Comment by ghostwords | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ghostwords | Hacker News Reader

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"Mr. Jobs leaves behind a dominant Apple, fulfilling his original promise to save the company from the brink when he returned in 1997. Because of its enormous strength in both music sales and mobile devices, Apple has more power than at any time in its history, and it is using that power to make the computing experience of its users less free, more locked down and more tightly regulated than ever before. All of Apple’s iDevices — the iPod, iPhone and iPad — use operating systems that deny the user access to their workings. Users cannot install programs themselves; they are downloaded from Apple’s servers, which Apple controls …

… Today there is no tech company that looks more like the Big Brother from Apple’s iconic 1984 commercial than Apple itself, a testament to how quickly power can corrupt."

> Users cannot install programs themselves

It costs $99/year to do so. I have written software and installed it on all three of those devices.

I wish it cost no money whatsoever, but the quoted text itself is simply not true.

You are not a user, you are a developer. Consider that having to pay/become certified to develop reinforces the above point.

less free, more locked down and more tightly regulated than ever before.

What a contortion to characterize Apple's achievements with iOS this way. Compared to life before iPhones, we practically have superhero abilities at our fingertips, but yeah, Steve Jobs was mostly just taking our freedom. I can read any book or essay (including this thinly veiled anti-Apple screed) or hear just about any song ever recorded within seconds of it coming to mind, but Apple is "Big Brother". This guy is a clown.

"What a contortion to characterize Apple's achievements"

It's Mike Daisey, dude knows one song and he's playing it. Not a great time to be running a one man show that trashes Steve Jobs. Or maybe it is.

It's a shame because some of his thoughts on Foxconn are interesting. I saw him in an interview and I'll admit that he made me think about the impact that my buying has. He's an engaging speaker.

But he really does a disservice to these arguments by going off on EFF-style rants. Its not in the same ballpark as the human rights concerns, which sure makes it look like he's just looking for a conveniently high profile target.

This really captured my biggest concern as well - thanks for the link!

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