TLDR: Rewrote (and dare I say improved) on this little rant for my blog: http://zwitserloot.com/2010/02/15/apple-is-evi-well-no-but-perhaps-shortsighted/ - for those interested.
On Feb 15, 5:33 am, Reinier Zwitserloot <reini...@gmail.com> wrote: > There's a fairly long spiel on podcast 297 about why the iPad isn't > "evil". I got the impression none of the posse understand what's at > stake here. I'll be brief - if you think this stuff is interesting and/ > or important, search the blogsphere, you'll have _plenty_ to read. > (spoiler: You can't sign the NDA you need to agree to do become an SDK > developer until 18. Apple is morally in the wrong for not considering > this). > > Those who have some reservations about the iPad usually foresee a > great future for the device. I know the standard sales pitch is for it > to be a 'third device', but I think that's just shortsighted. What > would your average family need to do that the iPad cannot do (let's > make a few provisos, such as a way to sync phones and cameras to an > ipad)? Play really complex games? Sure, but, you'll probably buy a > games console and not a PC to fill that niche. Programming? This is > about people who are just tinkering about before they actually realize > they'd even want to try programming. What else is there? Serious work, > spending many hours behind the screen? Working stiffs (and > programmers :P) will do that, but why would a family need to consider > that? Also, there's the keyboard dock. Even Mac OS X is so complicated > my parents just don't understand it. They've got 8 screens worth of > apps on their iPhones though, and I never showed them anything for it, > whereas I try to explain their macbook to them every time I'm over. > > But therein lies a problem. Game consoles are already closed NDA- > protected fiefdoms, and the iPad is no different. > > Joe specifically said: Just get the SDK - but that costs money, isn't > all that great for tinkering (you don't put $99 up front for a whim, > and the tools aren't made to just screw about for a bit. It's not like > apple also ships a logo-like environment so kids can learn to program > too, and there's no way to make something like this either, as you'd > either break the NDA or you'll run afoul of the app store policies), > and you HAVE TO BE 18 YEARS OLD! I was less than half that age when I > wrote my first (ridiculously simple and juvenile) program. > Nevertheless, it was a program. > > Apple is a ground-breaking company that is in the business of > redefining how the world interacts with automated systems. If you want > to be in that kind of visionary position, you have to think of this > stuff, and I'm very disappointed that they either haven't considered > this, or did, and decided not to care about it. They don't have to > open up the platform much to solve this issue. By relaxing the rules > on apps that themselves also run apps just a little, you could make > awesome programming environments almost anybody can tinker around > with, it would turn the iPad from a force of evil into a force of > good, as far as increasing the pool of technical creative people is > concerned. > > *THAT* is why apple is morally on shaky ground. Which, in the modern > age, needs to be written as "apple is EEEEVIL!" because headlines > always ridiculously overstate everything in a silly grab for > attention. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to javapo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to javaposse+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
