This isn't what we have though. It isn't just Apple's store they're locking down, it's the whole device. A store that you can't freely put software on is unfortunate but understandable. A computer that you can't freely put software on is just wrong.
Wrong? For most of the world it's exactly what they need. Allowing people to freely put software on their computer leads to a lot of bullshit. Hell, even experienced people will put themselves through a lot of bullshit because they're allowed to change things.
The regular people in the world want and need someone to man the gates of software. It may not be good for FSF or FOSS, but guess what? A whole fucking lot of people (And I mean a shit load) don't care about programming languages, kernels, drivers, or any other of that crap.
(Sorry if this comes off ranty, I have a cold and I get heated really easily when sick)
Why not just have a "happy normal person mode" and a "dangerous geek warrior mode" for devices? Why do the two have to be mutually exclusive? In normal mode, all apps are certified, the device is guaranteed to be almost foolproof, etc.
To switch to geek mode, the user has to solve a math problem involving SI units, answer "Do you really want to forgo ease of use for flexibility?" a dozen times, or some other ritual to prevent normal users from accidentally entering geek mode.
The core firmware of the device has a switch to do a factory reset to normal mode no matter how much damage has been done to the software. Look at the OLPC XO for an example of how that can be implemented. That way, if a geek ever sells their device, there's no need for the buyer to worry about the device being all "geeked out."
* Sites start publishing easy how-to guides for entering GWM
* One-click tools to enter GWM are released
* Apps that use private APIs that require GWM are released
* Apple support has to deal with customers who fucked up their devices in GWM
* Apple has to deal with bad press when some malware spreads through GWM devices
* Any new iPhone OS release would have to deal with breaking however many GWM-oriented tools there are that rely on private, changing APIs. More bad press for little reward.
* The App Store is a huge win for end-users, and the benefit of that would go out the window with alternate sources of apps sprinting up. Where do you go to get an app? Where do you get the latest version? What happens if a non-App Store app gets really popular? You're back to having to manage your phone like it's a computer, which is a non-starter. You don't manage an iPhone, you use it.
You end up with a lot of phones that look like your computer-illiterate co-workers Windows XP machine from 5 years ago. But hey, people who like to tinker with their phones would be happy, so it's totally worth it.
My final paragraph addresses this issue: there's an easy-to-use, unalterable reset switch (either software or hardware) that will restore the device to factory settings, and a clause in the service agreement that says tech support will not help you if you refuse to remove your device from geek mode.
Non-app store apps getting popular hasn't been a problem on other mobile devices.
Isn't the "dangerous geek warrior mode" for the iPhone called "joining the iPhone developer program"? That does allow you to compile and install any app you want, right?
You can only ad-hoc install apps that have been signed for your device specifically. So if Alice and Bob want to exchange apps in this way, they can, but it prevents them from distributing their apps to just anyone.
"Dangerous geek warrior mode" is much more akin to Jailbreaking.
Few significant achievements come without putting yourself through a lot of bullshit. The closed model is really only valuable for a toy. A real tool has to be a little dangerous to be properly useful.
Wrong? For most of the world it's exactly what they need. Allowing people to freely put software on their computer leads to a lot of bullshit. Hell, even experienced people will put themselves through a lot of bullshit because they're allowed to change things.
The regular people in the world want and need someone to man the gates of software. It may not be good for FSF or FOSS, but guess what? A whole fucking lot of people (And I mean a shit load) don't care about programming languages, kernels, drivers, or any other of that crap.
(Sorry if this comes off ranty, I have a cold and I get heated really easily when sick)