I am continuously amazed by the fawning adoration of everything apple on boingboing. They violate every single item on the owner’s manifesto which boingboing purports to champion:

I’m sorry. I’ve never met this Boing Boing person. Is it a lady or a gentleman?

Or is it possibly a group of bloggers who have different opinions?

Absolutely.  Apple is big on creation… With a few caveats.

If you want to create content to run on one of their products, you better be creating it on another one of their products.

If you want to create content to run on other products, you better not be using an apple product.

If you create software for an apple product, you better be willing to let apple sell it for you so they get a cut.

If you create hardware for an apple product, you better be ready to pay the licensing fees for their proprietary everything.

If you want to express your creativity by modding/hacking/upgrading your apple product, then tough noogies.

You can create whatever you want, as long as you do it exactly how apple wants you to do it.

And just to make this semi-on-topic, all of this is Jobs’ fault.  He may
be a great businessman and a master of design, but he is a control
freak.  I don’t want to buy things that somebody else controls.  I don’t want to pay money to be told how to use the things I purchase.

I am continuously amazed by the fawning adoration of everything apple on boingboing.  They violate every single item on the owner’s manifesto which boingboing purports to champion: http://makezine.com/04/ownyourown/

Every religion needs a messiah.  Consumerism is no exception.

I clicked “Like” on your post because it’s a clever quip and thought provoking.

At the same time, I think if you look at Apple’s entire history you can see where it has enabled many consumers to jettison the role and become creators.  Over the years, Apple has brought so many tools (that previously were only within the domain of the very wealthy) to the masses it’s incredible.

I think with the success of the iPod, iPhone, etc. many people have forgotten this fact and that’s unfortunate.  Desktop publishing was a revolution for the masses with far reaching consequences that’s actually changed the world we live in today (for the better).

The tools are out there to create… and Apple has contributed greatly to that pool through its innovation.  The choice to be a creator and take advantage of the tools or merely consume toys and the creative endeavors of others is up to each and every one of us.

But fast-forward to today, and I have to wonder at your comment that Steve is responsible for much that we love in our modern life. I like the iPhone. It’s a sweet device, no question. But did it transform my life? Am I really any better off with Apple products? Not really. Sometimes I wish I just had a $50 phone again, or maybe just a landline with an answering machine. Now if we had flying cars…

But that won’t stop people blogging about it for the next three weeks.