Monday, August 11, 2008

Steve is ready to destroy your phone

I have been an advocate for open since I teared apart my first toy, just to see what was inside. I liked that, although I never found out a way to put all the parts together. Seeing inside is important, gives you confidence and, if you know your stuff, you can even improve it and show it to others (for them to improve it further: it is called open source).

Now, giving the keys of my toy to the owner of the toy store and letting him destroy it if he wanted... nah, I do not think I would have liked that. Growing up, I still feel I would not give the builder of my house the key to get in and destroy it, without my permission. Even if he promised me he would give me a new one.

If you have an iPhone, you did just that. Steve Jobs today confirmed he can kill your phone if he wants. He can press the big red button in his office and destroy all you have on your device. Blow it apart (virtually), together with your emails, address books, friends, pictures of your newborn baby and/or mistress. He has the superpower.

Gee, I do not think even Microsoft got to this levels. I do not believe they can destroy a Windows installation, even if they would love it. Where are the regulators when you need them? Time to pick up your phone and call them. We are giving a one guy - although a very cool one - a bit too much power, in my personal and open-biased opinion.