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The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Micah Lee and PeterEckersley have published a post about iOS titled "Apple's Crystal Prison and theFuture of Open Platforms." In it, they do what you'dexpect the EFF to do in an item with that name: They objectfiercely to the way in which Apple locks down the iPhone and iPad , allowing only apps it approves onto them and forbiddingunauthorized customization. Daring Fireball's John Gruber linked to the piece , took issue with its comparison of iOS devices to prisons andended with this thought: The piece is supposed to be a criticism of Apple s platform designand policies, but really, what they re doing is criticizing usersfor enjoying it. Reading that, I experienced an epiphany. That's it! When people compare using Apple products to serving time injail–and boy, is that ever a common metaphor –they're as unhappy with the fact that millions ofpeople willingly do so as they are with Apple's actualpolicies. (At least I hope so: If Lee and Eckersley are contendingthat Apple literally forces people to use iPhones and iPods againsttheir will, I'm worried for them.) I shouldn't have found Gruber's comment to be such arevelation. Last year, I wrote about Richard Stallman and Eric Raymond's comments upon the deathof Steve Jobs ; both of these leading lights of open-source software comparedApple customers to jailbirds. I figured out then that they have aproblem with technology users whose priorities are different thantheirs. And really, since the prison metaphor is so manifestlysilly, what the people who make it are doing is objecting to thechoice that Apple's customers make. The idea that otherpeople take pleasure in something they dislike upsets them. Here's the sad part: Lee and Eckersley make some really goodpoints. I too wish that Apple would introduce an optional abilityto install unapproved apps. (Although, when you think about it, jailbreaking provides that ability right now, which means that the worldisn't all that far from Lee and Eckersley's desiredstate.) I also share the authors' alarm over Microsoft'sdecision to allow the distribution of Windows 8 Metro apps only through its own Windows Store. Microsoft wouldnever, ever have made that move without the App Store'sexample, so sure, let's go ahead and blame Apple for it. But by bringing up the prison thing, the EFF's authorsaren't making their case more compelling. Instead,they've giving readers a convenient opportunity to roll theireyes and reject their argument. Especially readers who happilyuse Apple devices, and who bristle at people suggesting thatthey're patsies for doing so. If everyone stopped talking about the Cupertino prison system,I'm convinced that both Apple skeptics and Apple fans wouldbe better off. And if we can stamp it out, who knows? MaybeI'll even live to see the day when nobody reflexively compares Apple customers to cult members . I am an expert from drilling-mudsystem.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Drilling Mud Cleaner , Drilling Mud Vacuum Degasser, Drilling Mud Desilter,and more.
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