Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Apple Is Not a Bastion of Openness (Duh)

by Terrence O'Brien on December 7, 2008 at 12:14 PM


Well, the Register is a little late to the party, but having another voice bemoaning the closed nature of Apple is always appreciated.

As we've pointed out before, despite all the complaints against Microsoft for being closed and monopolistic, Apple actually commits far more crimes against openness in the tech world. While most of the computer-using, iPod-listening public give Apple a free pass, developers have been very vocal in their opposition to Apple's practices.

Even when Apple finally opened the iPhone and iPod touch to third-party developers, the Cupertino-based company made sure that it had had final say over applications -- Apple retains the ability to remotely disable and delete any application. Want to load songs on an iPod without iTunes, for example? There isn't any Apple-sanctioned way to do that. Running OS X on a non-Apple computer requires a bit of hacking.

Apple makes some quality products, for sure, but the company is far from the bastion of openness and corporate responsibility that people seem to think it is. If you want open, try Linux instead. [From: The Register]

Tags: apple, microsoft, os x, OsX

Comments

2

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular