Jan
12
2007Jobs: iPhone a closed platform to protect Cingular
12
2007
In all the hubbub surrounding Apple’s new iPhone, I had been wondering how it would handle third party applications. Looks like it won’t. And Steve Jobs is claiming it’s to protect Cingular’s network infrastructure. Jobs argues that an ill-mannered app could bring down the whole network.
Uh-huh.
I have a Windows Mobile Smartphone which runs on the Cingular network, and that’s a very open platform. If it were conceivable to bring down a cellular network with a poorly written app, someone would have done it by now via Smartphone.
I’ll always think Jobs is a genius and a visionary, but even his Reality Distortion Field has its limits. Clearly he wants Apple to be just like the big carriers in restricting cell phone applications, to profit as gatekeepers. And that’s disappointing for a company that claims to be about enabling individual creativity.
I still want the damn thing, though.