Written by Christopher Johnson 2009
Department of Internet Studies, Curtin University of Technology
Net Studies Conferences  2010

Abstract

“In the last few years we have seen Apple Inc^TM succeeds in their world dominance of the mp3 music industry with Apple iTunes and the iPod. Then in July 2007 came the iPhone, where not only was it an iPod but a Smartphone Along with the iPhone comes a controlled environment controlled by Apple Inc^TM that socially shapes what the user can and cannot do. Digital Management Rights (DMR), restricted applications, one phone carrier and proprietary software formats managed under patent laws makes the iPhone more an Apple appliance(artefact) than a generative artefact for future internet communications.  This paper will argue that the popular uptake of an iPhone along with other appliances is socially shaping its users and threatens the very existence of the Internet, Social Networks and Online Communities as we know it.   Although in recent times we have seen many artefacts “like Sony Playstation, Wii, Xbox, Tivo” competing to control the space. This paper will focus on the case study of the Apple iPhone.”

Degenerative iPhone

Jonathan Zittrian (2008) book “The future of the Internet” argues that appliances such as the iPhone threaten the existence of the Personnel Computer (PC).  He also argues that the iPhone is a degenerative product and as such the generative value of computers is under threat(Zittrain, 2008).   Zittrian describes the PC as a generative device that a user could code to produce generated content unlike the iPhone that he describes as tethered technology Tethered technologies are technology that are not generative.

What can iPhone do?

First we need to look at what the artefacts can actually do. What are its limitations and what is its usefulness. The iPhone designed by some of the world’s greatest designers at Apple Inc its slick, glossy and simple.  Communications on the artefact include Wi-Fi, GSM (1^st generation), 3G (2^nd and 3^rd generation) and Bluetooth (limited by DMR that will be explained later).

The multi-touch screen allows the user to launch an application simply by touching an icon. It’s a single task at a time so you cannot compose an email while browsing through web. The first generation came with proprietary application such as Apples Safari web browser, iTunes and email. Later generations allowed developers to offer custom applications distributed through the Apple App Store.  The iPhone has a 2 Megapixel camera in the 1^st and 2^nd generation with it having been upgraded to a 3 megapixel camera in the 3^rd generation. To connect the iPhone to your PC you are required to use the Apple proprietary thirty pin connection manufactured under an Apple Licence agreement.

The Design

On the outside the artefacts seems to be all things to all people. A phone, a camera, Internet, email, games, music, video and you can even access Twitter, Youtube and Facebook. However, underneath the design is shaping the way we access this artefacts and a control mechanism that is shaping the technology of the future.  The iPhone has said to be revolutionary in its technology. What is revolutionary is not the technology per say but the combination of excising technologies and good design to produce the artefact.  One example of this is that a 2 megapixel camera was common to mobile phones long before the appearance of the iPhone.

The social shaping of technology as defined by Robin Williams and David Edge (1996) describes that technology is released to the market by social design. The iPhone is one artefact that would meet Williams and Edge description. Rather than innovate new technology, Apple have used existing technology and designed the artefact to create a social appliance giving them control over what the owner can do.

Stoni (2009) wrote about the scripting of technology.  “It is an encounter between what is inscribed in their matter in a fixed way by designers (a script) and their ways to pre-configure the user (a configuration of the user).” As new models of the artefacts are introduced more technology is released to the consumer.

Apple could easily have incorporated a higher mega-pixel camera to the iPhone at very little extra cost as now 10 megapixel cameras are considered an entry level. Touch screens have been on Automated Teller Machines (ATM’s) for years and Hewlett Packard, Palm, Nokia, Blackberry, Sony and Motorola have marketed the hand held computer with mobile phone (“Smart phones”) for several years.

The SST Design Model

Many may argue that the “Linear Model” perceived innovation and advancement as a one-way flow of information. This process begins with the information, and then looks at the concepts of basic science, through to Research and Development (R&D). Finally, the flow ends at the production and marketing level to the consumers (Williams & Edge, 1996)

If this was the case with the iPhone, it would have a 20 megapixel camera, fully functional Bluetooth, USB 3 Port, 1080i HDMI port, multitask environment and a 160 gigabyte solid state hard drive. Apple clearly has adopted the William and Edge ‘social shaping of technology model’ (SST). The artefact is not technologically advanced in the form of the “Linear Model” but more technologically advanced in SST.

M Louise Ripley and Beverly Davis (2003) label the designers as tricksters. They argue that marketers give users of technology a false sense of control over the lives. However, it is the marketers of technologically-based consumer goods that are in control

The owner of the iPhone becomes contracted to the artefacts to enable it to work as it intended by Apple.  Firstly, to enable the phone and internet capabilities in the USA you must first register your artefact with Apple and establish an account with AT & T. In the USA owners are locked to one carrier. The recently announcement of the unlocked iPhone can be purchased from Apple iStore. The artefact will still only work with AT&T.

To own the artefacts one must be prepared to undergo the social change that the artefact will bring. By agreeing to the EULA you then commit yourself to the phone carrier that will support the iPhone or has distribution agreements with Apple. Your music is filtered through the artefact where Apple has the ultimate say as to what it makes available to you. Most of the content offered by iTunes is that of the huge recording industry. For an Independent musician to be able to distribute their music needs to apply to iTune Store to be considered and if approved is given a code(Apple iTunes Store, n.d).If you’re not approved then you will need to take your music elsewhere.

The purchase of music and video content for the iPod feature is directed to iTunes where one must have an iTunes account and the iTunes software. Apple Inc.’s proprietary DRM system, known as FairPlay, is the only DRM system supported by the Apple iPod (including iPhone), and is used to encrypt all content (including music, videos, and photos) purchased from the Apple iTunes Music Store (Clapperton & Corones, 2007). The Bluetooth feature is crippled to allow only the Apple headset to communicate via the protocol. Unlike other Bluetooth mobile devices you cannot connect to another Bluetooth enabled devices to share your content. Example of this is having your photos taken by the camera cannot be transferred via the Bluetooth and must be uploaded via iTunes Software.

It is clear that iPhone owners contract themselves to Apple. Before opening the iPhone, the owner agrees to the End User Licence Agreement (EULA) and Terms of Service (TOS). This limits the artefact only to what Apple intended placing many controls over the owner. These controls include what applications can be developed, where you can purchase music, videos and movies and what phone carrier you use. Not only do we not have the options to use the code as we wish but also limited by laws and regulations (Lessig, 2006).

Dale Clapperton and Stephen Corones (2007) claimed that Apple’s business model would contravene the Trade Practices Act 1974 in Australia. This would explain why all the major carriers in Australia distribute the iPhone. In Europe, Apple has exclusive deals with only a couple of carriers. In the USA, AT& T is the only telecommunications company that can provide telecommunication services to the iPhone.

Apple Community

Developers can down load the iPhone Software Developers Kit (SDK) and create their own applications for the iPhone. After paying $99 US, “Native iPhone apps are distributed through the iTunes App Store, with wireless downloads. The SDK only works on a Mac OSX” (King, 2007).   Apple then must accept your application before it is made available in the App Store.

There are restrictions on what a developer can produce:

“3.3.1–Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited)”

(Apple Inc TM, 2010).

There are many benefits for owners of the iPhone as everything that can be installed on the phone must be filtered through Apple. This can reduce the risk of malware and viruses from damaging the software and also provides the user with minimal downtime.

Resistance, wars and the enemy

There is however, a war on. Hackers are continually in battle with Apple designers to jailbreak the iPhone. Jailbreaking allows iPhone users to run their own code on the artefact, as contrary to only that code authorized by Apple. As soon as one Jailbreak is released Apple release software updates to disable “Brick” the phone (Hansell, 2007) . Hackers could be seen as illegal under the EULA and anyone that Jailbreak the artefact also stands to be prosecuted.  Instead Apple chose to disable “Brick” the iPhone that they believed was not running authorised software. Steve Jobs ,CEO of Apple has confirmed that Apple can remotely disable applications, even after they have been installed by users (Lohmann, 2010). Lawrence Lessig (2009) calls this “Culture Wars“.

Apple also publicly refuses to support Flash Technology from Adobe. This is what has been seen as a battle of the giants on who has control. Flash is Adobe’s platform for displaying interactive graphics, animations and multimedia within a browser. Flash would divert business from the App Store, as well as enable publishers to distribute music, videos and movies that could compete with the iTunes Store (Chen, 2008).

Google who are aggressive in Social Media has already come to battle with Apple over its Google Voice app being rejected by the appStore (Lohmann, 2009). With this power and control Apple are able to restrict what software is used and whether it is in the best interest of Apple or it partners. Ordinary online communities can be locked out of their favourite social network sites at the will of Apple.  The survivors in the social media and social network space will be those who partner with Apple an AT & T to enable them to get their content available through Apples Artefacts.

Social Media

The internet provides a read write environment that has seen the shift in the paragon of broadcast media.  Social Media consists of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). User Generated Content according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2007) :

“UGC needs to fulfil three basic requirements in order to be considered as such: first, it needs to be published either on a publicly accessible website or on a social networking site accessible to a selected group of people; second, it needs to show a certain amount of creative effort; and finally, it needs to have been created outside of professional routines and practices” (OECD, 2007).

Kaplan & Haenlien (2010) explains this description would exclude emails, instant messages, copy and pasting and commercial content which the artefacts cannot do.   When you consider Kaplan & Haenlien definition of social media and UGC you need to ask how Social Media can be done on the iPhone. The technology of the artefact limits many of the possibilities of User Generated Content by design.

Sixty three percent of mobile internet traffic on a iPhone

The world is turning to mobile broadband connections at a rapid rate. “At the March 10th IDC 2010 Directions Conference in Santa Clara, IDC analysts Amy Lind and Carrie MacGillivray predicted a 32% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for global mobile broadband connections, which were projected to reach over 350M by 2013”(Weissberger, 2010) . It is important to note as of March 2009, 63% of mobile web consumption is performed on Apple’s iPhone(Roy Mahar, 2009).

Research from Gartner Inc shows that over 35 million iPhone have been sold in the year 2008 and 2009 and rank 3^rd amongst Smartphone operating systems (Cozza, 2010).
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2009 (Thousands of Units) from Gartner Inc

Company	2009 Units	2009 Market Share (%)	2008 Units	2008 Market Share (%)
Symbian	80,878.6	46.9	72,933.5	52.4
Research In Motion	34,346.6	19.9	23,149.0	16.6
iPhone OS	24,889.8	14.4	11,417.5	8.2
Microsoft Windows Mobile	15,027.6	8.7	16,498.1	11.8
Linux	8,126.5	4.7	10,622.4	7.6
Android	6,798.4	3.9	640.5	0.5
WebOS	1,193.2	0.7	NA	NA
Other OSs	1,112.4	0.6	4,026.9	2.9
Total	172,373.1	100.0	139,287.9	100.0

Table 1 Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2009 (Thousands of Units) from Gartner Inc (Cozza, 2010)

The market penetration of the iPhone is staggering, and it is not just consumers who are using the iPhone. Companies are preparing for a major Smartphone enterprise growth, many of which will be iPhones (Rory Mahar, 2009 a) .

The Apple Funnel

With Apple gaining so much power over how people connect to the Internet, is becoming a concern.  If the world turns to the iPhone as their Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) device the limitations as to what one can do become apparent.  Zittrain (2008) generative PC will become obsolete and your limitations to what can be done on the internet will be decided by the artefact you use. This is not unlike the Great Firewall of China. However, rather than political reasons Apple firewall technology is designed for by corporate designers of SST.

Conclusion

Although this paper is targeted at the Apple artefacts the competition for this space is huge. The very existence of the open architecture of the internet is under threat as social designers will regulate what can and cannot be done on the internet through a funnel of SST. Our choices will become limited to what the artefact will allow Zitrain (2009). Tethered technology will become the normal method to access the internet and any attempt to circumvent the ownership of the technology will be counteracted by social designers. The winners of the mobile artefact race will give power of control over the internet, its users and its content.

Australian Trade Practices Laws prevented Apple from dictating what phone carrier will distribute the iPhone, but still these laws do not prevent the tricksters from hampering creativity and innovation that the internet has been able to provide.   Considering the rapid growth of Broadband enables mobile devices now and the growth predictions into the future.  Where the Apple artefacts are placed in this market and the restrictions placed on its use.  If the tricksters are not bought into check then the threat of iSearch, iFacebook, iTwitter, iNewYorkTimes and iDate that will all be owned by Apple and accessed only through their artefacts may become a reality.

References

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