The Google G1 is clunky, but man does it kick the ass of the iPhone on so many levels… and while my Gateway laptop lumbered like a brontosaurus until Windows Vista, a quick install of Ubuntu gets the machine working at full potential… why should I pay twice as much for a sleek, one-size-fits-all, overhyped Apple product?

Forgive me if this is an ignorant question – I’m not at all familiar with the iPhone – but isn’t this same material equally easy to access using the iPhone’s built-in web browser?

Ummmm, you shouldn’t?

But you don’t need to hate Apple because nobody else is offering them sufficient competition in the “the fukkin thing just WORKS” category of gadgets.

Because the fukkin thing just WORKS, and it does not waste my time.

“Certified Safe” would get Apple in more trouble. There’s no way to certify something as safe (it’s, in essence, the halting problem, changing the question from “will it stop” to “will it do something bad”). The first time a trojan got through, Apple would be sued.

I’ve reread all your comments here, but the last one floored me. OK, you like Apple, they have always had every application you could ever want, and set it up in a way you like.

But a platform manufacturer dictating the software to be run on it because it might “look bad”? That’s saying you *can’t* paint the car, or put a cutout in the hood, because the manufacturer has decided it “looks bad” (your point)

Like many others here, it seems sensible to warn about, but allow alternative AppStores for teh pornos etc. Then there would be much less objection. You could even make an extra hurdle to be able to shop offsite, to protect ‘children’.

I actually think that Apple is moving in a good direction with having an AppStore at all. Ten years ago, the hoops one had to jump through for Macintosh software were much hotter, 20 years worse still.

Question: Does viewing web-browser porn pics on your iPhone hurt Apple’s reputation?

EFF penalized 15 yards for intentional misleading. Second down!

If I may be so bold, what is to stop someone from simply subbing to the RSS feed through Safari? Now there is an inconvenient truth! I do this on my iPhone – an entire folder bookmark of just RSS feeds, and nobody to tell me what I can or can’t put on them!

And I can’t believe nobody else is reveling in the irony of EFF complaining about Apple “locking down” their system, while the EFF is weeping, wailing, and gnashing their teeth about an app that locks you into reading only their RSS feed. If this were truly about freedom, wouldn’t the EFF just encourage everyone to sub via Safari?

No, this smacks of someone having a 2,000 pound axe to grind. Maybe that someone at the EFF is the “uncool kid” with a Zune. ;-)

My God people, how far does the Jobs empire have to go before the iCultists stop drinking the Koolaid?

The app store review process seems to exist only to keep their PR and legal departments busy.

“but I really don’t grok why people would buy an iPhone knowing that Apple got to control how you use your phone.”

maybe that is a concern today, but there are those of us who purchased iPhones well before this and the NIN controversy emerged.

You think they’ve gotten it right?…Really?!

Now seriously, Apple and Microsoft aren’t really that different from each other. And if you think about it, the only software you can install literally on whatever device you want is open source software.

Apple doesn’t allow emulators on the iPhone, because then it couldn’t control the software.

On my Nokia 9500, I have compilers/interpreters for Basic, OPL, ESHELL, and AutoType.

Apple doesn’t allow programming languages on the iPhone, because then it couldn’t control the software.

Apple wants to protect you from viruses because you are too stupid to protect yourself. Anyone can write or release code for the 9500. This is its danger, and its joy.

And this is why I would never buy an iPhone.

Jailbreaking is more like tuning the exhaust and adding NitrOx, and THEN expecting Ford to honor the engine warranty.

Apple will not stand by your amateur software efforts, as your efforts might break their product, or allow you to introduce a virus or other sneaky manouever, and thereby will make their product look worse to those who know no better – all of which will impact Apples sales far more than whining at them ever will….

Then I saw that, wait for it, the EFF blog doesn’t allow for comments! Clearly they want to censor me and every other voice. It’s censorship, right? Because I can’t comment on their site using their blog. That means my rights have been taken away, so here I am at another site, of my choosing, where I can have my voice. So first, thanks to BB for allowing comments. When the totalitarian and anti-free-speech policies of the EFF are subverted someday by freedom-loving peoples everywhere, we’ll all live in a better world.

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/04/26/frank-zappas-anticen.html

Not true. One thing is for Apple to say that jailbreaking voids the warranty, quite another to say it’s *illegal*. That’s a huge difference. If you take apart your new laptop to see how it works, you’ll also void the warranty but the idea that it could be illegal is ridiculous. And jailbreaking is obviously much *less* intrusive.

I’m gonna go line up for a computer in which I must have permission from the manufacturer before running each program!

Well… maybe it’s because they’re sure to get a mention on one of the most popular blogs in the world if that app gets banned. Hmmm?

At the iPhone OS 3 developer preview, they presented a bunch of new features, one of which allows for applications in the future to have ratings

“Extended parental controls. Adult content filters can now be applied to movies, TV shows, and applications, in addition to web sites and music (porn apps, here we come).”
A text overview of the presentation at gizmodo.com

so just something to look at…

Or make one yourself.

This is why I am so confused during the iPhone commercials on TV, I am not so impressed that “there’s an app for that” for everything under the sun, since it seems you need to buy an app to access stuff that it appears you could just find for free on the web. The last example I can think of is Fandango. Just go to the website, you don’t need an app. I don;t need one on my Treo.

#32, by the way, I don’t think EFF needs to get BoingBoing’s attention with a banning by the Apple Store. I think they are already BFF’s.

“This is precisely why EFF has asked the Copyright Office to grant an exemption to the DMCA for jailbreaking iPhones.” I don’t believe that for a second. If the EFF was serious about a principle, they would have requested a viable and generalized exemption for a class of situations that pertain to a particular issue. Instead they’re trying to make all jailbreaking of just the iPhone legal. As submitted, the requested exemption would be grossly anti-competitive if granted.

“This is precisely why EFF has asked the Copyright Office to grant an exemption to the DMCA for jailbreaking iPhones.” I don’t believe that for a second. If the EFF was serious about a principle, they would have requested a viable and generalized exemption for a class of situations that pertain to a particular issue. Instead they’re trying to make all jailbreaking of just the iPhone legal. As submitted, the requested exemption would be grossly anti-competitive if granted.