Posts by JonathanM
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The only difference I see is that there is only one retail store for iOS apps. If all the retailers sell out of PS 5.5 and Adobe aren't producing new copies then are you not in exactly the same position?
Correct - the fact that you can still purchase PS 5.5, a version that is now 13 years old, from an alternate retailer very clearly distinguishes the two retail models. It's the result of both the digital nature of the purchase along with the single store model. Both mean that you have fewer "rights" with your purchases than you had before with the physical (or transferable digital) item - you can no longer resell, or gift them to someone else, nor can you alter the item if you wanted to. You don't really own your copy of the app, rather you have a non-transferable license to use it in the form that was provided to you. It's a fundamentally different transaction, and I'm not sure whether folk always understand the restrictions that come along with it. Or perhaps they do, and I'm over-thinking things :)
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Yes - apologies for the confusion - the third point was an hypothesis and may not be something that Brian has observed, and may not even be possible.
Agreed regarding your point on the availability of older versions of software, though I think it highlights an interesting issue. In your example, you suggested that Photoshop 5.5 from Adobe would no longer be expected to be able to be purchased. A quick google shows that you can in fact purchase this still. This is not, however, possible in this brave new world of the iOS device: once Apple decides to stop distributing it, that's it. I'm not sure that the argument "you knew that when you bought it" is enough to counter this concern.
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There's a number of related issues here which are clouding things slightly.
The first issue is that of whether an update of T&C's is appropriate within 5 months of purchase. The reason for the updated T&C's are because of newly added features in the updated operating system, so I'm not sure how Apple could preempt this - it seems entirely reasonable that they may need to be altered, and there is nothing that forces you to accept them.
The second issue is that some applications no longer work as they used to because you haven't updated the OS. Nothing at all has changed on your device - you're running the same OS. If the Herald app broke without your intervention (i.e. you didn't install an updated app that somehow clashed with your version of iOS) then the only way this can occur is that the Herald has changed the way it serves up content to its app. This is the Herald's fault for breaking older versions of their app - you'd be entitled to a refund, but unfortunately that's not worth much ;)
The third problem would be if you're no longer able to install apps that you could have before the iOS update was available now that you've not agreed to the updated T&C's for iTunes. In this case, you really have lost ability of the iPad - the ability to install apps under the T&C's you originally signed up for. This is definitely Apple's fault - they maintain versions of apps appropriate for older versions of iOS (they have to, as older devices don't run iOS 5 for instance) so you should be able to install them under the older operating system that you have. Unfortunately I don't have an iOS device to experiment with to see whether this can occur (my wife has left me under no illusions as to who the iPad belongs to!)
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It's worth pointing out that the increased malware on Android is primarily due to the ability for users to use marketplaces other than the Google Play store to obtain apps. With more freedom comes more potential for things to screw up if the user chooses to play outside the box. There's also malware available for jailbroken iOS devices, should you choose to look for it, but ofcourse only a small proportion go to the effort of jailbreaking to begin with, just like only a small proportion of Android users go looking outside the Google Play store, as most users have all they need available to them.