We got that Apple IIgs in ‘87 or ‘88. Its capabilities were broad-ranging and we used it in every way possible short of compiling new software. Looking back now, though, its most compelling feature for me was its ability to accept and run BASIC programs, even without disk drives connected. Like the old Sinclair computers in England, there was an understanding that the most basic function of a computer was to run user-created code.

To my unskilled 9-year-old mind, that built-in BASIC interpreter seemed like a bottomless well of possibility, sparkling in the dark. My desire to explore that hidden realm was what drew me to computers most profoundly. It is the ever-more-infinite possibility offered by processing machines which continues to interest me.

You told me once that you didn’t think the public would widely accept computers into their homes until the devices were as approachable as telephones. I think that was a sound theory until the startling popularity of the Internet in the mid-’90s outran the improvement of computer interfaces. Everyone suddenly had to get savvy or stay home, which was both thrilling and troublesome. Nevertheless, those who care have continued to strive for usability and approachability in computing, and I have always championed Apple because they have always cared more than anyone else. I know you have gotten more mileage out of your iMac than either of us ever thought.

But Apple and I are parting ways. The digital world is a new frontier engendering open possibility above all else, and has done so for my entire life. I’d like it to stay that way, but I’m seeing Apple as less of an enabler and more of a patriarch. It comes down to the old assertion that the product of freedom and safety is a constant.

More concretely, a comparison between the iPhone and the new Droid phone is illustrative. iPhones are brilliant pieces of hardware without a doubt. Yet in spite of their enormous abilities and lustworthy design & quality, they are stymied by an ugly truth. See, the unique feature of these phones is that they can run user-selected software, but only that provided through Apple. That’s not bad on its own, but Apple’s approval process has an unhealthy dose of We Know What’s Best For You mixed in. A variety of talented developers have had their hard work rejected from the App Store for less-than-compelling reasons. The greatest personal offense is that Apple looks down on any sort of programmability within these applications, lest it be used to somehow wrest control of the hardware from Apple’s locked-down operating system. Apple encourages users to carry powerful computing devices around with them, but prohibits the most basic joy of computing.

Conversely, the Droid (which runs the open-source Android operating system) is equally-impressive hardware, but is far less controlled. The Android App Market welcomes all comers, and though that does introduce some risk, it also means that the user of an Android-based phone is not restricted in how they use a device which they own. This crucial philosophical difference seems lost on Apple, and I’ve never gotten excited about their offering as a result.

In the coming decades I suspect that more and more clever people will attempt to engage usability and safety as means of limiting choice. It may already make me an anachronism, but these days I am leaning toward the option that gives me the most flexibility in the use of my digital devices, even at the expense of safety. That option rarely resides with Apple these days.

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No matter how creepy design and social media get over the next few years, you still can’t beat the old primeval effect of drastic pen lines.

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Found via Laughing Squid

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Go figure, as soon as I do a Mapple post XKCD comes along and makes the whole Windows 7 thing ever so much funnier! Guess we all have a little CES fever this week.

By the way, CTRL+ALT+DOWN makes his mustache twitch.

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Now with the beta release of Windows 7 and a pushed forward timetable to market, I’m seeing the same strife, and once again the self-righteous and ragers are girding their loins for battle. It got me thinking though, in this whole debate that’s not really what’s going on. Mac describes both a specific hardware and OS, while PC is really just a catchall term referencing a computer of any flavor whose size and sale price make it useful for individuals. In point of fact the original IBM PC was actually predated by the Apple I, so it could be argued that Apple WAS the original PC. And it’s not often you hear a straight debate between OSX and a Windows version in a closed environment, it’s always tempered by variations in hardware and marketing. That’s the real difference. Any discussion of Apple vs. Microsoft is pretty much cantaloupe vs. grapefruit. Microsoft makes software. That’s their thing. Then they license it out to whoever wants to put it on whatever kind of hardware, and hoover up the fees while hardware vendors compete over pricing. They’re not in the business of making something tangible. Apple is a computer manufacturer. That’s their calling. True, they write brilliant software (like OSX), but they do that to sell more hardware. They’re not licensing the iphone’s OS, they’re selling the damn handset. And they can charge as much as they do because they make sure that their code will only work on their hardware.

The fact of the matter is that both business models have a well earned placed in the gadget ecology. MS’s is designed for scalability, ubiquity, and market penetration. Apple’s is designed for per unit profit maximization and a narrow but deep slice of the pie.

As it happened I ended up getting a mid-range laptop running Vista, because I really couldn’t justify the price of a Mac. Just like I wouldn’t buy a new game console for the sole purpose of playing one game (no matter how awesome). And to be honest I haven’t had a lick of trouble with it. Well, excepting IE 7 (Goddamn you Bill Gates!).

A computer, like so much else in our lives, is a means not an end. A tool to be used however one may need, and no amount or marketing or branding will ever really change that.

Now stop stabbing my mother with that tuning fork!

Trolling and fanboyism can be found here, here , and pretty much everywhere else you might care to look.

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