I posted the following as a comment to another TMO article, but thought it applied here as well, re the Podcaster issue. Here goes:

One thing that I don’t entirely get is why so many users give Apple a pass regarding the iPhone that would never give regarding the Mac. For example, I keep seeing comments such as “It’s Apple’s iPhone. If they want to restrict what apps go on it, that’s their business. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy an iPhone. Buy something else instead.”

Aside from the fact that these sort of comments work to shut down any criticism (much like “America, love it or leave it”), imagine Apple trying to pull the same stunt with the Mac (assuming there was a way for them to do so): “I’m sorry, you can’t use TextWrangler on your Mac because Apple views it as competition for our own TextEdit.” I seriously doubt Apple would have any defenders here.
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I would also add that it’s not “Apple’s Phone”. After you buy it, you own it. It’s AT&T’s network that you are “leasing”, but the phone itself is yours.

I’m not a lawyer, but that’s the way I see it.

Quote: The problem here is that Apple’s basis for approval may simply derive from its own self-interest.

Just what in the world is wrong with this? Apple’s first duty is to itself. iTunes IS, after all, their platform. Check out this rebuttal opinion.

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/09/16/banned-iphone-apps-and-the-john-gruber-podcaster-defense/

[quote comment=“3957”]I would also add that it’s not “Apple’s Phone”. After you buy it, you own it. It’s AT&T’s network that you are “leasing”, but the phone itself is yours.

I’m not a lawyer, but that’s the way I see it.

Ahhh, but here’s the rub. If your iPhone (or any phone for that matter) is a subsidized phone (like in AT&T’s discounted 3G iPhone I bought) then technically speaking until you fulfill that contract you haven’t actually bought the phone.  You put down a payment and continue to make payments until the phone is paid for.

Just my 2 cents!!

I guess the question is how much should Apple’s self-interest be allowed to determine what I can put on an iPhone after I purchase it? If I purchase a Sony DVD player, I don’t expect Sony to be able to dictate what DVDs I can or cannot play on it, regardless of whether or not it would be in their self-interest to do so.

Backpedaling a bit, I AM sympathetic to the argument that an app that uses network bandwidth may be an exception. Apple should be able to exercise some control here.

Ted, my memory goes back to 1983-84 and the Lisa and Macintosh introductions. The Lisa shipped with only (basically) Apple software, but it was _good_ software. The Macintosh shipped with two good Apple programs, but the third party stuff was usually pretty awful, being copied from systems that were command line not desktop metaphor oriented. Personally I bought a Macintosh to use Mac-like software, I wish I had the option then to buy software that supported a seamless ‘Mac’ experience the way Lisa 7/7 software did on the Lisa. So frankly I would give Apple a pass if they applied the App Store to Mac software as well.

As for shutting down debate, sometimes no means no. As in ‘No, I don’t want to sleep with you, no I don’t want to discuss it, and if you don’t like it go bother someone else.’

With DVDs I thought you couldn’t even play DVDs in a different part of the world (zone) than you bought them. Here it is not just Sony but the whole content creation industry dictating what (and where) you can play on your Sony DVD player.

Finally why is security not explored by those speculating on Apple’s motives? The apps that are usually offered as being just like Podcaster, either do not download files to the iPhone or download from the users own computer. Perhaps Apple is simply concerned that users will not perceive a distinction between downloading a file from a random blogsite and the iTunes Music Store. This could be exploited to introduce malware. Since Apple loses money every time someone downloads a free podcast, if fear of losing money were the motive, surely Apple would write Podcaster a nice thank you note rather than a rejection?

[quote comment=“3957”]I would also add that it’s not “Apple’s Phone”. After you buy it, you own it. It’s AT&T’s network that you are “leasing”, but the phone itself is yours.

I’m not a lawyer, but that’s the way I see it.

I think that this is correct. However, you are not legally entitled to have your cake and eat it to. Apple and AT&T are under no obligation to make it easy to jailbreak phones or to provide phone, repair, or other services to jailbroken phones.

I don’t think that Apple really expects to stop jailbreaks. By locking out jailbroken phones with every update, the provide a minor discouragement to casual jailbreaking, and also make it clear that Apple is not implicitly encouraging jailbreaking—which might become an issue of owners of jailbroken phones try to demand repair or other services—and to protect Apple from potential liability if apps on jailbroken phones compromise security and result in financial or other losses.

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