More than 25 years ago, a commercial warned us in regards to the future of computers. Closed. Censored. Dark. A ” garden of pure ideology.” How strange that that’s exactly what the long run of Apple’s computers seems like today: the Mac App Store .

OSX 10.7-the Lion!-features an App Store for the Mac. It’s the philosophy of the iPhone and iPad, imported to the desktop computer, and it may be amazing. No more viruses. No more unstable programs. A clean, consistent, safe computer paradise where everything works properly, where the streets are paved with brushed aluminum and the skies are always clear as a retina display. An electronic Camelot? For some, maybe.

When programs became apps

Computers used to run applications or programs, but Apple has slowly turned everything into an ” app.” The word is cute, simple, fun. Non-threatening. But additionally trivializing. Apps are disposable. The word ” application” is more of a mouthful; it has a definite weight, and distinction-at the very least cognitively. Are Final Cut Pro and InDesign just apps? Throwaway impulse purchase that you simply toss a number of stars at and never reflect on again? The straightforward act of labeling all third-party programs apps makes them much less significant: tiny bits of content cowering under the aegis of Apple’s mighty platform.

Right now, downloading and installing an application is complicated-even on oh-so-simple Macs: Determine what you would like. Compare options. Go to a developer’s website. Download a disk image. (Or in the event you’re lucky, a straight ZIP file.) Mount it. Pull the app from the image, and drop it into the Applications folder. Here is not trivial, and almost all people get it wrong . So an App Store that radically simplifies looking for and installing applications generally is a powerful idea that makes computing easier, even better, right? For some, sure-just take the iPhone for example of the way making technology accessible can transform an industry.

The ease of Apple’s mobile App store changed smartphones forever. Legions of self-described Luddites cast their feature phones aside and picked up one of the most sophisticated mobile device ever created. They felt comfortable and empowered while. But the question here’s whether people want an analogous experience on their computers. Just because the line between a smartphone and a transportable computer is becoming increasingly blurred, doesn’t mean the two technologies ought to be treated an identical way.

When you’re just seeking to watch a movie, play a game or read a book, nobody wants complication. So it’s largely okay that Apple maintains such tight control over apps for the iPhone and iPad. They’re technically computers, yes, but we think a completely different quite experience. It’s the fee we pay for largely trouble-free computing.

Apple wants to bring that experience to all personal computers. And that’s commendable, in a number of ways. But component of what makes a PC more powerful than an iPad is that you should install any program you need. A macro program that fills in sentences once you tap just a few letters. A system-wide notification app that any program can tap. A BitTorrent client. For Apple’s strategy to work, it has to manage every facet of the computing experience, turning the PC into a closed system. An electronic Camelot? May very well be more like an electronic Stepford: After you think beneath the shiny surface of the Mac App Store, it’s form of a scary thing.

Inside the App Store

Some of Apple’s rules for the Mac App Store are logical. ” Apps that crash might be rejected.” Apps can’t transmit location data without your permission. These make sense. But the foundations get real restrictive, real fast: No apps which are in ” beta” ” demo,” ” trial,” or ” test” stages. Apps can’t install icons on the Dock. They may be able to’t ” rapidly drain a product’s battery or generate excessive heat.” Oh, and ” apps that enable illegal file sharing will probably be rejected.” So, no BitTorrent. Or beta apps like Apple’s own FaceTime. Basically, powerful programs that extend deep don’t fit the mould for an app, though they may be able to be tremendously useful.

But Apple’s reach goes further than controlling technology: No apps that ” encourage excessive consumption.” Apps can’t misspell Apple product names-like iTunz. Apps can’t appear to be Apple’s applications either. Apps ” with metadata that mentions the name of any other computer platform” are out. Apps can’t be defamatory or ” mean-spirited.” (Unless you’re knowledgeable satirist.) No apps that duplicate pre-installed applications-like Mail. Apps can’t portray ” realistic images of folk or animals being killed or maimed” or shot. Goodbye Call of Duty. No ” Chat Roulette” apps.

The Future

Is this the type of computer we wish? A closed, completely controlled platform that hews to 1 company’s vision of what we should always be watching, downloading or doing? This is frighteningly easy to picture a Mac where all of your apps must be approved by Apple; your whole music, movies and TV shows are streamed from iTunes; your whole books come from iBooks. This may be totally fine for some people. But as anything else of us become increasingly comfortable molding our computing experience to our own needs, this strict environment starts to appear claustrophobic-even technologically totalitarian. It’s still startling to think, even after the previous few years of the App Store on the iPhone, that that is coming from an analogous company that made the 1984 ad over 25 years ago.

For now, App developers can still sell and distribute apps an analogous way they always have, outside of the Mac App Store, and we’ll still be capable to download and install them the old school way, willy nilly. But the incentives for developers to move in the course of the App Store are going to be mighty powerful, possibly irresistible. Overwhelmingly, it’s going to be the best way Mac users find and buy apps. How long before it’s the one method to sell apps on the Mac? It feels inevitable, kind of like the App Store creeping over to OS X . Apple is slowly commencing to grip anything of the Mac more tightly to pursue its vision of the long run of computing, that is more iOS than OS X. More 1984 than 2010.

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This post is tagged: brushed aluminum, computer paradise, desktop computer, future of computers, impulse purchase