Apple basically spearheaded the war on general computation. Before them, phones used to be more or less open, Apple cracked down on that very quickly.

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dvdkon 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Well, before Apple, most phones were appliances with fixed software; there was no openness to speak of. That said, I wish they hadn't continued this trend and instead took inspiration from Windows Mobile.

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Karliss 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Before iphone mobile phones were running Java applets, which were sometimes even compatible across different phone manufacturers and users even could exchange them over infrared. In contrast first iPhone initially had no support for third party software, only web apps.

	▲	throw0101d 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Before iphone mobile phones were running Java applets, which were sometimes even compatible across different phone manufacturers and users even could exchange them over infrared. "Sometimes" doing a lot of heavy lifting. Nokia had an app store, and before you could see the available apps you have to first choose your phone: because even with-in Nokia's own product range there was so much variation in screens, keyboards, and general capabilities that they had to pre-apply a filter to show you what would actually work.
	▲	naravara 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Functionally nobody was doing any of those things.

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Ygg2 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Sure, at the start, yes.

But then came Java and Wap. You could, in theory, download a jar from a site and try to run it. God knows if it would run. But it wasn't a locked-down app store that bypassing would land you in hot water.

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reaperducer 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Before them, phones used to be more or less open

Wow. Just… wow.

Excuse me while I get permission from sixteen levels of managers inside Cingular, U.S. Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, PrimeCo, and the fifty different regional carriers calling themselves "Cellular One" to offer my app on their networks.

I'm not claiming that iPhones are open to the extent that HN griefers want it to be, but you must have been freshly hatched in the years before the iPhone to think the ecosystem was open.

I say this as someone who developed some of the first mobile phone weather apps. (Before "app" was even a word.)

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stavros 2 days ago | parent [-]

Or, you know, there's more than one country in the world.

I could flash my Nokia 6210 with whatever firmware I wanted, but I guess that doesn't count, because Nokia and Ericsson aren't American companies.

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mapontosevenths 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

I may be guilty of the same thing you're mentioning (I'm in the USA), but my Nokia 6210 came with a carrier lock and I wasn't even able to visit websites via the WAP browser unless my carrier approved of them because WAP acted like a sort of mandatory vendor operated proxy that allowed them to see and filter everything the phone did. They would, for example, filter out websites about ringtones to try and force you to buy theirs for $0.99/piece.

My experience with a Nokia 6210 was very much the opposite of what you describe.

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goku12 2 days ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

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jen20 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

It was exactly like the GP described in the UK too. All-powerful carriers at a time when Apple was almost bankrupt, before Google was a verb and before Microsoft made phones that would crash just sitting waiting for a call.

	▲	goku12 a day ago \| parent [-]
		[dead]

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reaperducer 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

That's very much a product of the American oligarchy

And yet it happens in dozens of other countries that are not America.

You may be surprised to learn that the whole world is not Europe. The colonial era is dead.

with Apple, MSFT and Google at the forefront

None of those companies had phones in the era we're discussing.

	▲	goku12 a day ago \| parent [-]
		[flagged]

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reaperducer 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I guess that doesn't count, because Nokia and Ericsson aren't American companies.

The discussion is about Apple. Which is an American company.

But if taking discussions off-topic is what gets you off, have at it.

	▲	stavros 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		> Apple basically spearheaded the war on general computation. Before them, phones used to be more or less open, Apple cracked down on that very quickly.