

Countering the Perception That the iPhone OS Is Too Closed - swombat
http://daringfireball.net/2010/06/iphone_os_too_closed

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RyanMcGreal
I clicked through to Eric Meyer's essay, in which he argued that the iTunes
Store is a _store_ , which necessarily entails selectivity over what brands
and models to sell.

Where Meyer's analogy breaks down is in the fact that when you're trying to
get apps for your iPhone/iPod/iPad, you're _only allowed to shop at one
store_.

He tries to blow this off by pointing out that the Apple platform isn't the
only mobile platform in town, but that misses the point.

The Big Automakers once tried to demand that people who bought cars were
_required_ to take those cars back to the dealer for servicing and add-ons.
The automakers argued that this was the only way they could guarantee a
quality driving experience.

It required legal challenges and government intervention to ensure the car
owner's right to decide where and by whom to service and customize their own
vehicle.

~~~
bruceboughton
It is still the case that cars under warranty need to be serviced at
manufacturer-approved centres, isn't it? (In the UK at least...)

~~~
elblanco
Nope. I could take my brand new car to Jimbo's house of BBQ and Transmission
repair if I wanted.

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jsdalton
I would like to install Google Voice, as a native app, on my iPhone. Without
jail breaking it. And sorry, but the HTML5 version of GV is just not that
great.

Somebody please explain to me how this issue of mine is only a matter of
"perception."

~~~
rogupta
Not saying I disagree, but check out VoiceCentral Black Swan. It's a web app
that links to Google Voice, but very much feels like a native app. Much better
than the Google website.

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_flag
To be quite honest, if Apple added such an option to install your own apps I
would shut up. Comparing someone who is clearly clueless and thinks that the
iPad can't read PDFs to programmers and developers who actually make apps is
kind of unfair, and to say they never pay attention to the facts and would
just ignore the change anyway is silly.

~~~
modeless
An option to install your own apps would dramatically increase piracy, which
would harm not just the App Store but developers too. The lesson is clear from
the game industry's PC/console battle, which consoles have won in large part
due to even tighter restrictions than those imposed by the App Store.

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swombat
I agree with the perception argument, for what it's worth. My parents are a
good example, still refusing to buy macs because "it's a closed system where
you have to buy everything from Apple"... They still harbour the impression
that if you buy a mac, you can only buy hard drives, screens, mice, etc from
Apple.

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donaq
_iPhone critics have seldom let facts get in their way._

I found this observation coming from daringfireball rather ironic.

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tumult
I find it interesting, now that the App Store is an established brand and
venue, that Apple could add this "enable installation from anywhere" option.
If this had been present at the time the App Store had launched, developers
would have tried to sell their apps from their own websites, and used grunkly
stuff in the system they shouldn't have been touching. Can you imagine Adobe
releasing Acrobat Reader for iPhone that used some kind of Adobe installer and
updater?

But now that everyone knows to go to the App Store by default, and developers
are climbing over each other to get stuff in there and meet Apple's
requirements, I think it's a safer move to allow third-party stuff. The people
who are serious and want to make money or spread their brand will still be
targeting the App Store, and the people doing things on the margins get the
choice put whatever they want on their phone.

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Legion
>> Can I load my own videos and music on it, or only stuff I buy from Apple?
Sure, I told him, you can load your videos and music.

Just don't expect support for the codecs to play them.

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theBobMcCormick
It's not a perception. It's a _reality_.

~~~
lukifer
Only for the App Store; for music, movies, web apps, etc., it is only
perception. That's the point.

~~~
boucher
Well, sort of. You can still only play music and movies through iTunes, and
you can only do it in formats supported by iTunes. You are not allowed to
create a third party music or video player, which effectively means that even
these things are a lot more closed than they are on the desktop (or android,
palm, etc.).

~~~
lukifer
Quite true; ultimately, open vs. closed is a complex spectrum, not a binary
true/false. Apple has earned a reputation of being _completely_ closed, to the
point that I still hear people express surprise at, say, Macs opening Word
docs from a PC.

~~~
tommorris
People think Apple is completely closed because they can't open a proprietary
binary format produced by a closed-source Microsoft Windows application on it?

By the same reasoning, my Ubuntu Linux installation is closed because it
doesn't - as far as I'm aware - have a way of opening Apple's proprietary
Keynote format. ;-)

~~~
hexley
Proprietary? It's a renamed .tar.gz file containing any resources used inside
the presentation and an XML file describing it's layout. And yes, I noticed
the ;).

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zackola
The main reason Apple would never have this 'unknown sources' option is that
it opens up the device to alternative app stores and opens revenue streams
they don't control. Too bad, because that would be awesome ;)

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gamache
If Apple had been more open -- truly inclusive, not just for show -- about
getting software onto their ultraportables, the bogus perception that Apple is
a fully walled garden wouldn't exist.

Instead, they pissed off enough internet loudmouths to shout down an air raid
siren, dicking around and flipping and flopping and never giving a clue as to
what the fuck is actually going on behind the curtain.

If the result is misinformation hurting their bottom line, good. Maybe then
they'll listen.

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neilc
_iPhone OS’s status as the best platform for completely open mobile web
content._

Wait, what? What exactly makes the iPhone OS the best platform for "completely
open mobile web content"? The differences between Android and iPhone OS for
open web content should be pretty marginal -- which makes it a hard thing to
brag about convincingly.

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watty
I'm sick of this argument. The Apple ecosystem is very closed but like it or
not it has been a great business model.

~~~
electromagnetic
Has it? Apple's move to the exceptionally closed has only proved profitable in
handheld devices and as these devices become more powerful it's going to
stagnate like the Mac system.

Apples complete refusal to implement Flash is a prime example of this. They
want to lock their users into paying for games that they can play freely
online if only they could use flash.

With the Dell Streak expected to have flash support and almost as powerful CPU
as many netbooks, Apple is already falling out of the market. Smart phones are
taking the step to mini-tablet PC's and Apple is vehemently opposing the steps
necessary to keep it competitive.

It's a shitty business model; Apple just deployed it where it doesn't make a
blind bit of difference . . . until now.

~~~
rimantas

      They want to lock their users into paying for games that
      they can play freely online if only they could use flash.
    

How many examples of such games can you provide? I mean those who can be
played on touchscreen without a mouse and a keyboard. Apple must be making ton
of money with their native equivalents on iP*, right?

    
    
      With the Dell Streak expected to have flash support and
      almost as powerful CPU as many netbooks, Apple is already
      falling out of the market
    

Yeah sure, people bought 2 000 000 iPads in two months but now Apple will
suddenly lose all that appeal to some device not in the market yet.

Perception indeed.

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radley
Ironic point of view from a blog that doesn't allow comments...

~~~
jrockway
Blog comments are a horrible idea. Why should some random schmuck be able to
attach any random rant to a polished piece of literature? (Not that I'm saying
this article is, but there are a lot of great blogs with horrible comments.)

If you want people to care what you think, you should have to earn that; you
shouldn't be able to piggyback off of someone else's work. IMHO.

(A discussion site is a whole other ballgame, however. The point is precisely
to read other people's opinions, even though you shouldn't care about them.
Discussion sites, I like... it seems.)

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joe23
sideloading exists already. but requires a developer account $99/year.

also apple does host a list of webapps at www.apple.com/webapps

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jlcgull
Please downvote, if you must, but after reading DF for more than a year now,
this I feel to be true: Gruber is an Apple sucker-up--apologist--fanboy. And
the majority of his writing is in that theme.

Edit: an attempt at infusing relevance, instead of pure vitriol.

~~~
jrockway
I kind of like Gruber. He looks good when compared to the really hardcore
Apple fanbois. Jobs' "insightful and not negative" characterization captures
Gruber perfectly.

I think he has had a bit too much Kool-Aid, but he is nowhere near the LD50
yet.

