Originally Posted by alarmguy
Your way off base on Apple and privacy. Apple is the world leader in privacy over all the big names. Also putting Google and Apple in the same category is incorrect.
Google's business model is data mining, Apple is not even close to being that.
One really needs to rely on oneself for privacy, not just what other companies claim to do. As Triple_Se7en notes, things can change at Apple. Secondly, they're not the saints you claim them to be. See
this link. Of course, there is more to my use of technology than simply privacy concerns.
I really dislike vendor lock in, particularly as implemented in Apple's business model. They've really gone back in time with respect to some of these things. First off, if someone is claiming that something is concerned with my privacy, they had better be able to prove it by having the source code available for inspection. Apple won't do that. They can claim to be concerned about my privacy, but if they're not willing to put the source code where their mouths are, I'm not convinced. That's one reason Phil Zimmerman moved along after NAI took over his product. He could personally guarantee the integrity of the last version when he was there, but wasn't in the position to guarantee no back doors on future versions. I trust Phil Zimmerman's word. I had no reason to trust NAI's word. That shows how a company can go from having something trusted for privacy and integrity, and then suddenly that was no longer there, and a proprietary, opaque model was being enforced. It ended up biting eventual owner, McAfee, in the backside, anyhow, since the few people conversant with the product had long moved to the free and open source competition, and the company was left holding a white elephant. Before that, Symantec had released source code after it had been protected for 8 years or so, but that ship had already sailed, and I suspect they realized they had spent a bunch of money on said white elephant.
The iTunes model is absolutely an abomination. It has all the elegance, grace, and sense of playing Russian roulette with an autopistol. Despite Apple's protests, storage on an iPhone or iPod doesn't require a complex, kludgy interface. The storage is nothing more than a glorified USB stick. If I can't copy music to it by the "cp" command or its equivalent from any operating system or use a GUI file browser, I'm not interested. I'm also not interested in buying music from Apple. They push DRM restrictions, and I will not take part in that under any circumstances. Apple's model and similar models have upturned many years of convention when it came to music copyright. If I buy a CD, the courts both in Canada and the States have ruled I can make a a copy of my CDs for each of my vehicles, or a cassette copy for an ancient Walkman, digital copies to listen to on my computer, and reel to reel should I so desire for my personal use. Apple's business model won't allow that, so I'm not interested.
I've been in favour of the free software movement since it started, heck, before it started. I started with computers at the time when if you wanted a computer to do something, you sat down, wrote a program, and if it worked well, you gave it to your friends. I will use proprietary software. I'm not completely rigid on this. That's especially true for games. While there are FLOSS games out there, the reality is that the easiest way to game in comfort is to have a console hooked up to your HDTV and go to town; in that case, I still prefer buying the physical media where feasible. However, I'm not using proprietary software where a reasonable FLOSS equivalent is available. Even when I do get stuck using Windows, I still stick to whatever FLOSS software I can. The added bonus is that much of it is cross platform. I'm also not afraid of sending in useful bug reports (that don't get buried or dumped in File G) and identifying a workaround or even providing a fix.
The reality is there is very little that I (or most people, for that matter) do with computers that requires proprietary software. I don't need Apple's help to send email, browse the net, write a document or spreadsheet, set up a playlist, watch videos, or listen to music, and, most importantly, to make telephone calls.
With respect to credit reporting agencies, there are certain provisions here, and credit reporting things aren't completely "mandatory." However, if I want some big business loans, I have little choice but to participate.