You're Ruining it for Everyone!

I read an article the other day about how, for the second time in as many weeks, Apple rejected an app from their App Store because it "ridicules public figures". The apps in question were collections of political comics, one by a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, the other a collection of PG-rated Tiger Woods mock ups.

Today I read an article about Windows Phone 7 and how they plan to use a similarly strict vetting process for apps in their Marketplace when those devices become available later this year.

This is a dangerously slippery slope. Apple and Microsoft are betting that their devices are so good that you'll put up with any draconian enforcement policies just to keep using them.

Mobile devices are slowly morphing into mini computers. They can do a whole lot of things. While sacrificing of a few things - speed, screen size, etc... - for portability. Tablets, which are all the new rage, are closing the gap ever faster.

Consider this scenario:

You need a new computer for home. You go to BestBuy (or MicroCenter or wherever you go) and look at laptops. The salesperson shows you a super slick laptop, laptop A. It's gorgeous. It has every hardware spec you could possibly need from a laptop. But it comes with one caveat - you can only install software on this laptop that the hardware manufacturer approves. Furthermore, certain applications that the hardware manufacturer provides - music players, mail client, web browser, et al - must be used as no alternatives are supported. Then he shows you another laptop, laptop B, that has all the same hardware specs, but isn't quite the eye-catcher of the other device. On top of that, the OS isn't quite as intuitive and also lacks the good looks of laptop A. But laptop B's manufacturer will permit you to install anything on their computer. The laptops have almost similar pricing, not identical, but close enough that cost isn't a factor. Which do you buy?

If you are the type of person who would buy that laptop, you are a prime candidate for a iPhone or Windows Phone 7 device or a BlackBerry. If you are the type of person that would prefer the door remaining open on your device to do with it what you please, you may want to consider Android. They'll all be great mobile OSes. And they'll all have their own supporters and detractors.

Here's a confession - I own an iPhone. I love it. There really is an app for everything - banking, setting my DVR, tracking my workouts, listening to Reds games, playing Euchre... everything. But as much as I love my iPhone, I still prefer the ability to do with my s**t whatever the hell I want. And I certainly don't like the direction that all this is headed. That's why, unless something drastic changes with Apple's policies before my contract expires, this will be my last iPhone. It's tough to stomach, but continuing to support these practices makes corporations think that people like having their choices limited. So I'll hit them the only way they understand, in their pocketbook.