Nerd Rant Against Desktop Apps

Browsing through the net I came across this article that mentioned Apple will now have apps for their Mac OS systems. This means that now people can download apps for their laptops and desktops. For most this might be a good thing but for me this is a dark path with no light at the end of the tunnel.

Growing up I have always had a love affair with computes, building my first computer when I was 10. When I was 12 my family finally got an internet connection (I can’t believe it has already been 12 years) and I loved surfing the web and finding new sites. The best part about the internet in the 90’s was all the free programs you could find. Free games, editing software, music software, music, etc. Even store bought videogames had free stuff you could get online. This was also the era when cell phones came with free games and applications. Then after the whole Napster fiasco and the regulation of music online, companies started charging for a lot of the stuff that used to be free online.

Now that Apple is going to release apps for desktops it really jeopardizes this give and take community that is online. Other companies have tried to do this, most notably seen when game companies try and charge for downloadable content, and it has worked with limited success. But now with a major company like Apple using this type of sales platform it could spell doom for all the stuff that was once free online. It makes me wonder, if desktops and laptops start using apps, will we have to pay for things like notepad, paint, recycling bin, system utilities? I remember when windows used to come with word and excel but slowly started charging for these programs…I also remember what a hassle it was to get all those free programs to work correctly.