Linked by David Adams on Wed 29th Oct 2008 20:55 UTC, submitted by Geir Johasen
An interesting NYT Bits blog entry covers Opera's mobile browser. Buried in the middle of the article is this quote: "Opera's engineers have developed a version of Opera Mini that can run on an Apple iPhone, but Apple won't let the company release it because it competes with Apple's own Safari browser." It also talks about Opera on the Wii and browsers in cars. A good read. My Take: But back to the iPhone. As tempted as I am to just shrug it off, since Apple is free to run its App Store any way it pleases, as an enthusiastic iPhone user, I think Apple is shooting itself in the foot here, as it is with all the "competitive" apps being rejected. Apple does stand to lose some Google revenue by letting people use other browsers, but they have much more to gain by unleashing the creativity of the developer community and giving them the freedom to improve or replace core iPhone functionality. Hopefully competition from Android forces them to wake up.
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RE: Going to get an iPhone before Christmas.
by CharAznable on Thu 30th Oct 2008 13:15
in reply to "Going to get an iPhone before Christmas."
Member since:2005-07-06
RE: Going to get an iPhone before Christmas.
by erikharmon on Thu 30th Oct 2008 14:20
in reply to "Going to get an iPhone before Christmas."
Member since:2007-06-20
And I am glad that Opera won't be available - it's an okay browser, but Safari is clearly better.
Why do you care if other people want to run Opera on their iPhone?
forcing every device and company to open up is not freedom. I think technological progress has come from a mix and match of open and closed strategies by companies - Android is open, the iPhone is closed. Both should move cellphone technology forward.
That would sound ridiculous if it were applied to freedom in any other context. No one would say it was an abuse of freedom to demand that third-world dictatorships stop abusing human rights. But then, human freedom and code freedom are different things, and maybe the industry does move faster with a mix of open and closed strategies, but don't ever forget that it's still a trading of freedom for convenience. Just because it accelerates the market doesn't change the value judgment of free/less free.
RE: Going to get an iPhone before Christmas.
by mbharat on Thu 30th Oct 2008 16:46
in reply to "Going to get an iPhone before Christmas."
Member since:2008-06-19
it's an okay browser, but Safari is clearly better.
Are you kidding? Safari on the macbook is dog slow and crashes a lot. Compared to it, opera is damn good. And because of Opera's integreated mail client, I don't open Mail.app too.
I am a macbook fan, but I believe there are lot of deficiencies in the way apple does things, but overall atleast for me, a mac delivers better value.
RE[2]: Going to get an iPhone before Christmas.
by NathanHill on Thu 30th Oct 2008 21:20
in reply to "RE: Going to get an iPhone before Christmas."
Member since:2006-10-06
I've bounced between the other offerings, but Safari (or Webkit) are just faster... even than Firefox 3.1 beta (which is pretty fast). Opera has made improvements every time I try it, but it doesn't cut it. So, Opera on an iPhone doesn't add any value to me or the iPhone platform as I see it.
RE: Going to get an iPhone before Christmas.
by hangman on Thu 30th Oct 2008 21:25
in reply to "Going to get an iPhone before Christmas."
Member since:2007-09-05
RE[2]: Going to get an iPhone before Christmas.
by NathanHill on Thu 30th Oct 2008 21:58
in reply to "RE: Going to get an iPhone before Christmas."
Member since:2006-10-06
I guess we will have to agree to disagree, because Opera just runs dog slow on any Mac I've used it on. Windows machines fare a little better. Firefox 3 is a bit better, and Safari, Webkit, and Camino wipe the floor with Opera. I'm sure it probably is faster in some ways, but I've always been disappointed.
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And I am glad that Opera won't be available - it's an okay browser, but Safari is clearly better. Opera really misses the mark as far as having that solid, sexy Apple feel. That's why everytime I've used it on my Mac, it just doesn't "feel" right. I wouldn't want it on my iPod touch right now. What feature would it bring?
I think you are open source guys really come off sounding sort of the opposite of your ideals - forcing every device and company to open up is not freedom. I think technological progress has come from a mix and match of open and closed strategies by companies - Android is open, the iPhone is closed. Both should move cellphone technology forward.