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The death of Steve Jobs caused many ripples in the industry last week, but not all the responses to his death were complimentary. Outspoken Richard M. Stallman, the founder of the open source movement posted a rather damning eulogy on his blog several days ago.
“Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died.
As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, “I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone.” Nobody deserves to have to die — not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing.
Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective.”
Stallman has been an unpaid researcher at MIT and a computer science pioneer now for quite some time and he has very strong views against software patents and anti privacy rules that are built into many mobile devices available today, including the iPad and iPhone.
Stallman's commentary has caused wide spread backlash online, with many people condemning his words. The LA Times however feel that he may have a point “Yet Stallman's critique of Jobs' business model has merit. For all Jobs' focus on user-friendly devices, Apple's buttoned-down approach to its software and apps, along with the way its mobile devices facilitate violations of their users' privacy, should be the subject of much broader concern. Stallman's eulogy may get wide distribution because of its tone, but his underlying point about the digital world deserves to be heeded.”
Kitguru says: Will you remember Jobs in a positive way?
I agree on some points. The Apple-Samsung Tablet prosecution thing was just pathetic. So they copied the iPad. So what. And yes, Apple does have a tendency to lock down their devices, much like Microsoft’s and Sony’s Consoles, and yet, those receive much less criticism.
Apple however, even with its locked down devices, helped make the industry into what it is today. Android for example most likely wouldn’t have existed for some years down the line if Apple hadn’t’ designed a real Touch Smartphone. Or the iPad. Who would have made Tablets if Apple hadn’t?
I do agree however that Patents are ruining the industry. Once created to help Inventors not get ripped off, now they’re used and abused in massive lawsuits seeking to ban the competition and sue everyone over every line of obscure coding which nobody has any idea what it even does by Ghost Companies that don’t actually exist, no employees, no nothing, just on paper.