The issue here is if most parents buy their kids and IPad instead of a real computer. They would probably be less hackers/engineers in the future if this happens.
Some of us are old enough to remember when assembler was supposed to rot your brain. When BASIC or COBOL or another compiler was going to make you stupid. When new tools and new abstractions were viewed as scary by some folks.
I trust the kids. They're smart. Smarter than us.
Hand'm all iPads. I can't wait to see what they'll come up with.
Some of us are old enough to remember when assembler was supposed to rot your brain. When BASIC or COBOL or another compiler was going to make you stupid. When new tools and new abstractions were viewed as scary by some folks.
Who said stuff like this? The outsourced-java-monkeys of yesteryear?
That was a pretty commonly heard perspective from lecturers and tutors when I was studying Comp Sci in ~85 or so - that kids who'd learnt a bit of basic at school (or on their AppleII or ZX81) needed to "unlearn" all their bad habits before they could understand a _proper_ language like Pascal...
There were many smart people that did smart things in the USSR too, but it doesn't mean it was better. In many ways, this is more like transitioning computing away from a Democracy (or an Anarchy depending on how you look at it) to rule by a Benevolent Leader. Maybe the Benevolent Leader does some great things that benefit a lot of people, but sometimes this is at the cost of the people the cross the Benevolent Leader's path. And then there is the question of "what happens when the Benevolent Leader dies?" Who will take over the reins?
I doubt it. The real potential hackers will immediately want to jailbreak it. This is what I would do if this thing came out when I was a kid. I wanted to take everything apart. Even if they don't have a PC in their home, they'll find a way to do it. A friends house, the library, etc. Kids are amazing.
And, because Apple actively tries to prevent jailbreaking, these kids will all be breaking the law (DMCA) to hack their devices; which is a real shame.
And let's hope they're kids under 18, since doing what you describe will probably be a federal crime (see DMCA) in the US, and probably most other nations.
The fact that it will be proven jailbreakable doesn't mean we should all accept being criminalized for doing what it's our natural right to do (take things apart that we own).
