

Would you buy a laptop locked down like the iPad? - mithaler
http://perpetualstudent.net/blog/2010/04/03/apple-locked-down-lapto/

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astrodust
The question is not "would you buy" but "would people buy" and the answer to
that is undeniably YES.

You can argue this is not a good thing, as Cory Doctorow has at least tried
to, but the argument comes across as tired and pointless. It's the ramblings
of an "old man" (measured in internet years of course) who, had he been born a
hundred years ago, would probably have been railing against car companies for
removing the hand-start crank.

People don't want computers. They don't want notebooks. They don't want
compilers or user serviceable parts.

What they do want is Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and all the other things you
can only do, for the most part, with computers and notebooks. The sooner some
device delivers an alternative that's easier to use, more reliable, and less
fuss in the long run, the sooner people will switch to that new thing.

~~~
lazugod
I'd like to think that the future will not always be Facebook, YouTube, and
Twitter.

~~~
blasdel
Of course not, but the future will continue to be visited primarily using a
web browser.

~~~
krainboltgreene
God I hope not. I hope some day I wont have to use HTML, CSS, Javascript, and
a serverside language just to write an app.

I'd like to just use one language and hit all platforms.

~~~
blasdel
You don't necessarily have to touch the markup directly, your app can
essentially be pure JS (or compiled to pure JS) that paints it all into the
DOM dynamically (see <http://cappuccino.org/>)

You don't need a server-side language if the app doesn't _really_ need to
communicate with your server. You can do everything client-side with
LocalStorage (SQLite) and cached assets. If the page has the right metadata on
it, "Add to Home Screen" saves the whole app locally.

And there's no reason why the server, if it needs to exist, shouldn't be
executing the same language (see <http://nodejs.org/>)

The modern web is _the_ platform. There are nice local platforms, but your
"write once run anywhere" 'native' app isn't going to fit in on any platform
that actually gets used.

~~~
krainboltgreene
I don't want to use Javascript. I want to use to be able to use _any_ language
to write web applications. Any _one_ language. :/

I think we're really choking ourselves as hackers if we let Browsers either
end up as completely JS or the hacked together combination of (poorly
enforced) HTML, (ugly syntax) CSS, and Javascript

~~~
mooism2
Well, that's easy: just write a compiler for your favourite language that
outputs javascript (plus glue to integrate with jQuery/MooTools/whatever).

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prodigal_erik
I descend from hundreds of generations of intelligent beings who conquered the
world using tools they could understand and improve. I refuse to have some
vendor demote me to a lesser species, no matter how shiny the beads are.

------
chaostheory
Years ago there was a time when I used to be a big MS Windows fanboy. It
wasn't perfect, but it was the best combination of everything that worked
right at the time... The frequent blue screens, freezes, and constant virus &
trojan cleaning was getting old, but Windows was still doable overall. Then
something MS did, totally pissed me off enough to start trying desktop
alternatives: MS started to ensure that Windows could only be installed a
certain number of times for a particular machine that had a specific set of
components. So if you changed enough of your components for the same licensed
machine, Windows might think it was a different computer which was a big no
no. Given that you had to have a clean install of Windows every x number of
months, I just got fed up. It was the tipping point. I then started going
through various distros of Linux and eventually happily landing on OSX.

For me, like the blue screens and the viruses, I see this as a possible
beginning of enough frustration building to make me move on again. Hopefully
this year's WDC (or next) will prove me wrong.

~~~
MrRage
I've frequently upgraded and changed parts in my PCs over the past few years
an only once has Windows refused to activate. It was fixed with a 15 minute
phone call to Microsoft. I find it hard to believe this is a serious issue
unless you're reinstalling or changing parts every week or something.

Edit: And by upgrading parts I mean things as big as upgrading the CPU and/or
motherboard.

~~~
chaostheory
why should I have to call MS for permission to upgrade my PC? It's the
principle. Besides it was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Crashes
and freezing were fine when I was a kid, and Windows was primarily used for
video games. Once I grew up and started using it for work, that was no longer
acceptable.

~~~
pedalpete
I completely agree with you on this, though I'm still a big fan of Microsoft
over Apple.

Any company that treats their customers as criminals (or assumes they are
stealing) doesn't deserve and clearly appreciate their customers.

~~~
chaostheory
MS does the same thing. They started that practice before Apple which I said
in my above post =)

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jeremymcanally
Say this with me: iPad is not a laptop.

Once people understand that it is a consumer device, an appliance like an iPod
or a DVD player, that just happens to do a lot of extra stuff, we can start
talking about what it can do and how people will use it.

~~~
flogic
I disagree. I see no reason other than Apple's choice that the iPad shouldn't
be on the same level as a laptop or desktop.

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jsz0
Maybe, depends on the details. I wouldn't be ideologically opposed to it. I
just don't want to spend much time dealing with the nuts & bolts anymore. In
my case I work with technology 8-10 hours per day for my job. The last thing I
want to do is come home and micro-manage my own stuff. With most of these
closed platforms what we really are talking about is a _managed platform_
where a company takes responsibility for the end user experience. This is
about the same as a company hiring an IT department to lock down their office
desktops to improve security and increase workers productivity by creating a
trouble free, consistent, environment for them to work in. There's nothing
wrong with that. In the end, as the consumer, I get to make the choice what
type of product I want. I think it's kind of a downer that someone would
oppose my ability to make the choice to buy one of these managed platforms
because they don't like them. I certainly wouldn't want to stop people from
being able to dig into the nuts & bolts if that's what they want. If we can
have some hybrid of both I'm all for it but it seems very difficult to strike
a good balance.

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derefr
Yes—because obviously it would have _an IDE and Compiler-suite app_!
Otherwise, how would you develop on it? ;)

(And then all the free, unlicensed apps anyone likes could just be released as
source, and compiled+run locally in test mode.)

~~~
blasdel
Typed in out of a cheap newsprint magazine, even!

Apple wants to kill the "power user" dead. Every one uses the system on the
same clear, easily understood terms. A fraction of those users will be
developers, but even they will use the device itself _as users_ in the same
way as everyone else, not as wizards. Some people see this as _Harrison
Bergeron_ , but I sure don't — the people they're 'handicapping' didn't know
anything in the first place, they were pretenders.

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wrinklz
1) Create a new user on your macbook. 2) Enable Parental Controls. 3) Allow
Safari, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie. 4) ... 5) Profit!

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al_james
Well, I intend to buy my mum a iPad and keyboard so I can prop the iPad up on
her desk, and she can use it just like a normal desktop PC. She will be able
to do all the things she does normally, but with many orders of magnitude less
tech support calls to me! So yes, a iPad laptop would be even better.

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benologist
Sure, if I had a kid and it was one of those toy ones with learning
activities.

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gcb
no.

Same for a cell phone. No.

Same for a car. No.

Same for every crap. No.

I would open an exception if there was some free service. I am considering the
kindle because of the free wikipedia all the time.

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muffins
Stop writing these articles people. Please. I'm tried of writing the same
response over and over.

