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Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

yglesias.thinkprogress.org

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Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#11

Post by tumult »

SamAtt wrote: post #8
DrSprout wrote: post #6

>If you want to implement a Google Voice solution, you’re more than welcome to, via the browser. The browser is completely inadequate to the task. I don't even think Webkit has the audio input features implemented yet, and if they exist they're completely useless for any real-world applications, especially on a phone. Telling people to use APIs that don't exist yet is nonsense.

The whole argument of "you can use the browser" has always been a straw man that falls apart when exposed to even the least bit of scrutiny. You can't access much of the hardware via the browser (no audio, camera, etc...) You can't charge for a browser app. You can't play video with any kind of content restrictions (which Flash video offers). And so on. The whole line of reasoning is ridiculous. I won't say this arti…

That's not what a straw man argument is

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#12

Post by pohl »

not_an_alien wrote: post #3

I think it’s a stretch to say that Jobs is “deciding what content people can view on the iPhone and iPad.” That made me stop reading the article right away.

I agree that it's a stretch.

Nothing prevents me from pointing the browser where I want to, or from syncing over any audio file, or movie, or ePub book that I want to.

The only thing they're curating is the contents of the shelves of their own store, and this is nothing that brick-and-mortar stores don't do every day.

Sure, I can't get my boob-jiggling app approved. But I also can't shoot amateur porn and get it on the shelves at Blockbuster.

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#13

Post by WiseWeasel »

What's so frustrating to me about the iPhone OS platform, especially in the iPad, is that as a jailbroken iPhone user, I've GOT the ultimate next generation general-purpose pocket computer already, and I know that a jailbroken iPad would be a total revolution in general-purpose computing. But the fact that I must fight my vendor at every update, and that the jailbroken platform is seen as completely marginal or even detrimental (due to the piracy it facilitates) by most developers, takes away most of the value. It's frustrating that Apple is so close, and yet it's unclear whether they will ever make the leap into a real general-purpose computing platform. That is the core of most of my animosity towards Apple's implementation of the iPhone OS platform. If they were way off the mark, I wouldn't even care.

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#14

Post by stanleydrew »

DrSprout wrote: post #6

>If you want to implement a Google Voice solution, you’re more than welcome to, via the browser. The browser is completely inadequate to the task. I don't even think Webkit has the audio input features implemented yet, and if they exist they're completely useless for any real-world applications, especially on a phone. Telling people to use APIs that don't exist yet is nonsense.

Well in the particular case of GV, no browser audio api is required since voice calls all run over the regular cell network, so technically the browser is adequate to the task. But your point is still valid in general for a lot of other cases.

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#15

Post by confuzatron »

pohl wrote: post #12
not_an_alien wrote: post #3

I think it’s a stretch to say that Jobs is “deciding what content people can view on the iPhone and iPad.” That made me stop reading the article right away.

I agree that it's a stretch. Nothing prevents me from pointing the browser where I want to, or from syncing over any audio file, or movie, or ePub book that I want to. The only thing they're curating is the contents of the shelves of their own store, and this is nothing that brick-and-mortar stores don't do every day. Sure, I can't get my boob-jiggling app approved. But I also can't shoot amateur porn and get it on t…

Good point. If you dont like Apple's app store policies, just shop at one of the other iPad app stores. Simple.

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#16

Post by pohl »

confuzatron wrote: post #15
pohl wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that it's a stretch. Nothing prevents me from pointing the browser where I want to, or from syncing over any audio file, or movie, or ePub book that I want to. The only thing they're curating is the contents of the shelves of their own store, and this is nothing that brick-and-mortar stores don't do every day. Sure, I can't get my boob-jiggling app approved. But I also can't shoot amateur porn and get it on t…

Good point. If you dont like Apple's app store policies, just shop at one of the other iPad app stores. Simple.

Exactly. Like some Android market.

Edited per below

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#17

Post by alsomike »

Maybe he is Big Brother, but is that a bad thing? Today's authorities wrap themselves in "anti-authoritarianism", constantly demanding that we express ourselves creativity, think for ourselves and be unique. Far from being subversive, this reflexive self-fashioning and self-expression is harnessed to create profit for the powerful, from the simplest blog post generating page views and advertising dollars, to the creation of new tech start-ups innovating new products to periodically revitalize the aging bureaucratic global corporate status quo.

In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman claimed that Huxley was correct and Orwell was wrong: we're being oppressed by being drowned in irrelevant, trivial entertainment, not through censorship, explicit control and regulation. For the internet age, this idea is out of date. Today's form of control isn't making us passive, instead, it makes us active in ways that further the interests of power. We're told our creativity is subversive, even radical and revolutionary and therefore deeply significant, and yet nothing really changes. What's most interesting about all this supposedly disruptive change is how in the end, it's purpose is for the exact opposite: the smooth functioning of global capitalism.

Perhaps you can argue that this is a good thing, but it's impossible to argue that anything truly revolutionary is happening. Steve Jobs and Apple are not necessarily good, but they are a kind of progress because they demonstrate that the emperor has no clothes - the supposed revolutionary, world-changing potential of technology is a sham, it's the same old capitalism as usual.

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#18

Post by zck »

SamAtt wrote: post #8
DrSprout wrote: post #6

>If you want to implement a Google Voice solution, you’re more than welcome to, via the browser. The browser is completely inadequate to the task. I don't even think Webkit has the audio input features implemented yet, and if they exist they're completely useless for any real-world applications, especially on a phone. Telling people to use APIs that don't exist yet is nonsense.

The whole argument of "you can use the browser" has always been a straw man that falls apart when exposed to even the least bit of scrutiny. You can't access much of the hardware via the browser (no audio, camera, etc...) You can't charge for a browser app. You can't play video with any kind of content restrictions (which Flash video offers). And so on. The whole line of reasoning is ridiculous. I won't say this arti…

>You can't charge for a browser app.

This line jumped out at me. What definition of "browser app" are we using that requires them to be free? Obviously a browser app can't be a website, as it's trivial to put a website behind a paywall. What else are we talking about?

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#19

Post by ghshephard »

WiseWeasel wrote: post #13

What's so frustrating to me about the iPhone OS platform, especially in the iPad, is that as a jailbroken iPhone user, I've GOT the ultimate next generation general-purpose pocket computer already, and I know that a jailbroken iPad would be a total revolution in general-purpose computing. But the fact that I must fight my vendor at every update, and that the jailbroken platform is seen as completely marginal or even…

Steve Jobs isn't so much big brother, as he is passionate about the user experience.

Open = Security Issues, Performance Concerns, Viruses, Battery Concerns, Piracy Concerns (resulting in poor software availabilty)

Closed = Secure, predictable performance, virus resistant (if not proof), well known power utilization, and commercially friendly.

But, the good news is we have _both_ now - Android is the open version of iPhone (minus a bit of UI polishing that will be cleaned up, soon).

I'm looking forward to seeing how this all works out over the next three-four years, particularly if the iPhone is available on a reasonable wireless provider in the Bay Area. (AT&T continues to be the bane of my existence.)

Re: Is Steve Jobs Big Brother?

#20

Post by smokinn »

pohl wrote: post #16
confuzatron wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. If you dont like Apple's app store policies, just shop at one of the other iPad app stores. Simple.

Exactly. Like some Android market. Edited per below

You forgot the s on Android markets.

Unlike Apple, there's more than just the default.

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