Brian at Gizmodo has put up a post which, carefully and with reluctance, outlines the reasons why Gizmodo no longer recommends the iPhone. It’s worth reading, as is the response from my friend Jack at the Guardian. I agree with the sentiments of both pundits, although I do wonder what would have happened had Microsoft pulled a stunt like this, i.e. crippling a product in such a deliberate and malicious way? How has Apple got away with this so easily? Is the fan base really that intimidating or the customers so gullible? Amazing.
Come now, the Sony PSP has been combating “3rd party” apps forever now with constant firmware updates rolling out ever quarter or so. I don’t see how it’s much different that Apple’s iPhone.
Hackers have managed to keep 1-up-ing Sony, however, and maintain homebrew on the PSP each time an update comes along. What is a bit ironic however is that some of the later firmware updates from Sony have started introducing items that originally were *cough* inspired *cough* by homebrew.
Case in point; Internet browsing, RSS support, higher video resolution, and the latest – menu customization.
Apple is just following the Sony PSP path. They are obviously going to “release” clones of the third party programs later on, with the Apple spin of course. And I think this “locking” business hopefully will become “unlocked” again. The fanbase has taken a bit of a hit. But I imagine that they’ve become accustomed to Apple products biting the dust… logic board failures (on various generations of “*-books”), overheating “moo” sounds, the Lisa, etc
Um… Let the first (i)class action lawsuit commence! (j/k)
Ah yes Sony. Forgot about them. :-) I suppose the only thing to remember though is that a mobile phone is much more essential than a game console. Getting the first trashed is a disaster, bricking (is that a verb?) the latter is just an inconvenience.
True… Cellphones are more essential than a portable gaming console, but both are often available in excess. As consumer electronics go, most ppl who can afford a PSP or an iPhone often have more than device of that category (more than one gaming console, more than one cell phone), and so swapping is possible. But I’d imagine the counter arguement would be that few would have a second smart/uber-phone to take it’s place.
Perhaps it’s rather a well placed move on behalf of Apple for AT&T to remind their customers that it’s a business they are running. And money is the name of the game.
Of course, let’s not infer malice, if stupidity will suffice.
Heh, oh yes stupidity, let’s not forget that possibility, eh? :-)