Engadget posted an interesting article yesterday, pondering whether carriers are destroying Android, by preloading Android devices with “bloatware.” The article compared this to what happened in the PC industry, where computer vendors loaded all sorts of crapware on machines, filling up the drive and slowing the system down.
It’s deja vu all over again for mobile phones. More and more devices I look at are coming installed with applications I don’t want, often popping up messages to try and upsell me on services I have no interest in. Even worse, unlike PCs where offensive applications can be removed or the OS reinstalled cleanly, there’s often nothing that can be done to get rid of unwanted mobile software without arduous work.
The iPhone certainly restricts what apps can get into the App Store, but at least the user isn’t forced to keep an undesirable program on the phone (aside from the basics, like the App Store app, the Photo app, Mail, etc.). Or is it worse to not have access to certain apps at all, like on the iPhone?
You tell us – what is worse, a smartphone where you can’t even get certain applications because of a restrictive app review process, or a smartphone preloaded with garbage that you can’t remove?
Entelligence: Will carriers destroy the Android vision? [Engadget]
Photo by svensonsan.
America Tries to Force DRM Upon the Rest of the World
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a treaty being negotiated among several countries in secret, in order to bring copyright rules to the world. According to Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who focuses on tech and intellectual property law, leaks from the the most recent round of ACTA negotiations show that the U.S. is pushing for “digital lock” rules that go beyond what even U.S. courts have allowed. Digital lock rules are rules that prohibit such practices as unlocking a cell phone, and removing restrictions that might prevent you from viewing a DVD bought overseas.
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