I’ve finally figured out what it is that sets me on edge regarding Apple. For as long as I can remember there’s been this little nagging inside of me that, hey, there’s just something not right about this company. I’ll preface this with the fact that I’m not an Apple person, though I have used Macs and will probably own one within the next year (need something small and portable for coding). I’m also not completely up to date on everything Apple’s been doing, just the really big news items.
Anyway, I finally figured out that its all about control. We all want control of our lives, of our money, of ourselves, and that’s natural. But Apple wants complete control over their products, even after you buy them, and that’s wrong. What am I referring to? The “awesome” press conference today where Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone SDK plan.
Quick recap of the plan: Developers pay $99 a year (or more for an enterprise license) to use the SDK. Once they have something, it must be distributed through the Apple App Store. To get into the App Store, each must be vetted by Apple to make sure it conforms to their policies.
Now you know my feelings on DRM. I hate it. If I buy something, I expect the rights to do with it as I please. Steve Jobs feels the same way, or so he says. I’ve long argued that he doesn’t really mean that, but now I kind of think he does. See he specifically says DRM on music is wrong. He also points out that they don’t own the music anyway, so they can’t control it. What Steve Jobs wants is for everything Apple owns to be DRM’d and everything else to be free! Don’t believe me?
- Apple computers (I’m talking 90’s era when America and the world were getting in good with computers) were sealed with Torx screws. So what? Well at the time, and still, an average human being has no clue what that is (they’ve never had to crack an XBox to mod it) nor do they have Torx screw drivers to open it.
- FairPlay, the DRM created by Apple, is supposed to be a good system. Yet Steve Jobs, in the article I quoted earlier, claims that to release it worldwide would be to have someone reverse engineer it, and break it. Clearly a few things are going on here. First off they’re banking on some form of security by obscurity which any good security professional would laugh at. Second they’re betting that people can’t break FairPlay if they don’t have the source, which is wrong also. And third they’re trying to protect their handy little algorithm from the rest of the world. Why was iTunes never released on Linux when it originated on the Mac (a Unix core)? My guess is because Apple is afraid someone would reverse engineer it and they had to protect their secrets.
- The iPhone. Gosh, where to start. Sell a locked phone, on only one network, that you get kickbacks from… Why not allow any service to use it? (I’ve heard from an Apple employee its because some services need specialized packages by the provider. That’s all fine, but its not that other networks were given the chance to implement those packages, its that the phone was locked, period).
- This SDK. Now, its not uncommon to pay to use someone’s SDK. I’ve got no problem with that, you spend money to make money as my brother just pointed out. My problem comes with the fact that they have to go through the app store. I’m sure this is done in the name of “security”, ’cause iTunes has never been infected before. Oh wait, it has. Why can’t an independant coder such as myself offer a download from his mobile phone equipped website? Why must I use their store? (Oh, and you can post free apps, at least they’re not forcing you to charge).
- The store. The reason you have to go through the store is so Apple can vette your product, and make sure you’re not bypassing their locks! What a wonderful little software depot they run here, so long as all the developers drink the Koolade. I can understand trying to make sure people don’t get past a few boundaries, they point out VoIP over the cellular network to get past minutes plans. I’d like to point out my cheap little Razr can do that to bypass the minutes plans (a quick google search turned up this link, but I remember thinking about setting up my desktop to handle calls last summer from a website I was reading at the time, so I know there’s more home-grown solutions).Oh yea, and the store takes a 30% cut.
How does any of the above not point to Apple controlling its products? Sure, companies do that, they control their products. But few companies give me such a shiver when I hear of each new ploy than Apple does. And the worst part is, all the coverage I’ve seen of this plan has been good, not a single piece has questioned Apples need to vette every developer’s contribution, or for them to take 30% for doing nothing.
For once, and I shudder to say this, I have to like Facebook’s model better. Put the API out there, let the public go crazy, and keep it free! You get just as much content, you get a much wider variety (unlike the few whack biscuits I saw who said this would “spur creativity” within the iPhone community), and you get community interaction. What’s more to love? With this plan you’ll get the people who planned on writing for the iPhone anyways, along with businesses who just want to replace their Blackberries. Of course, those are the people who wouldn’t try to do something shocking and free with their phone, so maybe that’s why Apple wants only them. Forget the hackers that might do something cool, lets go the safe and greedy route.
So here’s to you Steve Jobs! If you truly believed what you said in your article on music, you’d think twice about this plan. Every year Apple turns more and more into what they always thought they were fighting, the mindless overlords bent on controlling their populace.
