2010-01-30

Tinkerer's High Noon

Oh please, there's never been a better time for tinkerers than NOW.

Today, every tinkerer can, for free:
  • Write applications that reach billions of people and thereby change society.
  • Develop applications that run on myriads of different devices, from watches to wall-sized screens.
  • Access, learn, and change the source code of real operating systems and applications that run on everything from smartphones to supercomputers.
  • Use an array of thousands of different programming languages, frameworks, APIs, and databases.
  • Access the knowledge of and get to know, personally, millions of experts in every area imaginable.
So just take the iPad for what it is, one more platform among dozens of interesting ones, and stop whining. And start tinkering.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The issue is the public's acceptance of restricted software freedoms, combined with the language platform racism of Apple. If there's a chance an end user can eval my software doesn't work?

Apple is turning developers into 2nd class citizens who need a VISA just to participate. If you juxtapose this with videogame system you can see there is a lot you cannot tinker with and the DMCA et al. is making it even harder do anything with hardware you have.

Germany accepted fascism, the people will accept this. Just because people purchase something doesn't make it ethical.

You can have your walled garden but you don't need to make developers 2nd class citizens.

Manuel Simoni said...

I am not defending Apple's incredibly stupid stance regarding developers, and more generally its users.

Au contraire, for me, the iPad is a welcome wake up call for those geeks who are still harboring some sentimental attachment to Apple as a technologically cool company.

Steve's no longer interested in the bicycle for the mind, he's looking for domination and a quick gigabuck.