Proprietary Software By Any Other Name
Thursday, 27 March 2008 08:06
I just finished reading an article in Wired magazine about Apple. It was a good article that discussed how the success of Apple can be linked to Steve Jobs, his unwillingness to bend, and the Area 51 level of secrecy surrounding their products. I have always had a certain fondness for Macs. In fact, the first computer I remember using was a Mac Plus. It is difficult to deny the beauty of both the hardware and the software of modern-day Macs.
I have always seen Apple as the underdog in the fight against Microsoft imperialism. The article in Wired shows a different side:
"Want to hear your iTunes songs on the go? You're locked into playing them on your iPod. Want to run OS X? Buy a Mac. Want to play movies from your iPod on your TV? You've got to buy a special Apple-branded connector."
This is nothing earth-shattering. I've known this stuff for a while now. The only thing that makes Microsoft a monopoly and Apple the underdog is market share. In fact, Apple poses even more of a threat than Microsoft due to the fact that Apple makes all their own hardware while Microsoft licenses Windows to PC makers around the globe. Do we really want to create another Microsoft? No, we don't. But if we should not use Microsoft nor Apple what are we to do?
The answer (as is often the case on this blog) is open source software. I say this as I struggle with my own addiction to proprietary software. Please, just one more hit of CS3! I am working on making the transition. I have setup a Ubuntu box, installed GIMP, Quanta Plus and OpenOffice. But there's a learning curve, and it's going to take a while before I am ready to make the switch 100%.
