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Comment by Toutouxc | Hacker News Reader

But why? I didn't buy an iPhone to be a general purpose computing device, I bought it to be an appliance that allows me to place calls, text my friends and take photos. Is there a magical force of nature that automatically transforms any device with a sufficiently powerful CPU into a general purpose device? Is there a FLOPS limit above which you're supposed to support general purpose tasks? Why is it that my washing machine is exempt from the rule but my cellphone isn't?

I mean, I'm not even on anyone's side here, I don't really care that much if they allow sideloading in iOS (I could think of a few reasons to use it, but I probably won't), I run a headless Linux machine to tinker with, I can build a gaming rig, I can and do all kinds of general purpose computation but I just don't think of my iPhone as a computer and I'd like to understand how someone who does is objectively more correct than me.

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> Is there a magical force of nature that automatically transforms any device with a sufficiently powerful CPU into a general purpose device?

It doesn't need to be "turned" into a general purpose device. It already is. That's its nature. It's Apple who turned it into an "appliance" by artificially limiting what programs you can run on it. It quite literally is a general purpose computer that can run any program except the ones Apple doesn't like.

This is merely child's play, by the way. The future will no doubt feature governments wanting in on that action. Computers are subversive, after all. Encryption alone can make a mockery out of police and courts. They absolutely love the concept of a computer that runs only software that doesn't harm them.

> It doesn't need to be "turned" into a general purpose device. It already is. That's its nature

I don’t understand what you’re saying. Apple didn’t find these devices in the wild and tame them. They created them.

They created a general purpose computer and then locked it down.

Isn’t that how every locked down computer is created?

Doesn't change the fact it's a computer that's inherently capable of any computation and they actively chose to artificially limit it mostly for rent seeking reasons.

That will become evident when governments force Apple to undo those artificial locks. You'll see there was nothing really limiting its potential beside's Apple's locks.

Of course there’s nothing inherent to it that makes it locked down. The microprocessor in my dishwasher could also run arbitrary code.

That doesn’t mean locking it down is bad or wrong.

Does your dishwasher go out of its way to keep you from reprogramming it?

Yes. It doesn’t provide any access to it at all.

> Of course there’s nothing inherent to it that makes it locked down.

So we finally agree. It's a perfectly fine computer, but Apple went and turned it into an iPhone App Executor.

> That doesn’t mean locking it down is bad or wrong.

It absolutely does. Apple owns the machine, not you. Apple has all the keys, not you. You will never be able to do anything with your device that Apple doesn't approve of. You've traded away your freedom for convenience.

> It's a perfectly fine computer, but Apple went and turned it into an iPhone App Executor.

I never argued that the hardware physically couldn’t execute instructions for other purposes

> Apple owns the machine, not you.

That’s not true. I can destroy it if I choose.

The ability to destroy something is a key facet of ownership?

I think that’s an important part of it, yes.

Do you feel that if you bought an xbox that don’t own that?

> I never argued that the hardware physically couldn’t execute instructions for other purposes

Never said you did. You said you didn't understand what I meant when I said computers are naturally able to compute.

> I can destroy it if I choose.

Apple has no problem with you destroying it. You've already paid for it. In fact they'd love it if you destroyed your phone since it means you'll have to buy another.

Try doing something they don't like. See who they machine obeys.

> computers are naturally able to compute.

Computers aren’t naturally able to do anything.

This specific computer system was created as an iOS machine. That’s it’s “””natural””” purpose.

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