Why the web should be destroyed, by Steve Jobs:

“We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform.”

I tried to ignore the whole section 3.3.1 debacle, as I’ve already commented on Apple’s moves and motives too many times, and really this change is just a new wrinkle of existing restrictions: developers for the iPhone are already subject to the capriciousness and fickle whim of Apple, with no recourse.

If Apple said that you have to wear a purple bow-tie while developing for the iPhone it would arguably be a change for the better. At least then you wouldn’t have uncertainty on the whole bow-tie color issue. From that perspective, Section 3.3.1 should be a welcomed clarifier.

While claims that it’s for the greater good of quality are discountable as a ludicrous smoke-screen, if you were gullible enough to believe that, and you accept the asinine notion that development technology dictates app quality, is Apple promising to filter app submissions by quality?

Given what is already in their app store they have a lot of pruning to do.

They could carpet-bomb out the crapulence, with acceptable collateral damage, by banning any apps made by small development shops. This would be great for everyone, right?

Kudos to them for removing consumer choice: If someone liked an app created via one of the targeted tools, clearly it’s because they don’t know what’s good for them. Personally I choose based upon reviews and user ratings, but it’s a win if these sorts of personal decisions are made for me.

Like I said, I’m not going to get drawn into this whole section 3.3.1 debate.

So let’s get back to Steve Jobs’ statement above.

“We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform.”

Where do web standards fit into this equation, given that web standards are almost perfectly defined as intermediate layers between the platform and the developer.

Stop. Pause. Seriously think about this. Imagine that Steve Ballmer was saying this about SVG (just use GDI and DirectX or at worst VML) and JavaScript and the canvas element, while discussing banning non-ActiveX controls from the Windows ecosystem.

Where does Steve Jobs think the web fits? Is it just a convenient stop gap?

We know that Apple’s existence through the lean years, and then its resurgence, was made possible because of the cross-platform web, and paradoxically because of the cross-platform Flash technology. iMacs sold to the general population only because they knew they could still use the open web, consuming and interacting with apps that could certainly have been built richer and better if they targeted just the Windows platform.

They could use the popular sites, read the news, do their banking, pay bills, and send eCards, despite being on a platform used by only the very few.

Yet now Jobs has made it plenty clear that the web is for trivial, simple stuff. For richer apps you need to target the iPhone alone, using a process that in no way can allow you to target other platforms as well.

Flash is a no go because it enriches the web – there’s a lot of hate out there by people who know Flash only as a simple video player, where it punted Apple's QuickTime it’s worth noting, and as a platform for irritating ads, however as a parent of young kids I see Flash as the enabler of an incredible array of rich and entertaining educational tools for kids (PBS Kids, TVO Kids, CBC Kids, Disney Kids, among countless others) – and Apple has done nothing in the mobile web space to make up for the gap…because at that point you’re supposed to bridge over to the iPhone market and embrace it with fervor and loyalty. Sorry, but no thanks.