Quote:
Originally Posted by holymadness
In reality, "open" is the greatest marketing buzzword of all time. Open means being the target of over 90 per cent of all mobile malware infections. Open means owning a device that is pre-loaded with non-removable crapware, spyware, and bloat by OEMs and carriers. Open means being denied OS upgrades, forcing early obsolescence, such that over half of the user base is still using operating systems that came out thee years ago or more. Open means being denied access to features, such as tethering, by one's carrier. Somehow none of this is considered anti-consumer. How bizarre.
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Open means, having a choice.
Or the longer version of it. You may choose to only buy/use apps from within the walled garden stores or you may choose to buy/run apps from anywhere.
A prime example of this is the choice Mac owners get. Either:
* Install Mac App store apps only
* Install Apps from anywhere that is signed by a apple developer certificate
* Install Apps from anywhere
If Apple applied that to their tablets and phones, I'd be a much greater supporter. As it is, I use both, I enjoy using both, but I don't like the restriction on choice and will likely jump ship before long.
As for all the "Open" examples you gave, I agree and I wouldn't call those platforms open either. Pre-installed bloatware is fine as long as the platform is open enough that you can delete it, if it's not, it's not open. Features shouldn't be restricted on the device itself, if they are, it's not open. If they're restricted by the network, that's different, that's down to choice of carrier and contract etc.