Re: is restricted cell net access acceptable?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: July 4, 2007 9:59:05 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] is restricted cell net access acceptable?


> From: Christian Kuhtz <christian () kuhtz com>
...
> One could argue that limited customization is in fact doing everyone
> a favor on a specialized device such as this one, which is far from
> general purpose computing hardware.

That argument reminds me so much of the old "Ma Bell -- We Know
Best" operating philosophy that I feel positively nostalgic.

Comparing the Web 2.0 apps that Apple are deeming fit for the common
riffraff to run, to the range of available WM 5/6 third-party
PDA/Smarthphone apps, is like comparing McDonald's burger menu with
a Vegas Buffet.

C'mon now, nobody is threatening to waterboard you or stick sterile
needles under your fingernails to force you to install real third-party
applications that you don't want to run.

Apple is sticking to their usual modus operandi -- trying to maintain
virtually total functional control of their platforms from cradle to
grave.  That's their choice of course.  But if the history of other
"controlled" computing platforms like the PSP game unit is any
guide, they won't be terribly successful at keeping that control as
the hacking community digs into the iPhone guts -- as they already
have.

So in a way it's all a big Kabuki dance, and a lot of wheels spinning
to crack closed systems that didn't really need to be closed in the
first place.

But after all, it does keep the blogs busy.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
   - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com




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