Is Closed Better?

10 Jun Is Closed Better?

These days, there is a huge battle of wills between those that believe that Open is better, and those that see the benefits to Closed systems.  Which really wins?

The embodiment of this debate right now has no better example than the Android vs. iPhone melee.  Apple is trying to create a wonderful experience with their closed and walled-off iPhone and iPad systems, both running iPhone OS (nee iOS), while on the other side of the ring is the multitude of platforms running Google’s light/portable OS, Android.  To be sure, there are valid arguments in both camps.

But one of the most vociferous of ideas in this disagreement is whether the Open nature of Android is better, or is the Closed nature of the iPhone better?

At first glimpse, one might be tempted to say that Open is better.  After all, being able to do what one wants to with one’s devices is better, right?  After all, freedom is good, and more freedom is… um, more good…

But let’s not sell short the benefits of a Closed system.  First of all, Closed systems exist and are very beloved.  Systems such as Sony’s PS3 and the Xbox are Closed.  And because of their Closed nature, I believe that they enjoy some grand benefits.

For instance, on the PC side of the gaming world, many have complained that DRM (Digital Rights Management) cripples a great many games.  Recently, I was taken aback that the latest Splinter Cell game seems to phone home every dozen minutes or so.  What if I wanted to play this offline?  Or on a plane?  Would it simply not let me?  Not that the Xbox and the PS3 are portable systems (although sometimes they are), but being closed systems, the game developers can have a reasonable assurance that no one is running software alongside their game to cheat or hack or steal the software.  This isn’t so on the Open PC platform.

The issue is in the property rights holders.  Organizations like the MPAA and the RIAA don’t want their property getting out into the wild.  So, in a Closed system where they can be better assured that there isn’t piracy software running to steal their content, they would assuredly be far more willing to allow their content to be displayed.  They will generally begrudgingly allow their wares to appear on open platforms, but only locked down so tightly that they become all but unusable.  The pirates still crack them, and the law-abiding user is the one that gets screwed.

So, I, for one, don’t mind the Closed-ness of single-tasking systems such as the iPhone and iPad.  It means that developers can spend more time worrying about functionality and less about side-jacking piracy programs running alongside their own software.  It also means that content owners can feel better about their property being displayed on such devices with far less fear of piracy.

So, having an Open system might give you more breadth, but a Closed system is likely to give you more depth.  The choice is yours.  And that’s a good thing.