The most striking statement to me at the WWDC was Tim blurting out that we are in the
*post PC era*. While most in line with Apple's marketing front probably interpret post PC era as
a new age of *smaller and thinner* devices (who the hell needs computer stations if you are hip crowd) , I on the other hand (as many others may) have been trying to read between the lines as to what exactly that may mean...corporate talk and strategy wise.
What if the real meaning of Post PC was not the marketing hype of Apple and other electronics corporations, but was more relevant to the *personal* aspect of computers.. as in ownership and property rights?.
The elephant ?:
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act was supposed to promote innovate and protect copyrighted content, but it seems manufacturers in the last decade have used the loopholes in the law to argue that consumers don't own the programming that makes modern products work. Worse, they've twisted language in the DMCA to stop owners from modifying, hacking, and even repairing their own products.
Of course as with any *act* signed into law that has a pretty title, government wasted no time in 1998 after the DMCA was passed to sign international treaties based on the DMCA, probably knowing full well the repercussions it would have against property rights benefiting coporate monopolies..
It seems the next DMCA war that is being waged is about hardware controlled by copyrighted programming- In other words, corporations are waging a war against personal ownership of their products, and a war against repair shops and third party suppliers. In the modern day corporate’s mind- you do not own their product, you are leasing them, therefore you are not allowed to tinker, replace parts, fix or repair THEIR computers- a perfect corporate monopoly business plan that threatens property rights, ignores waste issues and green policies (recycling is not a solution as it does not address the enormous amount of energy used to manufacture disposable goods and the fact that only a small percentage of materials are actually re-used in manufacturing) , and threatens 29% of jobs in the USA , most comprised of repairs and supplies .
Companies such as John Deer, and Nikon are actively proposing that property rights be abolished under the DCMA, as well as car manufacturers who are pushing to criminalize self repairs http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/20/automakers-gearheads-car-repairs/.
On the computer electronics front, Apple seems to be leading the charge against property rights of computers with non replacable and non availability of parts in their computer designs, and the locking down of the OS - green be damned…we have AppleCare.. post PC indeed.
But the supreme court left a window open so that every three years reviews and petitions of what should be excluded from the DMCA are possible, this is where the front lines are, and in New York a bill is presently being reviewed in the senate that addresses the issue of *right to repair and property rights* - a first in the nation, after all, should we get arrested or sued for changing a tire on the car that we purchased, or arrested or sued for changing the ram or drive in our computers we spent thousands on?… the corporations seem to think so..you decide.
Post PC era - in my mind the computer will never die, nor will software (hello Adobe) , it is our rights to ownership that may one day die.
*post PC era*. While most in line with Apple's marketing front probably interpret post PC era as
a new age of *smaller and thinner* devices (who the hell needs computer stations if you are hip crowd) , I on the other hand (as many others may) have been trying to read between the lines as to what exactly that may mean...corporate talk and strategy wise.
What if the real meaning of Post PC was not the marketing hype of Apple and other electronics corporations, but was more relevant to the *personal* aspect of computers.. as in ownership and property rights?.
The elephant ?:
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act was supposed to promote innovate and protect copyrighted content, but it seems manufacturers in the last decade have used the loopholes in the law to argue that consumers don't own the programming that makes modern products work. Worse, they've twisted language in the DMCA to stop owners from modifying, hacking, and even repairing their own products.
Of course as with any *act* signed into law that has a pretty title, government wasted no time in 1998 after the DMCA was passed to sign international treaties based on the DMCA, probably knowing full well the repercussions it would have against property rights benefiting coporate monopolies..
It seems the next DMCA war that is being waged is about hardware controlled by copyrighted programming- In other words, corporations are waging a war against personal ownership of their products, and a war against repair shops and third party suppliers. In the modern day corporate’s mind- you do not own their product, you are leasing them, therefore you are not allowed to tinker, replace parts, fix or repair THEIR computers- a perfect corporate monopoly business plan that threatens property rights, ignores waste issues and green policies (recycling is not a solution as it does not address the enormous amount of energy used to manufacture disposable goods and the fact that only a small percentage of materials are actually re-used in manufacturing) , and threatens 29% of jobs in the USA , most comprised of repairs and supplies .
Companies such as John Deer, and Nikon are actively proposing that property rights be abolished under the DCMA, as well as car manufacturers who are pushing to criminalize self repairs http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/20/automakers-gearheads-car-repairs/.
On the computer electronics front, Apple seems to be leading the charge against property rights of computers with non replacable and non availability of parts in their computer designs, and the locking down of the OS - green be damned…we have AppleCare.. post PC indeed.
But the supreme court left a window open so that every three years reviews and petitions of what should be excluded from the DMCA are possible, this is where the front lines are, and in New York a bill is presently being reviewed in the senate that addresses the issue of *right to repair and property rights* - a first in the nation, after all, should we get arrested or sued for changing a tire on the car that we purchased, or arrested or sued for changing the ram or drive in our computers we spent thousands on?… the corporations seem to think so..you decide.
Post PC era - in my mind the computer will never die, nor will software (hello Adobe) , it is our rights to ownership that may one day die.
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