Computer Phone

Photo by Samuel Mann - Samuel Mann

Since years I had waited and hoped to get a decent computer phone, yet since they have been made widely available I have not obtained one. Actually I have stopped using mobile phones entirely 2 years ago.

There are many reasons for which I did this, one simply being the fact that I was already always near a computer and/or phone so it wasn't even useful in my case.

One of the other many reasons is simply because of how the mobile phone market has evolved, it's rottener than ever. I've never understood why mobile carriers are the ones who sell the devices.. I do understand how they got there, in the early days people did not want to spend 300$/Euros/GBP for a mobile phone that could also store 10 phone numbers, so they made it easy by creating contracts that included the phone in the cost and made the whole thing seem affordable. Today everyone thinks it's "just how it works".

In many countries, you don't buy a phone and then connect it to a network, you get a bundle. If you want a certain phone you might need to go to a certain network provider... If you want a new phone you might need to upgrade your contract, if you want a new contract you might have to get a new phone.. . I've even seen contracts that offered different phones depending on how many minutes and/or text messages you want to consume !

It makes no sense, it's like buying your laptop from your ISP and having it locked to their network. What next, water that boils only in cookware sold by your water provider ?

I was reminded all this because I read Five years after the iPhone, carriers are the biggest threat to innovation, it's interesting and well written but I wouldn't say that Apple is the defender of the open market, they too build walled gardens and enjoy the benefits of it.

Ubuntu requires visitors to create an account and log in to view certain threads. I've read this thread (not blocked yet) and now I understand their reasoning: Anything they may have archived is to be considered old and should no longer be readable unless you have a ubuntuforums account.... . Whatever, basically they are trying to protect visitors from accessing archived and potentially outdated information.

The other thing I dislike is their use of vBulletin, it just goes to show how much they really don't care much about Free Software.

Is Ubuntu the new Apple ?

This year FOSDEM is supported by CodePlex (among other sponsors). CodePlex is Microsoft's vision/version of an "Open Source" project hub.

I don't know what strikes me more, that FOSDEM would accept dirty money or the realisation that Microsoft has completely (or so it seems) changed their minds about open source.

It was only in 2008, before Bill Gates retired from Microsoft that he said such things like:

"there is this thing called the GPL, which we disagree with."

[Open source creates a license] "so that nobody can ever improve the software,"

It still seems difficult for MS to integrate the term "open source" completely, it's all over the CodePlex website, but on the FOSDEM page there is a link to www.microsoft.com/opensource which redirects to www.microsoft.com/en-us/openness/default.aspx. It's as if it's too much too soon to have the term "opensource" in a microsoft url. : ]

In the end I guess one could say that Microsoft is a better place without Bill Gates. Maybe Apple will soon follow .. HAHAHAHHAHA!!

Apple has revised their App Store terms, now these apps cannot contain any links, like to send users to a web page to then make a purchase outside the i-app. All sales from within the i-app mean 30% to Apple.

Companies like Kobo and the Wall Street Journal have refused to accept the new terms, they now no longer sell content via their i-app. Also, Google has removed their book selling app, they have now put it back in the app-store but without the "buy" function, same for Amazon.

Apple's marketing techniques are just like those of crack dealers... .. . Now that so many people/companies have become captive of the i-App-store it's time to see how much they can squeeze out of it.