Apple and closed systems


Free markets and legitimacy
There's been grumbling about Apple's "closed" architecture.

What short memories people have.

Before Steve Jobs went knocking on the record label's doors, no one had profitably sold music online. That was why Jobs was able to make the deal he did. The record companies were already tanking and didn't think that online music would amount to much.

The iTunes Music Store changed all that. Apple isn't in the business of selling music, Apple is in the business of selling iPods and iPhones. A wide variety of reasonably priced music helps do just that. Likewise, Apple is not in the business of selling iPhone Apps, Apple is in the business of selling iPhones and iPod Touches.

What made Apple's approach different was the integration. It's something that has been the hallmark of Apple at it's best since the Apple ][. It's the computer as an appliance, something that the user doesn't have to worry about. It's no secret that iTunes is at the heart of that integration. And the iTunes Music Store birthed the iPhone App Store.

No, I don't approve of all the decisions that Apple has made regarding which apps are available and which are not. But for the most part, the rules work to keep the iPhone (and iPod Touch) as an appliance. It's that integration that has made the iPod and later the iPhone such a success.

That's why I am disappointed with Palm.

Here's what you won't see Palm mentioning anywhere.

You see, Palm doesn't need the iTunes app to sync the Pre. They don't need to draw Apple's ire, or play yo-yo with their customers over this important capability. They can sync the Pre to a customer's iTunes music library with a public, open, and documented approach that has been used by third-party developers and device makers for years. This capability was created by none other than Apple itself.

With the Palm Pre's "cloud" approach, there is no way to synchronize address and calendar information from a Macintosh to a Pre without a third party solution. Unfortunately, given the history, this isn't surprising. Palm's last version of a Palm Desktop for Macintosh was a tweaked version of Claris Organizer, which Palm had bought in 1998. Palm did tweak the program to make it work with OS X, but made no further updates. Palm also stopped providing conduit software, Apple provided a bare-bones one. Mark/Space provided a better solution. And you don't even want to know what I think about cloud-computing.

But I will tell you, this stunt of Palm to go through iTunes to sync music and pictures, well, it makes Palm look like a parasite company. Apple doesn't seal off the files, it just doesn't want anyone else messing with the system integration. If Apple were to open that up, they'd be just another computer company instead of one of the best respected names in consumer electronics.

Apple, Inc. is known more for design and integration than anything else. That's the selling point.

Palm seems hellbent on turning it's brand into an also-ran. I know the company is struggling right now, but it should show some class. The Pre is a good product, it doesn't need to piggy-back on Apple's success.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - October 5, 2009 at 07:19 AM  Tag


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