Joshua Marinacci wrote: ... > But when we see something that will replace the laptops we have today, and > the nice open general purpose computing environments we take for granted, > then it starts to be worrisome. > > The answer, however, is not to bitch on mailing lists and blogs. Most people > don't care about the 'openness' of their devices. It provides no tangible > benefit to they, so we shouldn't expect them to care. They simply want to get > stuff done with a minimum of fuss. And be snappy. Complaining about Apple's > lock-in or lamenting the lack of iPad features won't change anything. > There's only one thing that will make a difference: create a alternative that > is more open but still provides a good experience; starting with a viable > competitor to the iPhone. > ...
First of all, good luck in your new adventure. The direction Apple is taking also worries othres in the industry and it looks like Apple is starting to resemble those which it opposed in the past. I think that we should express our concern wherever we can - especially the Java community which is "expelled" by Apple from these devices. Java is all about choice and openness and the current direction Apple is taking is the opposite. Of course, if we can help create an alternative then this is even better. We can also do another thing (that may not change much) and NOT buy the iPad and wait for the upcoming more open devices. Paul Graham in his post "Apple's Mistake" (http://www.paulgraham.com/ apple.html) writes about the App Store and its approval process and asks: "Is the future of handheld devices one locked down by Apple? It's a worrying prospect. It would be a bummer to have another grim monoculture like we had in the 1990s. In 1995, writing software for end users was effectively identical with writing Windows applications. Our horror at that prospect was the single biggest thing that drove us to start building web apps." It is funny how history repeats itself, but now with Apple on the opposite side. Paul continues and writes: " When you look at the famous 1984 ad now, it's easier to imagine Apple as the dictator on the screen than the woman with the hammer. In fact, if you read the dictator's speech it sounds uncannily like a prophecy of the App Store. We have triumphed over the unprincipled dissemination of facts. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology, where each worker may bloom secure from the pests of contradictory and confusing truths. " Joshua, maybe you are now helping with building the next "woman with a hammer"... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
