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Apple bans Linux/Android Dual-Booting on iPad Devices

5 points by robomartin ↗ HN
That's a headline you are never going to see. Well, OK, you just saw it.

Of course, this is factually correct. You can't dual-book an iPad. And, nobody is up in arms about it at all. Why is it, then, that when Microsoft chooses to exercise control over their sandbox the tech community is up in arms about it?

To be clear, I am neither an Apple nor Microsoft fan-boy. There are things I like and dislike about both companies and their products. And, when applicable, I do prefer open to closed, in almost every sense of the terms.

From that neutral stance I just don't get the criticism of MS for daring to nail their systems shut to other OS's. Apple does it. Why can't MS?

2 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 7.1 ms ] thread
maxxpower
I am not sure where you think the community has "nobody is up in arms about it at all". Most of the biggest complaints about Apple is their locked down approach to hardware/software integration. Yes, you are right, nobody is complaining specifically about apple not allowing android on iOs devices, mostly because the desire is not there based on the expense of the apple hardware compared to android based phones.

The desire from an MS perspective is that the hardware can be acquired significantly cheaper than other devices.

As a whole, you will find that the community is opposed to locks in general, whether defining it as OS level or application level (ios jailbreak). Overall the consumer prefers open platforms over closed.

AtlasLion
Unlike MS, Apple makes it's own hardware. they are free to do whatever they want with it. MS on the other hand, is trying to get hardware from all other manufacturers locked down. this can potentially cause much more problems to other operating systems.