I just had a realization. Apple's actually becoming the next Microsoft.
And they're beginning to act the part.
And they're beginning to act the part.
Microsoft has never been cool, which makes it perfect for corporate business where coolness is treated like an itch in a private place. Until Apple is able to sell itself to big business it is riding a knife-edge trying to stay cool with the college students that change every single year.
Music goes through phases, and for a while grunge is cool, and then after a while it becomes uncool (mostly because the popularity attracts dozens of second rate copycats and the airwaves become saturated).
The same thing could happen to apple; maybe all the copycats will dilute the appeal of its products and fatigue will set in for everything Apple.
But there's another kind of "cool" that can last a lot longer. Think BMW or Mercedes. Not for everybody, but they've owned a lot of the upmarket segment for a long time, and the very fact that they're not for everybody probably helps keep the copycats and saturation away.
Maybe the fact that Apple isn't trying to be everything to everybody will help their longevity...
In short, I think the iPod is the Microsoft Windows of the mp3 player world.
Or to put it another way, when I have to buy an iPhone to collaborate with people around me who have iPhones, then you'll have an argument to make.
And yes, again, I'm focusing on Apple here, but they aren't the only one playing the game. =)
Or do you mean, pushing those items over adopting Flash? Even so, that's not Apple controlling the web platform, that's just Apple making sure Adobe doesn't control it.
I didn't say they did. I didn't even imply they did. That's not even close to what I said.
They do, however, want to control those technologies, and they want as much control as they can get.
As for Flash, I don't see why this even came into it. I didn't mention it, or even consider it. However, Flash is one more example of Flash in control, and only strengthens my point.
Basically, Apple isn't supporting H.264, HTML5, or WebKit to benefit the open nature of the web. They are supporting it because it gives them more control over their platform.
Finally, as far as WebKit goes, they do control their version of it. They also control how they implement HTML5 on their platform. You can suggest they aren't doing this, but all their actions demonstrate the desire to do just this.
Anyways, next time, focus on what I said. Not what you think I said.