>>techies, and tinkerers.
Without pointlessly debating specifics, it does seem after historical perspective that closed, proprietary systems ultimately give way to freer platforms. I think the IPhone and IPad are great devices but will not be able to keep up with the innovation that will come from Android’s developers. The Apple II line and Mac Classic line eventually got lost in the sea of cheaper, open platforms.
Cheap android devices are busting down the barriers. MetroPCS’s $100 Android phone was just the ticket for alot of smart-phone skeptics. I admit, it did it for me! On the other hand, I am also now more interested in the iPhone as well. I have used my brothers quite a bit. At the moment, nothing compels me to get one over the android device I have now, but that could change.
“Without pointlessly debating specifics, it does seem after historical perspective that closed, proprietary systems ultimately give way to freer platforms.”
It’s not clear. With music players Apple is effortlessly holding on to great market share. With phones carrier lockin hurt Apple but that’s starting to change. In the pad space it looks like Apple will continue to do very well. Mac sales continue to pick up despite a somewhat limited range of hardware options.
I’m all for competition as it will spur Apple on to even better products, but I’m not at all worried about Apples prospects. Apple is on an amazing run, and it’s mind boggling that its market cap is exceeded only by Exxon.
Yup. That's why Linux has destroyed the desktop market share of OS X and Windows.
Surely you are not calling Microsoft an open platform. Microsoft succeeded because hardware became a commodity. Operating systems were scarce back in the 1980s. Market conditions are different today. Today operating systems are a commodity.
As for open, Apple has created some amazing open source projects. Apple created WebKit to write their Safari browser and then open-sourced WebKit. Google later used it to write their Chrome browser. Lots of other projects are using WebKit.
Apple has also invested heavily in LLVM, an open source project to drive forward the development of a modern compiler and processor for the C family of languages. This is a very big deal if you program in those languages. And Apple's integrated development environment, based on LLVM, is free for any one to download.
People see the products like iPhone, iPod, and iPad. But behind those projects lie a great deal of technical knowledge and innovation. And Apple has been very generous in making some of those key technologies open source.