Judging by the drumbeats on the blogosphere, Apple may be within a few internet seconds of being unmasked as a member of the very Legion of Evil it sought to vanquish. Logging browser URLs into its servers? Storing your text documents on the cloud? Without your knowledge? Tracking your every move with its IoT apps?
Before we start tossing out the finger pointing apologetics for reading every last word of all Terms of Service agreements we come across, let us ask this: do I agree to some hidden TOS when I buy a piece of Apple hardware?
Using software these days is a Faustian Bargain. The creators of the software assume that they can never be recoup what it cost to build (a vanity thing, I imagine), so a little trade is arranged to help even the score: you give up the right to privacy in exchange for using the software- even if your bought it. Pride goeth before a fall.
We assumed that hardware did not fall into thisBargain and we may have been wrong. Apple seems to have now separated the user experience from the hardware itself and justified the data collection there with a Stalinesque argument about it being for our own good. Sound familiar?
Apple Computer never seemed to miss an opportunity to lambast IBM Corporation for its corporate persona and reputation. IBM's history of having complete control over its installed equipment base and how it would be used made them an easy target for poking and prodding in media campaigns. IBM knew what the customer needed and provided it for their own good. Freedom! Democracy of data! Independence! Privacy! Apple!
Look at Apple now: operating a walled garden ecosystem that becomes more difficult to leave with each passing day. Is this another opportunity for another rebel to stand up against an evil empire? Only this time, rebel may be the people themselves. For our own good.
#apple #security #walledgarden #ibm #ridleyscott #regismckenna #privacy
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