When the first Apple computer came out, it was a clean slate for developers. They could write any programme they wanted for it, and their efforts gave rise to the era of personal computing.
But since 2007, Apple has made its new systems far less open. Apps for the iPhone and iPod touch must be approved by Apple. This gate-keeping will continue as Apple rolls out the iPad.
In today’s Financial Times, Jonathan Zittrain writes that computer users should work to preserve our freedoms, even as the devices we acquire become more attractive and easier to use.
It is tempting to think that a little outside software is better than none. But what is fine for a single device may be bad for the ecosystem. The iPhone’s hybrid model of centrally controlled outside software is already moving beyond the smart phone. This is the significance of the iPad. It could have been built either like a small Apple Macintosh – open to any outside software – or as a big iPhone, controlled by Apple. Apple went with the latter. Attach a keyboard to it and it could replace a PC entirely – boasting plenty of new apps, but only as Apple deems them worthy.
