There has been some interesting discussion about Apple and iPad being closed. In many cases for Apple, I’d buy this argument, but regarding iPad being closed, I have to disagree. As I talked earlier, iPad is a gadget for non-techies.
People who have been scared about the complexity of computers will be
able to use it. So it is kind of like a toaster (a beautiful one,
though) which is simple enough that every one understands. Do you care
about what goes within a toaster or a microwave (unless you are in that
feild)? They just work and that is all we care about. I put iPad under
the same category. It just works, no crashes (thanks for not including
Flash. It crashes my Safari EVERY day). It really doesn’t matter what
goes within as long as it offers good value and is a pleasure to use.
Openness doesn’t always result in great end-user products. Look at
many open source projects out there (I am talking about end-user
products here, not server side marvels). How good is Linux? At the
back-end, it is AWESOME. But for the end user, it is a pain in the
rear. I’d put Android under the same category. It very much excites geeks, but is far from desirable, atleast to my taste (yes, I own an Android device but couldn’t use for more than a day).
This talk about not using a standard processor, not-replaceable
battery etc…common. We are blaming Apple for creating a better
product? Every single person who played with the iPad said it screams.
Shouldn’t we blame other guys for not creating power efficient
processors? We also blame them for closed AppStore etc. When Apple
first said web apps will be the way to include third party apps on the
iPhone, everyone panicked and asked Apple to open it up for developers.
Two years and 140K apps later, we go back and scream that it is a
closed platform and web apps are the way to go? That’s interesting.
For developers, I actually think iPhone/iPad platform is pretty
open. Their APIs are pretty exhaustive and are improved constantly. I
expect to see some innovative apps on the iPad. We have seen troubles
with Android due to ‘openness’ (available in n devices, by m carriers
with x number of screen sizes and y number of configurations). Android Market app sales talk for themselves. Contrast that with the iPhone App sales.
For end users, simplicity matters, a LOT. More than openness.
Is Opening your toaster illegal? No. Opening the iPad or iPhone’s code is. Don’t get me wrong, I understand where you are coming from. But to just let Apple sends us back to the dinosaurs era, just because of usability is stupid.
I think we have grown enough as a society and as a community to openness. We are forcing companies to become Open.
Apple is just going to make things closed. That is what they know, and that is what they will do. They have become the ‘Dictator’ in the 1984 ad.
I agree that the iPad is focused at non-techies, but does that mean that openness is only for non-techies? I don’t think so.
See this is culture. If Microsoft was the one behind the iPad, the community would up in arms about it. But since it is Apple, everybody supports it. The Open Source community has an idea of Apple as part of the community, and we just don’t notice, that they are all but open. They are even worse than Microsoft.
I think that we should still strive for Apple to open their products. I believe that they can be open and usable at the same time. They have the leadership, they just need the values.
And just for the record, a toaster is fully open and legally too.