Where is critical thinking?

If Steve showed up and told you you needed to get approval for all reading material you read by asking Apple if it was okay to read, would you oblige him?

I read a post at TwistImage that seems to think the iPhone is better than swiss cheese, bread, and the cart it road in on (including the wheels).

I had to respond…

You state:

“The phone (or calling) part is now shadowed by everything else.”

Ah..No it isn’t or all the iPhone people would be carrying a phone and an iPod or iPad…

I want one device to do everything, and we can have that today. I don’t care about Steve’s philosophical differences with Adobe or Google, and I bet most users would appreciate flash on their devices… Steve references Adobe promised it for 2 years but didn’t deliver…does that mean Steve wanted it too? What changed?

I’ve stated this before… Steve’s genius was marketing and perfecting the iTunes store. People who invest in a platform are not want to change and lose their investment. Now that all these iPod and iPhone users have spent good money on apps that only work on iDevices, they have an incentive in continuing to use iDevices even though they don’t provide all of the features people want.

Please don’t tell me you like going to Flash intensive sites on the internet with the iPad or iPhone and seeing all those blank spaces… That is not a full-web experience.

Open? H.264 is protected IP–go look it up! H.264 is as open as .gif is open… Does Apple give away any open source software besides their contribution to Darwin?

Don’t get me wrong, I like Apple–I have used their hardware since the //e (I have one of the first). However, I don’t care about Steve’s obsession with Flash, porn, Google, Android, or anything else. I care about my devices allowing me to use them for the experience I want.

Great if most people don’t care about flash. However, I want Flash. I want to be able to install my programs on the device without me having to send them to Apple for Apple’s release on the iTunes store. What if I don’t want to share or what if I use it for my purposes?

I buy a Ford, Chevy, Via, or other car, and I don’t expect the manufacturer to tell me I can’t put on Goodyear tires or use it for racing…

I buy a new refrigerator and don’t expect the manufacturer to tell me what I can put in it…

I don’t expect to buy a new Computer with Windows (whatever flavor) and expect MS to tell me I have to use their browser…… (get it yet?)

Why should I let Stevie tell me that I don’t need flash? I don’t need that Bass Ale in my refrigerator either, but I will drink one hoping the Xiliv X10 android slate is released soon–I will be buying it.

Why?

Go look at the text of the speech given by the “establishment” in the 1984 advertisement for the macintosh-yes, the famous one… The text sounds like Apple today…. Don’t think so? Go look it up.

Choice. I don’t want the government telling me what I want, and I don’t want to have to give up things I enjoy doing–those time-wasting flash games–just because Stevie has some issue with Adobe…

If you think it is about being “open,” you have bought the red herring…

I really don’t understand what the fuss is over…

I guess it is that iPhone users are not educated about the features that are available on other phones/devices so that they think Apple started each one.

Go look at the Treo 650 and tell me where Steve got his idea for icons in a row on a screen–Palm.

Did Apple do a great job on the original iPhone? Yes.

Is the new iPhone 4 the “best thing ever?” No.

1. IPS Retina View

I don’t want to see my retina… The iPhone 4 has a good display, but Steve’s comments are a lie. See here and here.

2. Lack of Flash

You may not want it, but plenty of us do. You are “right” for you, and we are “right” for us. Leave it alone and quit trying to convince me I don’t need it or want it–I do.

Now, for a negative in a sentence to prove a point.. (bad grammar idea..)

The full web experience is not seeing blank spaces where flash content is located as I browse the web… Sorry Steve, why don’t you browse to some of those popular sites while you “introduce” those devices? Ah, right… You don’t want people to see those blank spaces…

3. Lack of being “open.”

For all of Steve’s talk of “open,” the iDevice is certainly closed. If I want to put my program on the iDevice, I have to send it to Apple and let it be listed in the iTunes store… Why? What if I want to use it for me? Does Ford tell me I can’t use GoodYear tires? Does Kenmore tell me what I can put in my fridge?

4. Expandability…

I want a slot for a SD card, HDMI, USB, etc. Why can’t we have those? Would it extend the life of the device past that which Apple wants to have in the return purchase? Smart for Apple, not good for me.

5. Competition

Apple’s move isn’t about “open” or “full-web experience. Apple’s move is to control content.

Apple moves to limit Admob (Google) ads from providing useful ads for those who want them, and plenty of folk do–just look at Google’s bottom line and Apple’s purchase of iAds…

Apple wants to limit iAds to Apple devices. Steve says this removes unwanted ads and replaces them with nicely-wrapped information for the user (i.e., ads by Apple).

Apple wants all content delivered to iDevices to come from iTunes (controlled by Apple).

All of this is great for Apple, but I don’t like the limitations. Why can’t I buy an app from someone else? Why can’t I install it myself? People yell, “Apple guarantees quality and the experience…”

Give me a break! Think critically! Did all of those Palm apps crash palm devices 10 years ago? No, people swarmed to those devices… People learned what was “junk” and what wasn’t. Just as they learn via reviews and other sites. The programmers/developers guarantee quality, Apple limits. If you think otherwise, you are about to be pulled out of the water and into the boat…

Summary

I think it is great if you LOVE your iPhone and iPad. I like my Macintosh notebook and my iPhone.

My next phone likely will not be an iPhone since I (me, myself, and I) want more than what the iPhone can provide. Your mileage may differ, and I am not saying the iPhone is “wrong” per se. Rather, the iPhone (and Apple’s philosophical stance) is wrong for me. Call me idealistic or call me nuts.

Either way, I’ll be shopping elsewhere.

What say you?

Macworld states

Delicious Monster’s iPhone companion app for its popular Delicious Library 2 media-cataloging application was removed from the App Store on Tuesday, though not, as it turns out, at the behest of the usual culprit, Apple. Rather, this time the objection came from online retail supergiant Amazon.

Some posting comments on that article just don’t get “it”

This is insane. According to what they are telling him, he can’t use the API on the desktop version to pull information on books/CDs/DVDs/etc. and sync that information to the iPhone app. At the very least, they need to offer some reason for this. Delicious Library has never done anything but direct more business to Amazon.

Actually, the API License states that PC users (Mac, Linux, Windows, etc.) can use it but that mobile devices can not, as pointed out by another person who posted a comment

DId you read the agreement? It explicitly says, its okay for desktop- but for mobile- no! Why? Because on the desktop there’s no point in not allowing devs to use the APIs, on the mobile world, completely different. What amazon is saying is, if you want to be the dominating app for that niche, then come out with your own revolutionary internet service and make your own app.

I tried to explain the legal issues, but I get nowhere…

Alan, over at alanquatermain, states it well

So Amazon recently changed the terms of service for their Product Advertising API, which is in use in applications such as Delicious Library. This is (I believe) the API by which DL gets its book information, and through which it provides links to related items, reviews, etc.

The new license includes this marvellous little tidbit in section 4e:

You will not, without our express prior written approval requested via this link , use any Product Advertising Content on or in connection with any site or application designed or intended for use with a mobile phone or other handheld device.

Wil attempted to contact them through the supplied link to get permission to keep Delicious Library on the store, but was knocked back— they’re not making any exceptions right now at all, for anyone. One wonders what the purpose of the link is, in that case?

So, Wil has had to remove Delicious Library for iPhone — which was in production for eight months straight — from the App Store due to a change in licensing conditions. Until Amazon removes this clause or actually does allow exceptions (as opposed to simply claiming to do so for marketing/legal ass-covering purposes) there will be NO Delicious Library for iPhone. At all.

Sorry for using so much of your text Alan, but you stated it well. Go read his site, you will like what he has to say…

There are several points to discuss:

1. Amazon can control, via the API License, who can use the API and how they can use the API;
2. The API License states (Section 4E apparently)
   

   You will not, without our express prior written approval requested via this link , use any Product Advertising Content on or in connection with any site or application designed or intended for use with a mobile phone or other handheld device.

3. Everyone else has no rights not granted to them by the license.
4. Even if the data is public data, freely obtainable from the USA government, Amazon does not have to provide the data to the general public.

I don’t like what Amazon is doing, and I think it is bad for business. However, Amazon may have a contract with another firm regarding mobile access… See what Lucas did with their mobile apps and how the licensee can and did cause for the removal of an application that violated a provision of an legal agreement between companies. If you aren’t aware of it, see the original Phonesaber application… All legal. Smart business move? Not in my opinion as I have yet to buy any mobile product from the company licensing said IP from Lucas…

However, Amazon can and likely will continue to control their IP. Some of the IP is copyrighted material, but the material may simply be on their servers. The data and the access to that data is controlled by Amazon. I don’t think anyone, after some critical thinking, would disagree that Amazon can not control their property, who uses their property, or how their property is used…

We, as a people or as individuals, have no right to legally-protected property (whether movies, music, or data). Get over it… That is like yelling at the sky because it is raining… Build a shelter.

In this case, build a better application or, better yet, pick a better partner.