We've Only Just Begun

Open As They Wanna Be

The whole idea of what constitutes being “open” in this crazy mixed-up world of software and operating systems, is, like so many things, so much more a matter of perspective, pragmatism, execution and context than many may consider. It seems to be a conventional wisdom of sorts that Windows has always been (and still is) more “open” than the Mac, despite how easily this notion breaks down upon futher scrutiny.

With the burgeoning success of Apple’s iPod/iPhone/iTunes ecosystem and the resurgence of the Mac platform itself it’s becoming quite clear that not only has this idea always been baseless, but that in fact it is a mix of both “open” (OSX’s BSD Unix subsystem, QuickTime/H.264, the use of and lobbying for open file formats whenever possible, etc.) and proprietary solutions (their NeXtStep derived frameworks and development tools which only work in OSX) in concert with award winning industrial design that are the key to Apple’s ability to create great products that very many people enjoy using. Of course great marketing has it’s role to play, but without a burning dedication to designing high quality products that are as close to Arthur C. Clarke’s idea that, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” as anything I’ve ever seen, Apple would be just another HP, or Dell or (enter generic Intel PC compatible company name here).

In his recent article, Six Reasons Why Apple May Never Open The iPhone Daniel Eran Dilger of Roughly Drafted whacks this proverbial nail on the head. I mean really smashes it. I am glad I am not that nail, I tell you.

Great engineering, like great product design (and design in general) is about trade-offs and is at least as much about what to leave out as what to put in, and Apple seems to have figured out how better to act on this than pretty much all of their competitors. And now they are.. errmm.. reaping the fruit of their rewards.

Hope, Memory And Rage

I can’t think of anything more crucial to keep in my mind on this anniversary of September 11th than the hope that we will all remember how our national tragedy was so blatently exploited as justification for the needless destruction of human life in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last four years. How can we not all be absolutely incensed with rage over the biggest lie of them all? Why are we there? Why do we all fail to pursue this most obvious question?

Every justification given to us by the Bush administration has been proven to be not just mistakes, but outright lies, plain and simple. And because the big lie (that we’re fighting in Iraq for any justifiable reason whatsoever) has never been fully aknowledged or challenged, the liars took miles when we gave them that inch. And now there are four years of lies upon lies, successfully stoking our collective fear, paranoia and complacency to the point that we’re now numb to the reality that we’ve become a “democracy” that sanctions torture, and extra-legal prisons and the suspension of Habeaus Corpus and on and on. Is there really No End In Sight?

If we can’t force ourselves to answer the big question honestly, then how are we to prevent being mislead into yet another all consuming war which will likely trigger the end of civilization as we know it?

There is something we can all do, for ourselves and for our children. Call this number (the Capital switchboard): 202-225-3121

Demand answers of your congressresional representatives. And keep demanding until we regain our sanity and our hope. No one can save us, but ourselves.

Jesus Campers