At the risk of sounding like an Apple apologistI agree, you do. Let me elaborate why.
I think it’s a stretch to say that Jobs is "deciding what content people can view on the iPhone and iPad."
If you choose to interpret it literally, then it's more than a stretch -- it's unfeasible. On the other hand, I believe Robert Wright didn't really mean it so literally. You've probably heard about Steve's (in)famous line about "freedom from porn". Please don't tell me you believe that Steve Jobs has nothing to do with decisions Apple has been making about what their users can or cannot view on their "iDevices". Sure, a lot of the stuff -- like that political cartoonist example -- can be attributed to incompetence and chaos of a typical bureaucracy, but even the most chaotic bureaucracy has someone or something to give a general direction. Implying that Steve Jobs isn't providing that direction to Apple is, well, a stretch.
You can do almost anything you’d like on the iPhone or iPad, provided you’re willing to use the browser as your main portal.
Except run Flash, for example. Or, for that matter, even know why you can't see the content of a site that serves Flash, unless you're web-savvy:
http://www.gskinner.com/blog/archives/2010/04/return_of_the_...
If you’re bothered by Apple’s decision to rely on the web and curated applications to provide content to its users, then don’t use an i-Device.
Yeah, I've heard that one before. It's a standard non-argument used by apologists and, in general, by people who want to deflect criticism. I won't bore people with repetition of what I already said about that kind of statement, you can read it here:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1395364
I think Android is a fantastic platform, if fragmented and a little unpolished
Cue the popular buzzword, "fragmentation". It's fashionable, like calling Microsoft evil. Crying "fragmentation" is getting old:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/05/on-android-co...
Not to mention that, using the criteria in the post you linked to, we can call Python fragmented, too, and yet it's immensely popular and a great platform to boot.
Google and Apple are companies looking for the best way to make a dollar
Yep. Microsoft and AOL, too. Microsoft had authoritarian tendencies and AOL promoted the walled garden. We all know that the purpose of a company is to "make a dollar". That doesn't automatically excuse or justify everything they do.