloud on the web. Of course, once you have the map kit
so iPhoto can display maps, well, why NOT make an app out of it?

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awhitty
Nothing about this article convinced me that "Mavericks is a move against the
open web". Instead, I'm pretty convinced the title is just as sensationalist
as the article linked at the bottom of the page: "Why did Apple name its
operating system after a lethal surf spot?"

That said, a Web-based Apple maps would be lovely. I'd like to point out two
things that make this whole article seem a little premature:

1\. Google Earth (a desktop app) preceded Google Maps

2\. Apple already had a lot of the code in place for a native maps app. I can
imagine porting the iOS app to the desktop is a pretty trivial task compared
to developing an entirely new Web-based solution.

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AlexanderDhoore
This article is basically about the fact that "APPS" are coming to the
desktop.

"APPS" are "applications". And before the internet, there were only "APPS"!

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grey-area
I'm not sure I entirely agree with the premise of this article or the narrow
focus on Mavericks, but thought it might trigger an interesting discussion on
where the line is drawn between web and native, and what the future holds for
these competing ecosystems.

I do think it raises an interesting question - will the web ultimately
supplant native apps, or do they still have something to offer consumers?

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vellum
This piece is just silly. No app on an OS with 7.5% market share is going to
threaten the open web. Also, when did Google Maps become open?

 _But if it pulls it off, it could lead to a rush of programs in the Mac App
store from other developers._

Let the gold rush begin!

