favors benefit to the end-user rather than the developer or other vendors
I think Apple's current approach favors benefit to apple rather than developers or end-users.
Sometimes Apple's interests line up with those of the user, but often they don't. I hope it hurts their sales and benefits more open platforms (probably Android) - that may be because I'm from the old world.
I like the dreams embodied by the Lisp machines and by OLPC. The idea that every part of the system can be easily inspected and manipulated resonates strongly with me. The freedom to tinker with a device can and does lead to new and amazing things the original creators never imagined. College kids playing with iPads will never invent Multifinder, and that's sad.
I think you're missing the point of the article: the point is that New World people don't care about all that openness of their computer, just like most people don't care about the openness of their car. They just want it to work, and work really well; Apple's approach is one way to fulfill these requirements, but I don't see Lisp machines and OLPC doing this.
Essentially he's repeating what everyone here probably already knows, and connecting that to the iPad. We're the minority, and Apple's audience might start shifting away from a niche, hip gadget-audience to an incredibly mainstream audience.
I think you're missing the point of the article: the point is that New World people don't care about all that openness of their computer, just like most people don't care about the openness of their car.
From over ten years ago I remember making an argument for Free/Open Source software and using the "car with a welded hood" argument. The person just looked at me blankly and said, "I never want to look under the hood of my car. I take it to the garage and let them mess with it!"
I didn't miss the point. I'm afraid the article is right, and it makes me concerned about the future.
The hood of a modern car isn't physically welded shut, but many cars have become so specialized that only a dealer or specialist mechanic can afford the tools to work on them. Any serious tweaking and tuning requires either hacking sensors to lie to the ECU, or a custom, programmable ECU since the factory ECU is a black box.
I want the mainstream to care just a little bit about these things, because if they don't, I won't be able to get products without the hood welded shut. Sure, there will always be specialty hacker-friendly devices, jailbraking and the like, but those are big steps to take for someone just starting to explore. There's no easy gateway drug like discovering the terminal on a Mac.
I think Apple's current approach favors benefit to apple rather than developers or end-users.
Sometimes Apple's interests line up with those of the user, but often they don't. I hope it hurts their sales and benefits more open platforms (probably Android) - that may be because I'm from the old world.
I like the dreams embodied by the Lisp machines and by OLPC. The idea that every part of the system can be easily inspected and manipulated resonates strongly with me. The freedom to tinker with a device can and does lead to new and amazing things the original creators never imagined. College kids playing with iPads will never invent Multifinder, and that's sad.