I agree that the majority of consumers don't want hassle, but the ability to install apps that you want is hardly a hassle.

There are apps that fit most of our needs, but at the same time, we'll never get a flash plugin. Something we've all been conditioned to accept because everything else works well.

I agree that the majority of consumers don't want hassle, but the ability to install apps that you want is hardly a hassle.

There are apps that fit most of our needs, but at the same time, we'll never get a flash plugin. Something we've all been conditioned to accept because everything else works well.

Look at the failure of Linux to become a legitimate contender as a desktop OS. It's the ultimate in software freedom…you can put anything you want on it, you can modify it all you want and you can build anything you want on top of it. But only hardcore geeks run it as their everyday desktop OS, because they're the only ones who really care about the freedom.

Most people view devices like computers, phones and music players like their cars…they want it to do what it's supposed to reliably and without a lot of hassle. This is why the iPhone has been so successful as a platform. It just works. Not many people care about the fact that they can't put just anything on it. They know that for anything they want to do with it, there literally is an app for that, and thanks to Apple's control over the App Store, it will be a fairly well built and stable app.

Apple's success has proven that a benevolent dictatorship can be more profitable than open-source freedom.

Brass really framed the parameters of the debate with his op-ed piece and it put Microsoft into a position which can't be well argued. Microsoft's response should be to quit spending money on uncompetitive products like Zune and start spending it on some corporate overhaul.

Yes, the option exists to jailbreak the phone, but that isn't the point. Apple is creating a line of products designed to take the control out of our hands and only offer the experience Apple approves. They get away with it because the devices work well, are extremely easy to use and Apple is best marketer out there.

So, we all line up, myself included, eager to be the next person to have the next i(fill-in-the-blank). Oh look! New apps to look through!

Microsoft's influence is too far reaching to suggest they will be completely irrelevant, but your scope is pretty narrow as well.

I don't disagree with you however. If MS wants to have any impact in the mobile world, they have a long way to go.

But, you are right that the competition will be good for the consumer in the end.