Daringfireball – The point isn’t that you shouldn’t hack, or that you don’t have the right to do whatever you want with something you own. The point is that if you hack, you’re on your own. You can’t do unsupported things and expect to be supported for them just because you think these actions should be supported. It’s that simple.
Bluehoreshoes write:
re: The point isn’t that you shouldn’t hack, or that you don’t have the right to do whatever you want with something you own.
No. The point is that a company that takes an actively hostile stance towards you hacking something you own deserves criticism.
You never cease to amaze.
Apple is not Erector Sets.
Why should Apple encourage customers to break their brand new 2-years-ahead-of-the-competition phones?
Wait, this is an easy argument to end since you are ever the “let the market decide” sorta guy. Please show me your market analysis to illustrate that it makes economic sense for Apple to open the iPhone to hacking. You agree that a company has a right to make bad economic decisions. Apple has the right to be foolish and keep the phone closed.
If they have the right to make this mistake, then say you think they are foolish and do not buy their phones. Buy one you can hack and be happy the market allows you to choose. Casting aspersions [actively hostile] does no one any good. Maybe you and the Swift Boaters for Lies should compare notes.
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I do not agree that Apple is taking a hostile stance. I was at the iPhoneDevCamp and everyone there knew what we were up against. Hell, one of the best hacks came from a guy who posted his stuff up on his company website (google.com).
From what I hear (and I admit I do not eat vegan lunch with Steve as often as you do 😉 Apple is worried first and foremost with stability. The apps Apple has written (Safari, Email, etc) crash F-A-R too often. I can not go a day without my browser restarting (granted it is graceful, but still). If Apple can not write stable apps (and rem they pulled engineers off Leopard dev just to launch the iPhone!) what makes you think Little Johnny can write one during recess?
The last thing Apple needs is a Safari exploit that shows how hackers can execute unauthorized code and take over the phone. (Whoops… already happened!)
When I was a teacher I fount that if I came into the classroom tough as nails and whipped everyone into line at the beginning, I looked like a saint when I later relaxed the rules. Teachers who were too lenient at the start looked like jerks when they tightened up the rules.
Apple is doing the same thing. Once they have a stable platform, I have no doubt they will release a public SDK and encourage people to write apps (not hack!) their phones. What makes you say different? Please share.