Apple Pulls C64 Emulator From the App Store 580
Rob Hearn sends in a piece up at PocketGamer.co.uk on why Apple suddenly pulled Manomio's C64 emulator soon after finally approving it. (El Reg has coverage too.) "It was a glorious few moments for retro gamers when Manomio's C64 emulator was finally approved by Apple and released to the eager, nostalgic iPhone public. Then, calamity! It was gone again. Apparently some wily users figured out how to access the Commodore 64 BASIC system that was originally packaged with the emulator — something that Apple wasn't too happy with, given the nature of the interpreter's code. By setting the keyboard to 'always on,' launching a game and restarting BASIC, players got into the 'empty shell' of their C64 emulator."
And then what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Informative)
I know why this happened (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I know why this happened (Score:4, Informative)
The best thing about later re-releases of the infocom games (I specifically remember Planetfall and HHGTTG) was that it had an integrated hint system with 3 progressively detailed levels (i.e. "hint" number one would be "maybe you need something sticky", "hint" number two would be "gee that stick of gum looks good", and "hint" number 3 would be "pick up gum, open gum, chew gum, use gum on broken lever").
Pretty sure you had to use the Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic ("Electric Thumb") to get on the Vogon ship.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously, this is just one in a long list of stories which suggest Apple are barmy. Each new example of a Stalin-like appreciation of freedom sees another few previously loyal Apple customers cringe and refuse to defend Apple as they once did. People h
Re:And then what? (Score:4, Interesting)
S60 r5 has a lot of the same functionality as the iPhone these days - and guess what - I can run any app I like on it including C64 emulators. Yeah the n97 is kinda expensive (599$) but 32 gigs, expandable to another 48 gigs, user serviceable battery, and freedom to use the device on ANY network I have a sim card for, and run any app I want is really quite cool.
Oh and Symbian has always had copy/paste ;).
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Re:And then what? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
GEOS runs on most C64 emus so I'd have to guess yes. However, you can only execute the disk images that are available in the appstore. LAME.
LAME? MP3 encoding on a C64? Cool!
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But LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder!
Same thing we do every night Pinky (Score:5, Funny)
Try to take over the world.
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Re:And then what? (Score:5, Informative)
I believe at least one of the problems is that with access to the basic interpreter could be used to start illegally obtained games.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
No, they banned it because they are dickwads. Any reason they give is merely cover for this fact.
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly I think the vast 99.8 % majority of folks could really care less about a C64 emulator on an iPhone.
The market seems to think otherwise. From TFA:
"The developer is now hard at work setting up a meeting with Apple to clarify matters and get C64 back to the retro gaming public who put the app in the top 20 paid games list across most territories inside of two days, and even made it into the top 10 in certain areas before disappearing."
You'd be hard pressed to show me an iPhone App that's more fun than M.U.L.E.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
The same thing everyone used to do with the C64 out in front of Radio Shack back in the day...
10 PRINT "PENIS!!!!!!"
20 GOTO 10
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Interesting)
Format c: didn't apply to the TRS 80 (aka the "Trash 80" as it was often called :)).
Interestingly enough "way back in the day" when I had my own C64 my aunt had a TRS-80 that she'd bought for my cousins to use. They were older than me by a ways (and only 1 year apart from each other), so they both graduated shortly after the computer was purchased. She ended up just giving the thing to me since I'd been over there to mess with it quite a bit. To a young kid who was already well into geekdom just getting an extra computer back then to play on was just awesome.
Looking back, no, I didn't like it as much as my Commodore, but it was still fun. One of my best pranks as a kid was to write a BASIC program for that TRS-80 and left sitting in memory. Somehow I coaxed my cousin to run it later and it printed out a nice connection string about connecting to a classified DoD computer and after the two of us spending 10 minutes trying to guess the password (after which I let the correct out just slip out :)) it logged in and started displaying "top secret documents" on how they'd really found aliens on the moon during the Apollo missions. She got freaked out for a while before I finally let her in on the joke. It was kinda fun to live in that age when people were gullible enough to accept ANYTHING that popped up on screen.
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Insightful)
It was kinda fun to live in that age when people were gullible enough to accept ANYTHING that popped up on screen.
About 80% of my friends/family still appear to live in that age.
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
It was kinda fun to live in that age when people were gullible enough to accept ANYTHING that popped up on screen.
Yeah, we're way more savvy these... OHHH, A talking moose wants my credit card number! That's only fair.
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Yes, those days are definitely behind us...
What's this, I'm the 10.000th visitor to dodgycrackwarez.cz? My goodness, I've won a prize, how exciting!
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A few weeks ago I found a Linux laptop on display in an electronics store, logged into the root shell. The urge to type in 'dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda1" or "rm -rf /" was very hard to resist.
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Among a certain crowd, that program passes the Turing test.
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Among a certain crowd, that program passes the Turing test.
Unlike vagina, penis would certainly pass at least Turing's test.
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
At least add
6 FOR I=1 TO 15
7 POKE 53281,I
8 FOR J=1 TO 15
9 POKE 53280,J
12 NEXT J
13 PAUSE 1
15 NEXT I
and change 20 to GOTO 6
You don't understand (Score:5, Insightful)
Did someone say "programmable platforms"? (Score:4, Insightful)
Really now, it's not like the iPhone is a closed black-box environment, for which no outsider can create software [apple.com].
However, in these modern times with object-oriented multithreaded programming, BASIC is kind of a throwback, don't you think? It may have been nice as the "gateway drug" of programming languages, but these days it's barely a first step.
I'm not necessarily trying to defend Apple here; their decision to decline any app with programmability is still a curious, regrettable, and philosophically indefensible one. (Do symbolic environments count, like you'd find on a programmable calculator? What if that environment allowed the display of English text? What if the environment had English equivalents for some symbols?) But it is possible for people to buck the trend.
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Interesting)
The point is you arent allowed to have any sort of dynamic, interpreted code at all. No java, no .net runtime, no assembly interpreter, no scripts, no nothing.
You see, it opens the door for people to write their own C64 basic phones and run them on the iPhone, without - gasp - Steve Jobs approving, or getting paid! I could write my own "lemonade stand" game, and distribute it, OUTSIDE OF APPLES OFFICIAL CHANNELS?
THE APPALLING HORROR OF AN OPEN PLATFORM!
BTW, you can do a whole lot from a c64 shell when you're clever.. You're obviously too young to know.
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Re:And then what? (Score:5, Insightful)
This summarizes why I don't own an iPhone. They're very slick and all, but I've been spoiled by running Linux for years. The concept of needing someone's approval to run software on my hardware is a non-starter for me. I'll decide that for myself, thanks very much.
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It's not their product. It's mine. I don't buy things that not only don't function the way I want but also actively deny my ability to change it's function.
If I want to perform differently, I better have the option to turn or ability to modify it do so.
My car (05 WRX) has a vast aftermarket for people who want something different. There's even open source software to alter engine operations www.romraider.com.
My TV can be opened and rewired. Maybe I want more speakers, maybe I want to integrate it into m
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Insightful)
it is not your product. You do not own the product, the IP, anything at all to do with the product. You have a "right to use," and that's it. You couldn't take it and reverse-engineer it, replicating it in your own Chinese factories. There are a *lot* of things you know you cannot legally do to it.
What you can do, however, is unlock the thing and install whatever you want on it. You're not stopped from doing this. The updates don't work well for it, but the updates are for a specific image, and unlocking it changes that image; if I install an nvidia driver for linux and then update my kernel through a normal package manager, guess what? I won't have dual-screen anymore (since I'm using VMs...). So, I have to set up the driver again - just like you would need to unlock the iPhone again if you wanted to install an update. You will not - at all - be at risk of going to jail for unlocking your iPhone. You will not have broken a single law. You won't have even voided the warranty on it. There is *absolutely nothing* stopping you from doing it, so far as civil or criminal activities are concerned, if you want to do it. Which means, if you want to complain...it's because you merely want to complain.
The sense of entitlement in the newer OSS community members is just...sickening, really. I don't go burning down butcher shops because I'm vegetarian. A valid complain about the iPhone is the poor performance of the 3g network and the poor lifespan of the battery. But the rest of it? Just childish.
Mod me -3 troll again if you like, mods - but the "insightful" people saying they want everything and anything for free and without limitations...well, those are the trolls, imnsho. You get an iPhone...it is NOT YOUR PRODUCT. To say that...wow. Yeah.
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Is it even *possible* to remove BASIC from a C64? (Score:3, Informative)
Everyone on Slashdot seems to think the developer intentionally left an obvious, easy backdoor into the BASIC interpreter just to spite Apple.
But here's what I'm wondering: is it actually possible to remove BASIC from the C64's ROM, and still be sure that games will run?
If I recall correctly, the in-ROM BASIC interpreter provided a bunch of useful routines that you could access from machine code, and a lot of games and apps would call into these routines, or copy them elsewhere in memory, sometimes in ways
Re:And then what? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And then what? (Score:4, Funny)
Seriously? What? What can you do from a C64 shell on an iPhone?
If you'd ever watched Macgyver, you wouldn't ask that question.
Re:And then what? (Score:4, Insightful)
You could write an app store for the C64, featuring C64 only games, but then Apple wouldn't get the cut.
Re:And then what? (Score:4, Informative)
Well, if you want to see what a C64 is capable of, come to
the Vintage Computer Festival this weekend:
http://www.vintage.org/2009/east/
There will be several C64s on exhibit, available for hands on
experimentation.
BASIC Copyright issues? (Score:4, Interesting)
Commodore's BASIC was licensed from Microsoft with a one-time fee. If I were Apple, I wouldn't let Microsoft BASIC anywhere NEAR this emulator until I got a signed legal document from Microsoft saying that the license covered all derivatives of the Commodore device, or that Apple had a free and clear right to use it.
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Okay, treating this whole story more seriously than Apple's stupid deserves:
The evil they fear is user generated content that bypass the app approval process. Like shaking a baby to death with giant flying dongs while 'Heil Hitler Satan' scrolls in the background. Or worse, writing a clone of some copyrighted game. Or even worse, using emulated SID to play copyrighted music. BASIC would let you do that. This is presumably what they fear.
Now there's nothing to stop you from writing this game on your C64 with
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Actually, you can only run a specific set os C64 games/apps, supported by the emulator developers.
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Re:And then what? (Score:4, Interesting)
Write arbitrary code.
Which is against Apple's T&Cs.
Because the iPhone isn't intended to be an all-purpose pocket computer - its a phone and music player.
Apple's fear is that people will install buggy apps that screw up the phone, and then blame Apple. No conspiracy needed. If they were purely interested in lock-out they'd never have approved Spotify.
If Apple allowed apps that ran arbitrary code they'd have to check not just the C64 emu but every app with a macro or scripting facility to ensure that they were adequately sandboxed. That would be a lot of work.
If you want a phone where, if you break it, you get to keep both pieces, go buy an Android phone or (if you want to lose the will to live) Windows Mobile.
Disclaimer, I have an Android phone, and an iPod Touch (iPhone without a phone) and am looking for a sufficiently deep hole in which to cast my old WM phone. So I'm not a complete fanboi.
Meanwhile, this guy agreed to remove BASIC but either deliberately or negligently left it in. I'd rather not install their software, in case they negligently or deliberately left anything els in, thanks.
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Disclaimer, I have an Android phone, and an iPod Touch (iPhone without a phone) and am looking for a sufficiently deep hole in which to cast my old WM phone. So I'm not a complete fanboi.
I was close to getting an Android phone. But then I realized the T-Mobile service around me stunk, and didn't like that idea.
Then I considered getting one unlocked (either through Google Developer or after a few months on T-Mobile) but learned that Google locked out the copyrighted apps from their store. Wasn't a major fan of that, though it didn't 100% stop me.
The final straw was the scrollball. I had one on a Blackberry Pearl that cr@pped out and it drove me nuts. I figured it was just bad luck.
But th
Re:And then what? (Score:4, Funny)
But that might lead to someone experimenting with
30 PRINT "Hello " A$$
And that spells a naughty word. Can't have that!!
Re:And then what? (Score:4, Funny)
The first iteration of Artificial Insanity, a joke Turing test I wrote back in 1982 that answered any question you asked, in context, with a smartassed answer, was originally written in Sinclair BASIC. One friend running the DOS version years later (written in dBase and compiled with Clipper) got so frustrated with the smartassed thing he broke his keyboard, he typed so hard.
Imagine what you'd do to an iPhone with it.
The n900 cometh... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Or the Android platform, it's definitely getting interesting with the Sprint offering coming next month and a whole slew of phones hitting Europe and the US.
Re:The n900 cometh... (Score:5, Informative)
on Android you have to bend over backwards to gain it (unless there is a fsckup with text message editor, heh); on maemo its:
$ sudo gainroot
#
Android is almost as closed as iPhone...
Re:The n900 cometh... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm just sayin'.
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In a way, if you're a big enough geek he's right.
And, if you're a big enough fan of Apple's elegant UI design, he's wrong. But, if you hate Apple, he's right. But... I think you get my point.
There will be tons of anecdotal evidence supporting or refuting his claim but the simple fact remains - it's an incredibly similar claim, with the exact same anecdotal evidence supporting and refuting, that has been made about the iPod a thousand times before. And we know how those claims played out.
No, I'm not claiming the iPhone is untouchable. No, I'm not clai
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The n900 cometh... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Being small costs a lot. Netbooks are cheap because they use relatively cheap components, usually underpowered and ordered in bulk to keep costs low. And they're still large enough that they can use some commodity components; hard drives, memory, adapters, etc., can all be borrowed from larger laptops. The problem is that miniaturization costs more as you get smaller and smaller. Once you drop below the netbook size range, into the sub-7" screens, it's hard to fit everything into the package without:
Re:The n900 cometh... (Score:5, Informative)
I assume you can't follow a link. The N900 is indeed a phone, quad band to boot.
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An app? Just software, no hardware? As for claiming it was shoe-horned in, how do you know - were you part of the design team?
No you weren't, you used the future tense.
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Re:The n900 cometh... (Score:4, Informative)
I assume you speak of the successor to my n810? I do enjoy having a full Linux system on my PDA, runs the apps I want etc. HOWEVER! Its is NOT a phone.
FYI, the N900 is a smartphone (an upcoming smartphone, mind you). It is designed much like the N800/N810, and runs Maemo (and can be used as an Internet tablet), but it is also a full-featured cell-phone. More information: official site [nokia.com], Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], Slashdot story [slashdot.org] and follow-up [slashdot.org].
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Sure, see maemo [maemo.org]. I doubt you'll have complete to access the phone-part of the n900 though, the telcoms being rather cautions on what they allow on their networks.
The n810 is a nice little open pda, but as it isn't a phone I don't use it that much. If the n900 is at least half-decent, it will replace my nokia for sure. Bubye S60!
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Because...... (Score:3, Funny)
Having the C64 Basic interpreter as a programming environment on the iphone would strategically hurt Apple in horrible way....
Riiiiight
Re:Because...... (Score:5, Insightful)
Um...the coding of C64 software was ALL ABOUT using peek and poke in unintended ways!
C64 BASIC too powerful to be safe (Score:5, Insightful)
I have never been much of a believer in Stallman's dystopian visions but I'm getting closer to believing them.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe they are coming out with a Apple ][ emulator, and it represents too much competition...
Re:C64 BASIC too powerful to be safe (Score:5, Insightful)
In the past being a Windows dev was compared to serfdom. If that's true, then what's being an iPhone developer like?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Dystopias usually are meant to illustrate what can go wrong and where it could potentially lead taken to it's logical extreme. However, that is not always the case. For example, unfortunately, western governments seem to have decided that "1984" was not a dystopic warning, but rather a blueprint to implement!
Imagine a future.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Where the C64 emulator becomes THE preferred programming environment on the iphone as Apple neglects to understand the nature of the threat...causing a renisannce in C64 programming; catapulting a once dead platform from the grave back into stardom...
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Stereo SIDPlayer:iTunes killer!
Apple tries REALLY hard... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Apple tries REALLY hard... (Score:5, Insightful)
However what I do think is interesting is that they'd allow any emulator at all. Particularly one whose games all depend upon an interpreted language. I'm primarily surprised because of the possibility that someone might be able to get unauthorized apps to run under it, not to mention any liability (real or assumed) a plantiff might try to claim if the emulator ran their code illegally and that Apple rubber stamped it knowing the possibility. Emulators have always been in that sort of gray-area. Apple is more than just the device manufacturer, all apps through the app-store have them functioning as a distributor.
Re:Apple tries REALLY hard... (Score:5, Informative)
Particularly one whose games all depend upon an interpreted language
C64 games typically were not written in BASIC, as the performance of BASIC sucked. Only the cheesiest type-it-in-yourself games were implemented this way.
Most games were written in 6510 assembly, which was a very simple label-abstraction above 6510 machine language. Basically, the "assembling" process just changed the commands, like 'JSR' (jump to subroutine) to their binary equivalents (in this case, 00010000), and made sure that all two-byte numbers were big-endian. So JSR $FFD2, the command to print a byte to the screen became (in decimal) 032 210 255.
Some assemblers were a little more advanced, with macros and the like so you could label a subroutine and it would substitute the appropriate register address, but I never believed in those. I edited my code directly to the bits, damn it!
Apple is worse than Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
When it comes to proprietary lock-in. Styling and hype is much more exciting than philosophical and economical arguments for having an open platform. I encourage anyone with appreciation of these issues to boycott closed platforms like the iPhone, consoles, and set top cable boxes.
Re:Apple is worse than Microsoft (Score:4, Insightful)
Just Silliness (Score:5, Insightful)
I submit that anyone that conceivable _could_ do any damage of any significant nature through the BASIC interpreter on a C64 emulator on an iPhone has almost certainly already jail broken their phone and are already doing much wackier things. Further, if they haven't, then this provides further incentive to jailbreak.
Add to that the PR nightmare of constantly pulling the same app repeatedly, and it should make both users and developers feel increasingly gun shy about the app store.
Re:Just Silliness (Score:5, Insightful)
I submit that anyone that conceivable _could_ do any damage of any significant nature through the BASIC interpreter on a C64 emulator on an iPhone has almost certainly already jail broken their phone and are already doing much wackier things.
Apple doesn't care if you jailbreak your own phone. That poses no risk. They care if you write arbitrary code that can be used to hack phones that aren't jailbroken. Thus, no applications that execute arbitrary code from other sources. It's the rule they made and developers have to stick to, even if in this case it is unlikely to be too serious.
The reasons for this are twofold:
First, they don't want people running an interpreter and installing apps on top of it, because one new app that runs on top, which Apple does not have an opportunity to test, could violate Apple's agreement with AT&T or break out of the sandbox and install malware. At that point Apple has to disable a whole swath of programs to stop one noncompliant or malicious program.
Second, Apple doesn't want any runtimes becoming critical components of the iPhone. They don't want Java or .Net or a DOS emulator with intellectual property out of Apple's control to become a Gatekeeper for any significant number of applications on the IPhone. Apple wants to be the only gatekeeper and it's up to the buyer to decide if that is a good thing, a bad thing, or a mix of both.
Re:Just Silliness (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Just Silliness (Score:4, Informative)
That doesn't make sense. Code that can break out of an emulator sandbox would be exploiting a security vulnerability.
Yes, it would.
You could apply the same argument to say that Apple shouldn't allow email on the iPhone, because that could exploit some vulnerability and install malware.
No, because an e-mail client on the iPhone is not designed to run arbitrary code. For arbitrary code to run using an e-mail client there has to be a vulnerability in the e-mail client which Apple failed to find when the approved the app (not that they look hard) and a second vulnerability in the sandbox which can be exploited using the first vulnerability.
With applications designed to run arbitrary code they just need a vulnerability in the sandbox and they have the full range of a programming language to use, not just what can fit in the first exploit. In addition, if there is an e-mail client that breaks out of the sandbox, Apple can revoke the key and all the iPhones stop being vulnerable to the malware with just that client being affected. With a run-time that executes other code they have to revoke the run-time's key, disabling every program that relies upon it which, if they allowed such things, could be a significant portion of the applications.
An emulator is just a program that takes some user input and does something with it... there's nothing special there and any program which 'takes some user input and does something with it' is equally problematic.
I thought I was clear in my first post why it is problematic. If not, hopefully my clarification above has solidified the explanation. Applications that execute arbitrary code break Apple's reactive security model granularity and are a lot easier to use for creating malware.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Have you never watched War Games? In the wrong hands those 8-bit machines could destroy the world.
Looks like... (Score:5, Funny)
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The Point? (Score:5, Funny)
"By setting the keyboard to 'always on', launching a game and restarting BASIC, players got into the 'empty shell' of their C64 emulator."
---
Next thing you know they'll block my app that allows users to connect a cassette tape drive. The nerve....
Apple Hates Geeks (Score:5, Insightful)
No seriously. Apple hates geeks. This isn't flamebait, btw.
Apple loves the image-conscious, visual-creative crowd that accepts the functionality they're given, wrapped up in beautifully designed packages.
But ultimately Apple's corporate strategy can be summed up in one word: Control. They want to control where you buy your music, what you do with your devices, and how you interact with other users. All of this 'control' of course is driven by profit motives.
But geeks ultimately represent a loss of control. Geeks love to tinker... They love to expand functionality. They're innovators. And worst of all from Apple's perspective: They create options.
Options are the enemy of a carefully structured system which drives users towards Apple's sacred points-of-purchase.
Options are the opposite of 'control'.
For all of Apple's "Think Different" public image, the reality is that Apple encourages nothing of the sort: "Think Alike" is the mission. And they prove it at every turn.
Apple fanboys will probably mod this flamebait. It isn't. I have multiple computers and phones, and own an iPhone and a Mac. But I'm constantly being made aware that my PC represents a nearly infinite amount of options in every usage category -- where Apple railroads me into a pre-approved (albeit always compatible) solution.
Re:Apple Hates Geeks (Score:4, Insightful)
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It certainly is. And more telling that he's not there now.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
(This reply is not for popo's benefit.)
You're right about the control. That's how they shape the "Apple Experience". i despise Apple and it's products, and most of their fans. But i can tell you this from my conversations with Mac Heads on /. and Fark: Apple is all about the experience of a system that is hard to mess up. They trade freedom for security. Apple's control is about giving you a standard issue item. "You'll have it our way and like it". Not out of meanness or just to make more money, but
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Apple doesn't hate geeks, it hates the way many geeks think that because they're so smart, they're automatically good at everything. The Unix that is OS X and the iPhone platform provide plenty of room for tinkering -- perhaps less so on the iPhone -- but it's not like everything Mac is a lif
Re:Apple Hates Geeks (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Apple Hates Geeks (Score:5, Insightful)
No seriously. Apple hates geeks. This isn't flamebait, btw.
No, not flamebait, just idiocy. Apple is largely made of geeks. I find it hard to find a more apt description of a former NextStep employee or a former BSD developer or the guy who wrote and maintains CUPS.
But ultimately Apple's corporate strategy can be summed up in one word: Control.
Actually, Apple's strategy with regard to both the iPod and iPhone has been about limited, but polished functionality. Blackberry has been all about providing the most and most varied functionality. Apple has been about providing a limited subset of that functionality, but polished so it is really, really easy. In order to do that, and maintain that for submissions from others, they maintain significant control; but that is not the core philosophy.
I would note that this strategy is not one designed to cater to geeks. That is certainly not their target market and if you are a hardcore geek you might be happier using a product that does cater to your market segment. There are lots of other options. Go for it.
For all of Apple's "Think Different" public image, the reality is that Apple encourages nothing of the sort: "Think Alike" is the mission. And they prove it at every turn.
I'd actually say Apple does think differently. Their business model has been different from what others have tried and it has worked for them quite well. It just hasn't targeted you. Get over it.
For their Mac computers, on the other hand, Apple has been targeting geeks pretty heavily and it has worked. Look around at Blackhat or Defcon or any technology related conference and the truth is evident. OS X developers (some of whom are also iPhone developers) are geeks and they target geeks in OS X. That's why they have a bash shell. That's why they pulled in UI features from X11 to make the UNIX geeks looking to switch happy. Normal users don't care about or use multiple desktops and never drop to a shell. That's just for geeks. I know a few people at Apple. One used to work for Cray doing OS development. He's about as big of a geek as you can imagine.
Apple fanboys will probably mod this flamebait. It isn't. I have multiple computers and phones, and own an iPhone and a Mac. But I'm constantly being made aware that my PC represents a nearly infinite amount of options...
It's funny because you did not provide even one example of how the PC provides more options than your Mac... something rather critical to your premise, no?
Nonstory (Score:4, Insightful)
This is a non-story. They weren't allowed to sell the app because it had BASIC. They snuck BASIC in, and Apple pulled it since they weren't allowed to sell it.
This is not news.
We don't need the "Apple should allow..." discussion. We had that 2 days ago when this was approved. And the last app that did something. And two before. And the next one.
This isn't a story. "Apple does exactly what it said it would." Call CNN.
Get a real smartphone. (Score:5, Insightful)
If you want a versatile, easy to use, high end phone, but don't want more than that, get an iPhone. If you want a real smartphone, get a real smartphone. If Apple doesn't want to sell a general purpose smart handheld, that's their prerogative. There's plenty of options right now.
Predicted this happening yesterday ... (Score:3, Informative)
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1360395&cid=29345727 [slashdot.org]
Way to go guys, you're so smart and quick that you're idiots.
Interestingly enough, they sold an extra copy of it yesterday to me because, predicting this would happen, I wanted to get a copy before they took it down.
I wouldn't have bought it otherwise, while its cool from a geek perspective, playing C64 games on a touch screen sucks a predictable amount of ass.
Re:RUN (Score:5, Funny)
10 PRINT "HELLO, WORLD!"
Banned: Duplicates text display functionality.
Re:What a dumbass (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, I agree. The developer is a grade-A moron. Initially, the App was rejected because of this and after lots of back and forth Apple approved it with a condition of removing the BASIC interpreter. Developer thought it would be cute to hide, and make it available as an easter egg. Guess that plan backfired.
Without a doubt, they needlessly burned a lot of money because of lost potential sales. Apple might even return the favor by dragging its feet and not approving the app for weeks or months.
Re:Legalize and Encourage Jail Breaking (Score:4, Insightful)
More and more companies are looking to Apple as an example on how to lock down their platforms.
True. Hopefully some others will come up with a better model that provides the advantages of the iPhone's lock-in without the disadvantages.
The only real solution is to legalize and strengthen fair use, so that jail breaking and other DRM circumvention is completely legal and encouraged.
That actually won't matter much. The real solution is to deal with the antitrust issues in adjacent markets so we can have properly operating competition and someone can make a better solution without having to kowtow to AT&T and the MPAA and RIAA and several other criminal gatekeepers.
The US and other governments should also declare Apple's App Store to be an illegal monopoly for their platform...
That's not how antitrust law should or does work. The iPhone is only one (admittedly high profile) player in a very large and diverse marketplace. Apple has done nothing to undermine any market in their technical decisions for the iPhone (although some of their partners have). In terms of antitrust law, in fact, Apple is one of the victims being forced to make choices that get them fewer sales because of illegal actions by their partners.
If people don't like iPhones being locked down, they can effectively vote with their wallets and buy any number of other phones both for use on AT&T's network or another. Apple has, in no way leveraged any monopoly influence in any market in what they're doing with the ecosystem for apps on the iPhone.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Which smartphones sold in the United States aren't locked down?
You mean what smartphones can you run arbitrary, unapproved software like emulators? Most of them. Blackberry, Linux, and Windows Mobile based phones almost all do that. There are, in fact, very few smartphones that don't, like the iPhone and a few new Android phones. One of the reasons the iPhone is so popular, however, is that it is restricted and that results in a better signal to noise ratio when trying to buy applications to run on it. The average person doesn't care if they can run a C64 emulator and
Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Insightful)
Millions might be a tad high there Obi-wan.
There's probably a total of two people who own an iphone/touch and bought the app and actually planned on doing something with the C64 BASIC.
Most of the people complaining probably wouldn't even think of owning anything Apple and BASIC is just something for them to make a show of why they'll never own an iPhone (and to look "cool" to all their F/OSS friends while doing so).
OMG! They pulled an app I'd never buy from a phone I'll never own over a feature I'd never use!!! I must complain loudly and vigorously to show how hardcore linux I am!