This is not the first time I've heard this bait and switch tactic. The critical point that is muddled is that the web is not the Internet. Furthermore, an iPhone is a general purpose computing device and not limited to web applications. I don't believe for a minute that HTML5 solves this. For example, a major selling point of the iPhone is its iPod multimedia functionality which is an application.
Because you may want to do more with the Internet than access HTTP and because you have a device that does much more than access web pages, control over the applications on that device is a freedom issue. The partial freedom of web access is not the same as actual freedom. If I give the author the benefit of the doubt and believe he isn't clueless, then his spin on reality must be considered deceptive. It's misdirection. To alter a line in the article, when he refuses to distinguish between the Internet and the web and web access freedom and software freedom, he knows what he's doing.
I understand you may freely choose to not buy an iPhone, but Apple has gained a certain leverage in the market that can't simply be ignored. As an individual I can ignore it. As a company with competitive interest in mobile applications, you could not easily ignore it.
Because you may want to do more with the Internet than access HTTP and because you have a device that does much more than access web pages, control over the applications on that device is a freedom issue. The partial freedom of web access is not the same as actual freedom. If I give the author the benefit of the doubt and believe he isn't clueless, then his spin on reality must be considered deceptive. It's misdirection. To alter a line in the article, when he refuses to distinguish between the Internet and the web and web access freedom and software freedom, he knows what he's doing.
I understand you may freely choose to not buy an iPhone, but Apple has gained a certain leverage in the market that can't simply be ignored. As an individual I can ignore it. As a company with competitive interest in mobile applications, you could not easily ignore it.