Comparing iPhones To Lefty Socialists

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Comparing iPhones To Lefty Socialists

Written By : Melissa Clouthier

I must be a paradox: I’m a free-market capitalist and I love the iPhone. From Weissthaupt at Townhall:

Essentially the iPhone is safe from the Droid because most iPhone users are liberals. They are people who WANT a Mommy and Daddy watching over them. iPhone developers must navigate a Byzantine approval process that is so bad, that some even stoop to using Microsoft’s .NET to get things done. Apple tests and approves every application offered on the iPhone to make sure they all play nice together. This of course ensures the phone will deliver the beautiful and slick user experience Apple has decided its users will have. The iPhone is a good example of the “one-size-fits all” top-down mentality of liberals. If you want a different experience from what your masters thinks you SHOULD have and SHOULD want, you are just SOL. The lowercase “i” in iPhone doesn’t occur by accident. The individual just isn’t as important, and the “Phone” takes precedence. Many iPhone and Mac users come near to worshipping Apple and their products, going so far as to genuflect when they turn on a Apple device, ensure they face San Jose 3 times a day to give thanks for their iLife and to pray for the saving of the pagans who do not yet have one.

In contrast, Verizon’s Droid in Particular, and the Android OS in general are created for a different set of users who are interested in an I-Phone rather than a iPhone. They are interested in a “MY LIFE”, rather than an iLife. Open Development is a form of freedom that comes with its own attendant problems: some applications might conflict, the interface will be bit rough around the edges, and you have to look out for and solve these difficulties yourself. I-Phone users will sit down and write applications that fit them, break the new ground they want to explore , and they don’t need nor want a Master approving what they can and can’t do.

Wait just a minute.

There is a fallacy that people who are for free markets don’t want some sort of order. The mistake that the Microsoft and Android makers of the world, and for that matter, some libertarian types make, is that most people would prefer an unordered environment to a hyper-ordered environment.

That is simply not true. People want freedom within order.

The economy cannot flow when anarchy abounds. Exhibit “A”: Detroit. Or any war-zone for that matter. Too often, my PC was a war zone. It crashed. It spluttered. It had freedom to customize. But all I wanted it to do was stay stable so I could do my poopy word processing and multi-media stuff.

Apple, and now the iPhone met that desire while also giving flexibility. It’s not that someone cannot innovate on the iPhone, it’s that they must do so within the laws of the land. So, sadly for some, no porn Apps. Well, the Android will have them. The Android will also have all the weird bugs and viruses that come from this unprotected, aka “open,” platform. Like the PC, it will end up a war zone.

Will there be more innovation? Time will tell.

The lesson the conservatives and libertarians should take from the iPhone is that people want a user-friendly experience with enough flexibility to make it their own. That is, they don’t want to be inhibited by chaos. They also don’t want to be inhibited by over-regulation.

If people believe that Apple is getting too tyrannical, they’ll stop buying the iPhone. They’ll buy the Droid and Apple will have to respond and become more flexible or go out of business.

The iPhone metaphor failed from the beginning.

Mike_M

Interesting. I have a much different perception although it may be colored in that I have an iTouch instead of the full blown phone.

I think there are way too many iPhone apps and that it's probably already gotten to the point where it's impossible to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Great so it has 85,000 apps. Does it have an app to tell me what apps are worthwhile and what apps are a waste of time and money?

I'm sure it's great if you're a "funemployed" liberal in an LA Starbucks clicking away on your iPhone all day. Need to get together with your other unemployed liberal friends in a carbon-neutral location with a vegan menu? There's an app for that. It may take you three hours to find but hell, taxpayers are footing the bill so why not?

I suppose it's a slam against the terrible iTunes or online interfaces for apps more than anything. Apple was always terrible at GUIs, IMHO.
William Teach

I love my iPhone. I find it much, much, much easier to get the applications I need then I did with Windows devices (had a Blackjack and Blackjack 2 prior to the iPhone, also use a Blackberry Curve (strictly for corporate email server and personal email)). Yes, Windows was more open, as was Palm. Where is Palm now? They have almost no devices, and are dependent on Sprint.

Windows is trying to ramp it up, the newest mobile version is pretty nice, but, what about apps? You can wander around the 'net searching for the freebies, but, most really good ones are going to be available from pay sites, such as Handago, which approves the apps it will carry.

Apple (and, I am no big fan of Apple, BTW,) controls the processes, the apps, everything, to give people the Apple experience, and, based on sales, they are doing it right.

If people want p0rn, they can use the browser, which can easily open multiple tabs :)
Jack Schite

Deleted. Completely off topic and nasty,
BlogReader

The Mac is a computer for people who dont know anything about computers. It looks good, has a nice screen, and does the standard gambit of things people do with a computer — except allow you to upgrade. Bought a new game and need better graphics performance? Well, with a PC, you hit up Tiger direct and you have a new GPU in 3 days. With a Mac, you hit up the apple store and order a new computer.

I know, it's not a good argument.. when was the last time you saw a game (worth playing) that would run on a Mac.

iPhones are the same story. Nice pretty interface and slick form factor. Just dont try and replace the battery or expect to be able to add memory for extra storage.
rjschwarz

I seriously doubt most users care how difficult it is for an App to fight its way through the process, they instead like the way the things work when they get them.

The Mac vs PC debate can be tunneled down to time. Some people don't have time to tinker and just want the thing to work so they can do whatever they need to do. Others enjoy tinkering and may have a better user experience because of it. Those that make a hobby out of tinkering use Linux.
gfchicago

I've tried to us a Mac Computer and everything is ass backwards and I'm not inclined to ever buy one. I worked with PC's for at least the last 25 + years. A good friend of mine swears by Macs though.

I guess too many years working in IT environments that were for building and maintaining database structures, that mainly used pc's with whatever interfaces to talk to mainframes and teradata warehouses.

I prefer a plain old cell phone to one of the new fancy iPhones. When I worked for Northrop Grumman our client made it mandatory that all developers when on call carry a Blackberry, that damn thing nearly drove me crazy. The buttons on it were so small and inevitably I would screw up the reply to any email that I was trying to send. If I was at home I would just go to my PC and send the reply.

I guess I'm just a little slow in getting caught up in all of the new technology. I remember when Windows 3.1 or what ever it was came on the scene, I had to be brought along kicking and screaming. Now I don't know that I could remember all of the dos programming and commands that I used to be able to do.
KBurby

I tried to read the review yesterday, but didn't even get halfway through the first paragraph. The first thing the author does is insult the very people he wants to persuade. How smart is that? Once he did that, I didn't need to read any more; he's just told me that he doesn't have any confidence in the product he's reviewing.
aharris

It's interesting that Rush cited a written piece where the writer pointed out that in today's world of Apps, people are becoming more and more accustomed to their own individualized and personalized media experiences, and demands for customizability has increased – look at how many new games have the ability to customize your PC to tailor your own play experience and make it more immersive for you.

And yet, the government is stuck in this idea that we need to have an impersonal, one-size-fits all legislative mentality particularly where health care is concerned.

For what it's worth though, I like my PC. It's the same case I bought with the base computer package four or five years ago, but I have since updated all its guts. This spring, I'm looling at pulling out my dual-core and popping in a quad core (along with adding a much better video card) because when I last updated the motherboard, I made sure it would be able to eventually run quad cores, too. It's cheaper to update your machine piecemeal than it is to layout the cash all at once to buy a whole new system.

But then, when you game on your PC, you almost have to be able to build your own in order to keep up with the games.
gfchicago

Posted by aharris

2009-11-02 12:50:09

Aharris,

That's what I've been doing with my PC. So far I've built two in the last ten years. I scavenge parts that are still good on the computer that I have and buy what needs to be replaced or whatever upgrades that I want. It's a heck of alot cheaper than buying a whole new system again.
http://conservativebootcamp.com martinhale

While I applaud Apple for its use of Unix as the codebase for OS X, and while I think their products are nicely designed, I seriously doubt that I'll ever be a customer of Apple. They have too much corporate history of being closed and proprietary and I'm too much of a tinkerer at heart. I've built every PC I've ever owned and I want the freedom to install what I want, be it hardware, firmware or software.
http://networdblog.blogspot.com/ Christopher_Taylor

I Phone users are largely followers, just like any Apple junkie. They don't want Apple products because of innovation, quality, or price. They want the products because that's what they are told to like by the cultural elite and Hollywood. That's what makes you cool: an I-Pod, an I-Phone, etc. Not everyone who gets these products is such an idiot junkie, of course.
http://www.reddirtdude.blogspot.com President_Friedman

We just upraded our phones a few months ago. I had been holding out for the new Palm Pre, being a Palm fanboy from way back, but poor Sprint reception in our area pretty much nixed that idea. So we ended up getting iphones and I've gotta say I am impressed. The iPhone is the device I spent years wishing Palm would build. I'm not a Mac fan and never will be. I've never owned an iPod and I can't stand itunes site on my PC (however it works fine for downloading apps and occasional movies on the iphone over our wireless network). But it would take a lot convincing at this point (after just two months) to get me to use a different smartphone.

Lots of business apps, plus fun personal apps, cool games, plus stuff for the kiddos to play with, and it is all really cheap. I once paid $25 for a Palm application that calculated your longitude/latitude plus the time and gave you a chart of the constelations in the night sky above your head. The iPhone version of that app costs $6 and is superior in many ways.
rmiller

That's what makes you cool: an I-Pod, an I-Phone, etc. Not everyone who gets these products is such an idiot junkie, of course.

Posted by Christopher_Taylor

2009-11-02 13:54:49

There's more to that….

not everyone who is cool has all the latest tech.

Unless cool means that you have to own all the latest b.s.
http://networdblog.blogspot.com/ Christopher_Taylor

The I Phone is a pretty cool product. The Nokia is too (and cheaper) and the Droid is probably going to be even cooler.
rmiller

I'm showing my age…..I just don't understand.
gfchicago

"I'm showing my age…..I just don't understand."

Posted by rmiller

2009-11-02 21:26:45

You and me both…

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