[Warning, this post contains profanity.]
There’s a lot of blogther[1] around these here tubes about the closed nature of the Apple iPad. Exhibits: Doctorow and Danny O’Brien.
Basically the the thesis is that if this closed platform takes over, all creativity is stifled by unaccountable gatekeepers and humanity is doomed.
That’s bollocks. Here’s why.
Primo. The iPad is a toy for rich people. Period. Only a tiny minority will buy it, and only a minority of that minority will use it as their only way to access the internet. For fuck’s sake, you need a computer (PC or Mac) to sideload content to it[2]. There’s zero chance that this will become the only fucking way to access the internet, because Apple doesn’t sell to everyone on the planet. They sell to people who can afford Apple products. So far, they’ve made a lot of money doing this, while companies like Lenovo and HP are struggling. Why should they change?
Secundo. Closed platforms are the fucking greatest for some things, like gaming. I happen to think that the console systems are better for gaming than the PC platform. And if you disagree with me on this, you’re per definition in the minority. Seriously, check out the sales figures. Money talks. And if we’re gonna get serious about tackling spyware and malware and shit, we should mandate that 99% of internet users only get to use a closed, locked down, Trusted Computing-verified internet appliance. The general-purpose PC is like a fucking chainsaw in these people’s hands.
Tertio. If you happen to raise a geek or feel a pressing need to make him or her learn to code fucking Haskell, there are literally MILLIONS of used PC’s that can run your choice of Lulnix, and he/she can spend their precious time coding blog platforms when they should be out in the sun, getting D vitamins.
Quarto. Who died and made Apple god? If the iPad succeeds in taking over the world, they’ll end up like IBM or Microsoft. This is not the end of computing history.
In closing, shut the fuck up already, you apocalyptic freetards.
Update 2010-04-14: the tone of this post has been inspired by the Angry Mac Bastards podcast, who go forth and rip Doctorow and Winer to shreds regarding their iPad views in episode 55. Listen to them for even more sound and fury, signifying nothing much!
[1] a portmanteau of “blog” and “blather”, and yes, I realise if you have to explain it’s not very good. Go invent your own term.
[2] Conveniently. I guess you can buy stuff OTA too. Do I look like I do research?