On his blog Paul Thurrott just suggested that the rest of the world needs to do what France is doing and steal the Intellectual property of Apple "for the greater good". Otherwise known as communism.
http://www.internet-nexus.com/2006/03/france-pushes-for-free-choice-on-song.htm
My response to him:
Little tip. Communism failed horribly, starved millions to death and is generally evil. France itself is an excellent example of socialism in action. I.e. the riots specifically for actions enslaving their people to "the greater good" and eliminating freedom "for their own good".
Your "Good stuff. If only the rest of the world had this much common sense." isn't common sense, it is the height of evil. It is the enslavement of Apple/Microsoft/whom ever else uses their minds to build something and the theft of their ideas and hard work.
This is not about "what's good for the consumer". This is about property rights. The very foundation of a good society. If you don't like Apple's closed door, then don't buy Apple. Simple as that. They have the right to produce anything they wish, on any terms they wish and sell to whomever they wish to sell to or not. You similarly have the right to buy whatever you want to buy, AND NOT buy whatever you want.
Your problem is that you see a problem, and you like Apple stuff, but you want the problem solved, so you have no problem with enslaving others to get what you want. Do as I have done, and go buy someone else's product that doesn't lock you into Apple's system. It might not be as good, but if you value your freedom to choose, then you'll accept something that is less good. Or, you might give up your right to choose, because the Apple IPOD really is that good compared to everything else (it isn't). That is your choice, but when you make your choice (6+ IPODs now?) you can't bitch about the company that you voluntarily bought from or their policies. You're fuelling those policies not Apple.
When someone takes your house because they think that they can make better use of your property than you can and thus make a town more tax dollars, or someone says "Hey, what a great idea you've come up with! The world can't live without that, thus you must make them and give it to everyone else!" just remember that you thought this was a good idea, because this is exactly what you're supporting. Government sanctioned theft.
Be glad that you've never created anything worthy of such desire. Once you've experienced such a rape of your very mind by those that do not deserve anything at all, you'll fully understand the evil of socialism.
There's a book you should read: Atlas Shrugged. It's about this very topic; the enslavement of the individual and the consequences of such actions. If you Educated yourself on the history (The Capitalist Manifesto, The History of Modern Economics, any number of other books on the subject) of the policy you're supporting, and the direct correlation between socialism and poverty and free market capitalism throughout history and the incredible wealth created for EVERYONE, you'd see that you're suggestion is evil and self-destructive. (as more than a few cars in Paris have found out in the last year)
"God" help any of us that have to live in the world that you would create. Oh right, 50 million people died in the Soviet Union in a world exactly like what you're suggesting....
A Free Man.