I have always enjoyed Fred Wilson’s musings on technology. From my understanding, he and I seem to agree quite often on issues that I read through his blog.
I am surprised to hear that he is just now seeing the danger in Apple’s model of a proprietary software-hardware model.
I am particularly concerned that I’ll have to use iTunes to synch music and photos instead of being able to drag and drop. This post explains there is no way to get music and photos onto the iPhone without using iTunes. I’ve got way more than 8 gigs of music on my laptop and I’d really like to manually drag and drop the music I want on my iPhod.
I think someone should create an alternative iPhone sync program. Apple is starting to use iTunes to lock us all into their world. I don’t like to buy my music from Apple and I don’t like to be forced to use their software to connect to their devices.
Has it not been this way for a while? Is this not the same argument we had years ago when Apple opened what is now the world’s largest digital music store with proprietary DRM? Sure, Steve Jobs says he wants to move toward music that’s open but he’s still aiming to protect Apple’s hold in the device market. So of course he will lock consumers into their closed software-hardware loop. The tight leash that binds the iPhone to iTunes is evidence of this tactic. Furthermore, the lack of adaquite developer tools for the much anticipated device illustrates their fear of outsiders joining their party.
What scares me the most is the blind eye that Apple is turning toward the past. This is exactly what happened in the early 90’s that gave Microsoft the opportunity to take the desktop market. Apple needs to learn to play nice and continue to focus on their business of making user-friendly products. The technology industry is now open market that thrives on companies sharing their platform’s capabilities.
I will draw one comparison. If MySpace is Microsoft and Facebook is Apple, then we are still living in a world before the F8 platform was released. It is clear to any industry observer that MySpace is out and Facebook is in; much the same way in the computer market - Apple is hip. However, they are still scared of opening their doors. If Apple wants to put the iPhone into tens of millions of pockets in the next few years, then it needs to open the floodgates to third-party developers to give consumers the reason to pay $500-$600 for a shiny new iPod.
Apple: make it a platform, make hundreds off each device sold, and profit. Typical platform play.
