WTF. This sort of logic is daft and alarmist.
Does Word close off the Internet? Does “God of War” sanitise the net? Does “Photoshop” have a net negative impact?
These are just apps, little applications that people want – that the market wants. They don’t sanitise the Internet, they don’t restrict anyone. As long as you have a web browser you can go anywhere you want.
Except for Flash, of course.
But then when Adobe was locking up the ‘net in closed, proprietary DRM’ed Flash, with entire web sites developed in their inaccessible muck, no-one listened because no one cared. So the difference here is simply hypocrisy.
Apple at least is telling people to build their web sites using open standards. At least they’re pushing a Flash-free future and they’re not telling you to create apps to replace them – YOU’RE ASKING FOR THEM. We all want features that don’t yet exist in HTML5. We want these things and we want them now.
Every time I visit a web site which is 100% built in Flash with no open standard fallback I think “This company is scum”. Strong words but that’s what happens when you subscribe to total lock-in.
I love the idea of a web without flash and drm crap but do see an issue with having a single point of approval for apps. I think that the history of the app store approval process has shown that apple can use and abuse their monopoly(limiting voip apps, getting rid of “dirty” apps etc). The Ipad will enable further domination. I don’t know what the answer is, maybe opening up the app store to the world would pollute it? Maybe the greater choice would make that worthwhile? I’d like to think that we would have the choice about what apps to install and from what source but I think this is unlikely.
The solution is simple.
Write web apps. This is what Apple told people to do in 2007.
Isn’t that the problem? “what apple told people to do”. I think a more open environment would allow for greater innovation than the current web apps permit.
The point being that the web environment on an iPhone (and by extension iPad) is extremely powerful. You want to write open apps, write for the web.
The market – that’s real people – demanded native apps.
The AppStore’s runaway success was two things to Apple.
1) a complete surprise
2) an opportunity
Apple can afford to be picky about apps. They can afford to kick those that aren’t great. I mean – are you seriously weeping over some apps which are nothing more than picture slideshows of girls in bikinis?
Now on the other hand I have other friends who applauded when Apple kicked out the girlie pictures from the App Store because while they’re not particularly fond of censorship, the apps themselves weren’t tasteful, you couldn’t read them for the “articles”. This is why excellent content will thrive. Let’s be honest – Sports Illustrated does the same thing as these bikini apps and it remains on the store – because it’s not tacky as hell.
Apps don’t close off the Internet because there’s always choice. If developers are not ‘choosing’ to make insanely great apps with open standards & web technologies then it’s hardly the fault of Apple.
If the app store is so “closed” as people fear, why are there so many apps?
If the iPad is “forcing” people into an unnatural “consumerist” mentality, why are hundreds of millions of people going online everyday just to consume a myriad of free and paid content (and get upset if they can’t have as much free as they’d like?)
If the best thing about a technology is learning the technology itself, why do most people only buy stuff that’s useful for a purpose other than the technology itself? I have never stopped to research the technology of microscreens for shaving. I really don’t care.
There are legitimate fears about monopolies, and some are just anti successful corporations, but in the balance, the iPad ADDS to the internet–it doesn’t detract from it.
As for control, the opposite of control is ineffectual mush. What matters is how the power and control is used. Design is control. Is it used to serve everyone, or is it used to screw people? iPad critics really need to show if and how it screws people.