Comment by venomsnake | Hacker News Reader

Comment by venomsnake | Hacker News Reader

Amazing work. I have the best predictor of any product success - ask Steve (em)Ballmer what is the correct thing to do and find someone that does the exact opposite.

Surface RT and the whole metro store were very exciting until Microsoft unveiled the lockdown.

And even today I think that a reversal of course is possible and will be beneficial for the adoption of windows 8/RT. Just unlock the damn things - a lot of professionals are looking for a third device still.

Windows and PC succeeded because they were wild and buggy and moldable - that allowed them to deliver good solution now instead of perfect in 10 years.

The same things is happening with ARM/Android - I am having more fun switching roms than anytime since the late 90s. And from anecdotal evidence Raspberry Pis and the likes are busy taking over the world where mobility is not a concern - the moment you are asked by non geek about the Pi and can it move a home server, you know the rules of the game are changing and fast.

So how do you reply to the argument that "people certainly like iOS devices that are locked-down, often citing the absence of malware and other non-conforming apps"?

That I want to see that real user of iDevices that sober will say the phrase "noncomforming apps" ... or that lack of malware will be anywhere near the top 5 reasons of liking them. And path behavior was one expected of malware. And it was approved by Apple with bells and whistles.

Malware is a solved problem already since Vista shipped even on windows. I haven't seen one in ages on the maybe 20-30 friend pcs that I am the involuntary "IT" guy.

People like iDevices. Period. But one of the engines of innovation is being able to use something for purpose other than the one envisioned by its creator. It creates positive feedback loop. Which include running software that somebody might not approve. Also unlocked does not mean defenseless. Sandboxing and isolation are good things, so is the vetting of the apps in the store.

I think that the HTC model currently is best - device comes locked, with official unlock available that voids part of the warranty. If I want security - I got it. But if i want to use 300 of them mounted on the ceilings of the clubs uploading realtime feeds to show the hottest places in town right now - I can use them for that too.

I'm still seeing malware on Vista and 7 on home machines where the users are STILL all local admins and click "OK"/"Yes" to every "should this be allowed to run?" prompt because years of popup messages have conditioned the average user to just say "whatever" and click the continue button.

Even without administrative privileges, your malware can still do lots of interesting things: full access to the user's files, settings and browser history, full internet access, automatic launch on startup.

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