Here is a nice point of view from James Stoup about Apple
So, apparently the iPhone is a big deal. Yeah, who knew? And Apple hasn’t calmed things down by releasing an SDK for the iPhone either. In fact, it seems like Apple has been in the press a bit more than usual lately. That’s great, I have no problem with that.
And pundits have been saying all types of crazy things about the iPhone. Words like “revolutionary,” “absolutely amazing,” “game changing,” and “I sold a kidney for this thing” have been bandied about. I also don’t have a problem with any of this.
In fact, the consensus seems to be that the iPhone will positively impact cellphone design (if you could call it design) for years to come in virtually every level of every market. Great. Woo-waa. I’m loving it (to steal a phrase from McDonalds).
And then someone had to go and make the claim that Apple (via the iPhone) is going to dominate this next era of computing. And that is when I started having a problem.
When I first read that I immediately had two questions. One, will Apple really dominate the next era? And two, will it be a good thing? I have a feeling the answer to my first question is going to be yes. Simply because Apple is just too good to beat for the indefinite future. And it isn’t just the iPhone, it is the entire ecosystem they are creating of which the iPhone is merely a piece. An expensive, beautiful, and highly lucrative piece, but a piece nonetheless. And so Apple’s competitors aren’t going to be able to beat them by designing a better phone. They are going to have to try and take on the entire system that Apple has designed and that is going to prove to be an almost impossible task. The only company out there who even has a chance of competing with Apple in all areas is Microsoft. But they are so unbelievably inept they will offer no real challenges in the years to come.
So, if we assume that Apple is indeed going to be top dog for the next decade or so, the next question of course is “is this a good thing?” Well, relative to what, you might say. If we are going to compare the years of Apple’s domination with that of Microsoft, then yes it will probably be a good thing. But that one was kind of a no brainer, because at this point in time I think it’s hard to find anyone, even the most die hard MS fan, who will agree that Microsoft’s years as a monopoly greatly benefited your average consumer. So perhaps that isn’t a fair question.
A more valid comparison would be to look at the past ten years of the cell phone industry, then look at the past 6 months of the iPhone industry, and ask which system seems better. Once again, I think Apple would come out ahead because the iPhone is just such a compelling product and the experience is so much better than anything currently out there. But even taking that into account, and even if Apple runs a benevolent monopoly, in the long run the consumers are going to suffer.
Now, they are probably going to suffer with sleek, easy-to-use devices that are a joy to use…but they will also slowly get locked into the world that Apple is creating. And Apple has shown time and again that they will gladly give up user control in favor of doing things the way they feel they should be done. Will this mean that things will degenerate into the worst days of Microsoft’s rule? No, probably not. But no monopoly, regardless of how initially benevolent it starts off as, is ever anything but a nightmare for consumers. And while I do love Apple and all the products they make, I’m really hoping that they get some competition soon. It seems unlikely, but I sure hope it happens. I have no desire to for any company to completely control this next era, even a company as well loved as Apple.
source: Apple Matters
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