Apple and the Politics of Phoney Outrage

It seems the “in thing” to do lately is bash Apple for non-existent threats to freedom that the company is supposedly perpetrating. People from left and right across the web are taking minor issues and blowing them out of all proportion to create this false sense of “outrage” against some perceived threat from the cupertino company. It seems the politics of “phoney outrage” has become so prevalent in the world of political discourse that it’s seeping into the mindset of everyone with an axe to grind. Here’s just two examples that popped up in my RSS inbox today. The first is from Slate magazine warning magazine publishers of the threat of doing business with Apple or supporting their products. As usual, the argument transcends technical or even computer issues and becomes one about freedom. Here’s some of his comments:

They’re claustrophobic walled gardens within Apple’s walled garden, lacking the basic functionality we now expect with electronic journalism: the opportunity to comment, the integration of social media, the ability to select text and paste it elsewhere, and finally the most basic function of all: links to other sources.

The technical issues he raises have absolutely nothing to do with the App store or its controlled environment, and are frankly completely false. It’s just that some of the existing Apps might have been designed that way, but there’s absolutely nothing in Apple’s App store rules preventing any of this. He goes on to say this….

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The Lost iPhone Prototype is Apple’s Death Panels.

Amazing how in the face of raw facts boat loads of people still think that Apple did something wrong and these guys are innocent. (The fact that he tried to hide the evidence is usually an admission of guilt). I can’t help but think of the whole “death panels” distraction that was unleashed during the health care debate in the US over the summer. By that analogy Apple is the administration, Gizmodo is fox news, Brian Lam is Glen Beck, Jason Chen is Sarah Palin and Brian Hogan is Joe the Plumber and all the idiots commenting on Wired and elsewhere that Apple are the villains here – they’re the Tea Party.

I feel a musical coming on.

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Atlantis’s Final Flight

A sad day as the USS Atlantis sets off on it’s final flight.

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Apple’s new iPad Ad

Another great Ad. Like they even need to advertise it.

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Chris Breen on Facebook

Chris Breen on why he’s leaving facebook. Couldn’t agree more.

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An Open Letter to Adobe

Dear Adobe

You’ve been letting off a lot of steam lately, perhaps understandably, about Apple refusing to support Flash on it’s iPhone OS platforms. You’ve repeatedly stated that there should be no problem with Flash running on these platforms and that Apple’s refusal is political rather than technical so I have one simple request for you: Put your money where your mouth is and show us Flash running on an iPhone, an iPod touch or an iPad. Seriously. Sure you won’t get it through the App store but there’s no reason why you can’t develop an App that at least demonstrates that it’s possible on an iPhone OS Device. I’m not talking about Applications developed using Flash Packager, I’m talking about flash itself.

By trying to claim that this is all about Apple threatening freedom, while ignoring comments from other companies, such as ARM, Microsoft and Opera you are associating a quality brand like Adobe’s with cheap Fox News-esque politics of phoney outrage. If you want to continually contend that Apple’s motives are political rather than technical then it’s time to “put up or shut up” and prove your point rather than expect everyone to believe your rhetoric.

Yours Sincerely
A once Loyal Adobe Fan.

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The Hypocrisy of Gizmodo

Given the recent complaints made by Gizmodo that they are being unfairly targeted by law enforcement officials over the iPhone incident, I think you might find this article interesting.

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28 Days Later

Ok, I just couldn’t resist that headline. Apple has sold it’s 1 millionth iPad after only 28 days. You know, the same iPad that lots and lots of people said would be a flop. Of course it’s still ultimately doomed because once, a long time ago Apple lost out to Microsoft.

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