Re: iPhone: The First Week

Michael Koby — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:21:50 -0000

I read the article and the one they did for the original iPhone. While the
FSF is something I support in theory, I think they in general go about it
the wrong way. While I agree that the iPhone needs to play Ogg files (why
it doesn't since it wouldn't cost any money to license the tech is anyone's
guess), the inclusion of DRM on movies is not the choice of Apple but rather
the content providers. You have DRM on your movies if you get them from
Amazon, or any other movie download site. If you stream a movie from
Netflix you're limited to (mostly) Microsoft technologies. So DRM is NOT
limited to Apple and Apple products. I'm sure most sites and content
sellers would love to move to DRM-Free since that makes their wares playable
on more devices.

Another point is that the iPhone does NOT expose your location without your
knowledge. In fact anytime a turns on that can do location based things, a
little dialog pops up that says "[APPNAME] would like to use your location.
Do you want to allow this" so I'm not really sure where they get that whole
"without your knowledge" thing.

Also, Fairplay has NOTHING to do with the applications. That is all the
media DRM. The applications are limited though so they are right about
that. But they are limited only in what can(not) be approved by the App
Store people. As long as an app is approved, it will be available.

The FSF does a decent job of cutting through most FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, &
Doubt) but it's articles like this one that really bug me because it creates
FUD as well. While I'm not here to say the iPhone is the best phone on the
market (in fact, far from it), it is a decent one. The FreeRunner they
mention, I researched thoroughly (and even attempted to get a review unit
when I was on Power of Information), the problem with the device is that
it's limited to GSM (no Edge, no 3G) and at last check was only available
when purchased with a development kit. So the phone isn't even available to
purchase except in a development edition. Doesn't sound "consumer ready" to
me. But I do like the idea behind FreeRunner and the company creating it.

And while I'm not hear to defend all of Apple's policies and technology, I
do think the iPhone is a nifty device (always have). It has flaws, some of
which are being addressed in the 3.0 OS update. But even then it's still
not perfect. And as long as the content makers want to "protect" their
content, there will be DRM, regardless of Apple or not.

Re: iPhone: The First Week

Graziano — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:48:00 -0000

5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G:

http://www.fsf.org/blogs/co...

Michael Koby - Latest Comments in iPhone: The First Week

Re: iPhone: The First Week

Re: iPhone: The First Week