[LINK] iPad

[Ivan Trundle]

On 28/01/2010, at 4:35 PM, Robin Whittle wrote:

> Hi Erik,
> 
> Thanks for this link:
> 
>> http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ipad
> 
>   The Problem
> 
>   The Apple iPad uses Digital Restrictions Management in two ways:
> 
>     *  All media in the iTunes store (with the one exception of
>        music) is wrapped in Apple's DRM. That means films, TV shows,
>        movies and audiobooks are locked to Apple's platform, taking
>        away your right to share.

Which you can repurpose into other file formats without too much difficulty. The DRM issue is a dead issue for 99% of most users of iTunes.

>   *  All applications must be signed by Apple if they are to run,
>        an unprecedented level of control for a general purpose
>        computer.

Big deal. This has always been so with the iPhone (and who is to say that the iPad is a general purpose computer?). There are reasonably good reasons for control at this point. Again, it hasn't stopped the billions of app downloads to date.

> On top of this, Apple can push updates to the
>        device over its wireless connection, letting them add or
>        remove capabilities at any time.

As mentioned in previous message: iTunes doesn't work this way.

> 
>   These restrictions make the iPad a particularly dangerous platform
>   for the distribution of news media. Every publisher depends on
>   permission from Apple, and Apple can remotely delete stories after
>   they have been published.

The word 'dangerous' is lamentably hostile and inappropriate.

> Indeed.  My life has been complete without buying anything from the
> Church of Apple.

My life is neither complete nor incomplete, with or without Apple. I'm not sure why such a statement adds to the debate.

> I await the Asus knock-off

The Keynote presentation demonstrates the path the Apple took, and why netbooks will never feature in the Apple lineup. Knock-offs will have to work hard to match the speed that people are experiencing in their hands-on demos. 

--
Ivan Trundle
http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com
ph: +61 (0)418 244 259 fx: +61 (0)2 6286 8742 skype: callto://ivanovitchk