A few thoughts from a tumor surgeon

Apple’s iPhone & iPad and the end of the hacker

May 14, 2010 at 3:39 pm Leave a comment

I was talking to a friend the other day who shares a common love for gadgets, especially the electronic kind. He told me that he had “jumped ship” from the iPhone to Android and bought a Nexus One. That seemed a little odd but not terribly striking. What really caught my attention is what he said next, which is that he spent most of one night “rooting” (i.e. jailbreaking) his Android phone to allow him to tether its cellular data to his computer.

Now, I know this guy has a demanding job and probably does not have a lot of spare time. What I realized from my reaction though, is that this type of computer hobbyist is now almost a dinosaur.

In my own evolution, I started first tinkering with cars. As a kid, I used to read car magazines and repair manuals and, even after college, I used to spend many a weekend day happily under the hood or running to my local car parts shop.

I eventually moved this tinkering impulse to computers and learned to program my home computer. I still remember subscribing to Byte magazine, reading about the amazing evolution of Intel’s microprocessors from 8 bits to 16 bits.

As the years went on, I found other, better remunerative, problems to occupy my inquisitive energies. I was happy to drive perfectly reliable Japanese cars that invited no under-the-hood curiosity. Tinkering with computers also became a burden. Any intervention by the computer between thought and product became an unwelcome intrusion, rather an opportunity to find out what is happening behind the scenes.

For many tech enthusiasts however, a sealed operating system like the iPhone and iPad, where one is not allowed to get under the hood and make changes, is just intrinsically a bad thing.

But, what seems happening to me is that the hacker ethos is being confronting by the evolution of computers from mysterious objects, understood only by a select few, to commonplace objects found in everybody’s pockets.

Personally, I do not recall ever having the urge to take apart my television to see how it works not do I find it objectionable that a mechanic has to undergo special training to repair my Japanese car. Still, I am confident tomorrow’s hackers will yet find new things to take apart. Just maybe not my iPhone.

Entry filed under: comment. Tags: apple, hacker, iPad, iPhone.