The Mobile Phone Is How They Want To Design Computers [View all]

[VBNMW_Realist]

As a tech enthusiast, I feel kind of numb thinking about. Sure, it lets me visit websites, and so on; and even do things that computers can't like call people. But there is this a feeling that there is something that corporations stole from us by not giving us any options and building monopolies: that every single app has to be pre-approved on it. I just feel like thinking about iOS, that I can't uninstall that operating system, and even if I tried, it could break the whole system, and that is not a risk taking. There are ways around it in my opinion in ways that matter. For example, I listen to music with their version of VLC media. If a media site can't use an app, you usually can use it in the browser.

This is different from the PC universe, where installing Linux takes effort, but still works increasingly well. We are talking about a tech universe where corporations choose which apps, basically what Microsoft and Apple dream of. Unfortunately for Microsoft, their "Windows Phone" idea failed, likely largely because of the fact that Windows functions as a desktop/laptop/PC operating system and was slower as a result. (Windows is a pile of bloat, this was before Windows became bloated but still.)

The system which resembles this dark vision companies like Microsoft and Apple have the closest is Chromebooks. Despite running on Linux under the hood, ChromeOS only allows Google apps and the like to run outside of developer mode and things like that. You are forced into a certain locked in space that would make Microsoft let alone Android blush. (I think that is appropriation, because Chromebooks using Linux as the hidden floor to create an OS that is significantly more locked down than Windows in many ways is stolen valor because it is the polar opposite model of Linux's model, which I will describe later.)

Even as regulators are upset about corporations making oligopolies function as cartels in the sense of only allowing their software to run, they seem to want to tighten their grip. Fortunately, I don't think they will go down this road because of the antitrust laws which are great for developers and normal people even but are pesky restrictions for Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc. I don't think they will do it, but it is important to realize that is apparently what they want, even though they probably won't get to.

By the way the European Union actually forced Apple to allow independent app stores to be allowed in major European markets. European, American, and global tech teams should reverse engineer that feature to allow anyone to use it even if they are not in a country that mandates it (assuming it isn't impenetrably locked down) because it should not only be available for people who live in countries where companies are held accountable. Because even though I think regulators should crack down worldwide, especially in America where they could actually force global mandates due to headquartering, I have a hard time seeing them pass those kinds of laws.